Authenticity, iconography and innovation are the factors that have
helped LEVI’S to thrive for 150 years, said Anderson, who is President
and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco.
Levi’s has done this first and foremost by maintaining the authenticity
of its products and business practices. The integrity of both the brand
and the company behind it “is critical to a brand’s success,” said
Anderson. This includes making a difference in the community and
implementing progressive company policies. Levi Strauss continued to
pay employees while it rebuilt following the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake and became the first company to offer benefits to same-sex
partners in 1992. “Consumers and business partners recognize that we
have a set of principles that keep the brand fresh and distinct,” said
Anderson.
But with that recognition comes the need to maintain and protect the
iconography of the brand. Anderson recounted the history of the LEVI’S
trademark, which by the start of World War II included distinctive
orange stitching, complete with an arcuate design on the jeans’ back
pocket. Because the ornamental stitching seemed wasteful during the
war, when supplies were low, the company improvised by hand painting
the design onto the pockets “for the duration” of the war, as the logo
explained.
That type of innovation is the company’s final secret to success—in
addition to rethinking sizing for women’s jeans and updating the
brand’s logo for the 21st Century, Levi Strauss & Co. recently
introduced the first WATER<LESS jean, which saved 16 million liters of water this spring alone. “Brands have to introduce new ideas constantly for new markets,” said Anderson.