It would be a bit of a stretch to attribute all of Calvin Klein's rebound to Jeremy Allen White's billboard in boxer briefs. Shares in parent company PVH, which also owns Tommy Hilfiger, had been rising for weeks before the campaign was announced on January 4th. Wall Street analysts are more likely to value efficient inventory management and supply chain cost savings than the abs of a famous TV star.
But there was no better example of breathing new life into an often overlooked brand than advertising. I can't stress enough how much people are talking about this campaign and Calvin Klein. According to Launchmetrics, his social media engagement was five times higher than Bottega Veneta's paparazzi-style ad, which was held up as a benchmark for viral marketing success last year.
At The Business of Fashion's Technology Summit earlier this month, Jonathan Bottomley, Calvin Klein's chief marketing officer, said marketing exists to introduce a product and serve as something people enjoy consuming. He explained the strategy behind the campaign, which is centered around “spirit.” And it's not just because I'm being forced to hold back so I can stream more of “The Bear.”
Mr Bottomley also said: “We believe that marketing investment and cultural investment will drive business forward.” On Monday, PVH will report fourth-quarter earnings. Thanks to a quirk of the company's corporate calendar, the result is that he will cover January. So we're hoping to get a good assessment of whether all those clicks resulted in revenue, and whether those ads inspired people to buy anything other than boxer briefs. In addition to increasing sales of its already popular basic products, PVH is keen to push Calvin Klein into the luxury market. Why else would they have White wear a custom tuxedo for the Golden Globes?
Also reporting results this week is Levi's, which in many ways is where Calvin Klein was this time last year. The brand is known and loved by many, but is overly reliant on wholesale and in danger of disappearing into the woodwork. Last week, Levi's unveiled its own campaign aimed at refreshing its image, featuring denim-clad dancers and the tagline “The floor is yours,” inviting viewers to recreate the campaign on their own feeds. intended to encourage you to do so.
Unlike Calvin Klein, this week's earnings do not reflect the impact of advertising. However, it is unlikely that the same effect will be achieved. The first video posted to Levi's Instagram grid on Wednesday has about 4,000 likes (the first white image on Calvin Klein's grid has 1.8 million likes). Levi's was probably expecting a bigger moment, but this ad doesn't play the same role as the white campaign. In many ways, the White Campaign was not an opening salvo, but the culmination of a long-term effort to reinvigorate Calvin Klein. In any case, Beyoncé may come to the rescue with the “Levi's Jeans” track from her just-released country album.
At the BoF summit, Calvin Klein's Bottomley began by asking, “How do you create spikes in a very flat culture?” Few brands have figured out how to consistently answer this question.
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