Widget in a Banner

Background

Levi’s 501 ‘Live Unbuttoned’ campaign is the brand’s first truly global marketing push, with the jean’s trademark button-fly at the centre of it. When it launched, a series of TV commercials showed young men and women unbuttoning themselves in celebration of a free spirit – in speech, expression or desire. These risqué commercials, however, did not pass the censorship board in Malaysia. So the problem was how to make the idea acceptable without losing its meaning.

Idea

The agency believed the best way to talk to Levi’s core target audience of 18 to 25-year-old males was online. Bypassing the usual technique of a banner leading to a microsite, where visitors can download widgets and other stuff, the agency created a series of media-rich banners.

These offered playful suggestions on how to Live Unbuttoned before giving viewers more ideas if they downloaded the 501 widget direct from the banner. This widget works as a clock, animating at exactly 5.01pm every day to offer a tip on unbuttoned things to do. It also showcases the different Levi’s 501 designer buttons.

Results

One rich media banner alone on Malaysia’s leading social networking site, Friendster, generated 5,650 downloads in just 30 days. More importantly, Levi’s Malaysia recorded a 50% increase in sales of their 501 jeans, compared to the previous year.

Our Thoughts

To every problem there is a solution and often it is the most intractable problems that lead to the most inventive ideas. Levi’s, a brand built on its TV commercials, finds it can’t advertise on TV. So what happens? They go online – which seems more appropriate anyway, given their target audience – and come up with a beautiful mnemonic in the 5.01 ‘news’ every day, a new tip on how to be a free spirit appearing every evening. Yet more world class work from the Selina Ang Gang in Kuala Lumpur.