Levi's threads push and pull in Beijing
Levi's Beijing Denim Trend Market at WF Central is the third Levi's activation in China I've written about this year.
Chengdu in May was about raising the volume on the brand with ROSÉ. The direction of this activation was to PUSH the brand out (celebrity and activating into new cities).
Xintiandi in July was about position, planting the premium flag in Shanghai.
With this latest activity - in Beijing - ROSÉ is back with her capsule collection, sacai × Levi's drops this week, in a luxury mall in Wangfujing rather than a streetwear spot in Sanlitun.
In sum, its a mix of PUSH and 'pull' marketing ...trying to thread a fine line between building volume while maintaining and building-up positioning.
The bigger picture is denim itself. The category in China is flat, splitting between premium and discount, with fits changing underneath. In this context, with Levi's being the category leader, they have to define the next phase of denim culture in China.
Can Levi's shape the category?
