Also in this report:

* What kids really think about branding: Teens sound off about brand loyalty, brand personality and what makes a brand cool p.26

* Peer pressure a huge factor in success of brands, say experts: Youth market researchers David Scowcroft and Mike Farrell explain what it takes to hit home with young consumers p.29

* Nintendo takes aim at campus crowd p.31

* Classroom Connections chalks up school support p.34

Not everybody gets the point. But then, getting the point isn’t necessarily the point.

The idea of the Levi’s ‘They Go On’ integrated campaign, which launched at the beginning of the school year and wrapped up at Christmas, was to create a mood that would appeal to the ephemeral sensibilities of young consumers between the ages of 18 and 24.

Developed as part of a global branding strategy intended to rejuvenate the Levi’s brand image among young adults, the Canadian portion of the campaign began as a series of print, transit and outdoor executions. The ads featured comic book-style ‘sequential art’ images that reflected the spirit of such au courant urban culturalisms as graffiti, techno- and hip-hop music, skateboarding and – above all else – attitude.

The highlight of the campaign was a dominance media buy, which saw the Levi’s ads take over entire subway cars in Toronto, coupled with platform posters and Murads placed in key locations in the downtown core.

Transit campaigns also rolled out in Montreal – where die-cut decals in the shape of jeans pockets were adhered to train seats in the city’s Metro system – and Vancouver.

Other campaign elements included in-store displays, postcards and theatre advertising. The final phase of the campaign, which rolled out in early December, featured two 30-sec. radio spots and a giant billboard at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets in Toronto.

The Canadian components of the campaign, developed by Toronto-based Harrod & Mirlin, were meant to complement a series of tv spots that were produced in the u.s. but picked up for use in Canada. The six tv executions were tied together by a loosely connected story line following the adventures of a handful of unique characters in New York City.

‘The positioning,’ says Miranda Monestaro, the Harrod & Mirlin account supervisor for Levi’s, ‘is that the Levi’s brand stands for originality, continuously demonstrated by independent thought and action.’

According to Kim Allen, the brand communications specialist with Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada), who oversaw the development of the Canadian portion of the campaign, it is always a danger for a brand as old as Levi’s to fall short in its attempts to appeal to a newer, younger market.

The challenge, she says, is staying ‘interesting and relevant.’

‘Youths are very savvy and very anti-establishment,’ she explains, ‘so it’s important for a company like Levi’s to approach them in a way that is still original and new, even though there’s so much history behind us. We want to make sure we’re perceived as youthful, contemporary and innovative, but we can’t be too overt.’

The means to achieving that goal, according to Harrod & Mirlin art director Larry Iannou and copywriter Joseph Nanni, was to develop a series of campaign executions that were creative and original without being patronizing to the target audience.

The two creatives, still both in their 20s, say the job was made easier by the fact that they themselves are not far removed from the target group.

‘All through the work, we tried to make stuff that would appeal to us,’ says Nanni. ‘We tried to find a little bit of honesty and expression in the creative, and we tried to take the marketing out of it.’

Adds Iannou: ‘We walked around the street and went to some clubs and looked at different types of people, and used what we saw by focusing different personalities into an archetype.’

According to both Allen and the agency team, the fact that a large number of the transit ads were stolen is a good indicator of the campaign’s appeal to its intended audience.

‘When kids actually go to the trouble of getting up on the seats and taking down your ads, you know you’ve done something right,’ says Allen.

She adds that while the early signs are positive, it is still too soon to determine whether the campaign was either a major success or a failure.

‘It wasn’t our primary intention to go in and drive sales,’ she explains. ‘The big indicators of success will be the feedback we get about the campaign, and whether our brand attributes have shifted to a more youthful focus.’