Apparel brand Levi Strauss and Co.?s new ?Live in Levi?s? campaign reflects a new direction for the brand, with mobile driving brand awareness and laying the groundwork for a new platform encouraging self-expression. 

The campaign, which promotes the brand?s fall 2014 collection, encourages mobile submissions showcasing everyday life in the brand?s clothing that will be compiled into a social film later this year. The assembled stories will serve as an engagement platform for users and their shared experiences.

?Live in Levi?s is more than a campaign,? said Jennifer Sey, chief marketing officer at Levi?s, San Francisco. ?It?s an optimistic, new direction that reconnects the brand to its soul. 

?We were inspired by letters we get from people around the world telling us how they live their lives in the Levi's,? she said. ?The intention with the campaign is to create a long-term platform that asserts denim leadership, conveys authenticity and self expression and puts the brand back at the center of culture. 

?[It is our] hope the passion and energy conveyed appeals not only to Levi?s loyalists but also to new Levi?s fans around the world.?

Telling a story
In an effort to promote its fall 2014 collection, and particularly the 511 slim jean style for men and Revel style for women, the campaign will also feature a reimagined version of the 501 jean style, the western shirt and trucker jacket. 

Levi?s collaborated with Foote, Cone and Belding and The House Worldwide to develop this campaign and is asking fans to submit their videos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #LiveInLevis.

To give followers a glimpse into the making of the film, Levi?s Twitter account has been following submissions, often retweeting and reposting inquiries. 

One Twitter post contains a picture of a female designer in Levi?s shorts.

?Life designed in @jessicawalsh lives to make things her own. That?s what she gets from design and her Levi?s,? the tweet reads.

A retweet to an Instagram photo by @MargoAndMe shows a woman sitting on a blanket in Levi?s, and the user tagged #501shorts and @Levis.

The campaign aims to combine real-life, everyday moments with virtual ones and in-store experiences to show a well-rounded array of the Levi?s consumer.

Levi?s social film will be available in August and will be made in part with digital agency AKQA. Levi?s is expected to release more details about the film later in July.

Denim going mobile
Last month, Levi?s and Warner Bros. Records claimed to be the first two brands to launch new in-cinema campaigns as part of a partnership between Screenvision and SoundHound to elevate the movie going experience via mobile.

Warner Bros. Records and Levi?s rolled out nationwide campaigns that have run during Screenvision?s ?Front & Center? 20 minute programming before films begin. Both brands integrated a SoundHound call-to-action into their cinema ads that encourage consumers to download the app to unlock additional content (see story).

In 2012, Levi?s launched a global marketing initiative that included the brand?s first iAd campaign, as well as a shoppable magazine on Flipboard.

The company unveiled its 2012 Go Forth marketing campaign, which highlighted its Fall/Winter global collection. By incorporating mobile into the mix, Levi?s was able to reach a bigger audience. The campaign centered around a 60-second film directed by Lance Acord that depicted individuals putting on their Levi?s jeans in the morning and preparing to face the day (see story).

Aside from the aforementioned campaigns, Live in Levi?s tries to move the brand closer to the mobile-first approach of many consumers. 

?Any contemporary brand that is relevant and well-loved acknowledges that brands get built with consumers, not for them,? Ms. Sey said. 

?User-generated content creates a consumer-led brand narrative across the social ecosystem by inspiring and celebrating individual fans,? she said. ?Not only do user-generated content moments create deeper one-to-one connections with fans, but they help foster participation and conversation with the brand by encouraging similar behavior.? 

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon, editorial assistant for Mobile Marketer, New York