Ch. 10 - Product Concept

     




      The Levi's marketing mix begins with their products. Without the tangible products that they offer, the marketing mix and the company would be incomplete. In 1873, the product that changed the path of the company and fashion as we know it was born, the riveted blue jeans.
Levi's dominates the denim market with their heterogeneous shopping products. With the best price-to-quality ratio, it's easy to see why they are the leader of the pack.

        Levi's has grown into an incredibly large corporation, and their product mix has expanded to much more than just blue jeans. It all started in 1873 with the "XX" jeans, and has now reached a whole list of product lines, and a massive assortment of product items. Some of the most popular product lines that Levi's has are the "511" jeans, the classic "501" jeans, and their Made & Crafted premium line. In each of the product lines, you will find a large selection of product items in different colors and sizes.

 Small selection of Levi's product mix.

When Levi's places an advertisement, very often it seems to advertise all of their product lines. At times they will quite discretely place the name of one of the product lines such as the "501" or "511". The advertisements don't appear to emphasize on the product line but rather the whole product mix.
        
          To reduce manufacturing and inventory costs, Levi's has standardize a couple things on a large majority of their products. Their rivets, which hold the points that receive a lot of pressure (most commonly found around the front pockets of the jeans), and their buttons, which are used on jeans, denim jackets and a few other products.

Levi's standardized button.

Levis continues to increase the depth of their product lines and the width of their product mixes to try and reach all demographics and target markets. Levi's can be found at a lower price at Walmart, Target, and TJ Maxx, and If you're looking for their higher quality products, they can be found online, in their retail locations, or in specialty stores that carry their products.

Over the years, companies must adapt and make modifications to cater customers needs, otherwise their share of the market will diminish. Levi’s continues to change the style and shapes of their products. The first pair of "501" jeans in 1890, is completely different than the current pair that is being sold today. Because of popular demand, Levis has started a vintage line that consists of recreations of their older product's fits, fabrics, and details of the bygone eras and you'll be sure to find the older fit of the "501" jean is amongst the product line.

Another one of the major transitions that Levi’s has made is where the denim is manufactured. A majority of the denim is made overseas with the exception of certain products, one of them being the recreated 1890 "501".

501's, Made in the USA recreation jeans.

       Levi’s is a global brand known worldwide. They have two iconic brand marks, that are also trademarks. The first is the “Levi’s” tab on the back right pocket, the second is the bat wing sticking on the back pockets of the jeans. These marks aren’t on every product item, but when they are, it’s hard to mistake these for the products of a different brand.

 -Brand & trademark, bat wing stitch and red tab.

       Their high brand equity is a result of knowing how to put out new products that are consistently successful. They listen to customer feedback, and appreciate customer loyalty, which helps them with new-product sales. Customers keep coming back because of two reasons, the quality of the products, and sales promotion.
Levi’s is a manufacturers brand. Because of this, they’re capable of manufacturing more products at a cheaper rate, and sell them globally at a higher price for a higher ROI than private labels.

Levi's has co-branded with several different companies in the past. Most recently they have co-branded and made a product line with the San Francisco 49ers, increasing their brand equity and market share amongst the football teams fans.  

       No matter where one is, the name doesn’t change. From Tokyo to Paris, Berlin to India, the name’s the same. This increases the brand equity by a large amount. 

        One of the fabulous benefits of Levi's is their flexible return policy. If you aren't satisfied with the product after 60 days of the date of purchase, they will exchange or refund you for the product. The same goes is there is a manufacturers defect with the product, they will gladly take it back as long as its within the time-frame of 60 days from purchase.

         Over the last decade Levi's has reached exponentially fast growth. They're always infiltrating their products into new and old markets, and because they are listening to their customers, they're doing it successfully. It is unsure what lies ahead for this global corporation, but it is without a doubt that it will be successful.