The Frontier is All Around Us

Thanks Chris…

Your post reminds me of two things – First, some personal experiences of a similar NE Pennsylvania town called Freeland – a great small town with only one major problem – the younger generation moves on to a bigger word leaving the past and the town behind them. This is not a bad thing, just one of the realities of the world becoming a smaller place. Second, I wonder what are Levi's motives. Is this project a targeted Pennsylvania Marketing Campaign or is it the end result of a genuine desire to help one Pennsylvania community? Being an optimist, I'll go with the latter.

Either way, we should all remember the little things each of us can do every day to make “our little world” a better place. Thanks for the Monday reminder…

CHRIS, That was the Post of the Month. I loved it and it really hit home. There are no more Frontiers is a great way to put it. The interviews showed that there are people in Braddock that can make things happen still. It reminded me of a project we have going here in Costa Rica. It is a banana plantation and the people still live in the old United Fruit Company homes (run down about 60 years). It is poverty in what is considered a developing country. These plantations are surrounded by mountains and just a stones throw from the most beautiful beaches of Costa Rica. We are trying to get tourism to stop in the area and visit the history of the United Fruit Company (which has some rough facts that many people are not aware of). Great post and you got me pumped for my next visit to the banana plantation in southern Costa Rica. Thanks Chris

I hope to use social media to get some of the real facts out there and get this community rolling

i'm seeing from this that the mission of the company connected to the realities of daily life is a powerful message. thanks for sharing this video.

I'm from Pittsburgh, and before moving to Boston, drove through Braddock to my sister's house twice a week. Western PA is made up of a 100s of Braddocks, and Rick Burnes is right, so is MA.

The area was great for me when I was an artist, but when it came time to settle, I had to move on. No jobs, no young professionals. So yes, I want to share this story.

Does it bother me that Levi Strauss is behind it? Not at all. What makes it work? It is transparent, for one. I enter into the video(s) knowing Levi is involved. Second, Levi doesn't overstate what they are doing (clearly they could/should be doing more with education and job creation to really make a difference), and that makes it work, too.

This is a good example of how CSR can generate a return (increasing brand awareness, loyalty, equity, for example) for large multinational corporations. Doesn't hurt that it is marketed tastefully and truthfully, too.

I live in a small community that died from the inside out years ago. I work on the Planning Commission.
Several generations of rural poverty have left the people here with a mindset wherein their knee jerk reaction to an outside source such as Levi's providing any kind of attention or assistance would be interpreted as exploitation. You live in a small town because you are both averse to both risk and change. Poverty and the effects of poverty become a mindset wherein nothing is ever attempted. Complaints about progress are inevitable. The campaign is beautiful. What it fails to mention is the discipline required to make things work long term.

There will always be cynics when a big company makes a statement. Personally, I am ALWAYS happy to see the “big boys” trying to make a difference. And if Levis is making people talk – that's what good marketing is all about! I love the campaign. (And, especially love that they integrated “giving back” with their advertising – brilliant.

Thanks, Michael, and thanks for decloaking.

One outcome of the story? I'm wearing Levi jeans today for the first time in maybe 20 years. In a culture of really expensive jeans, I liked the story so much, I was swayed to buy a few pairs. Now, I'm just one buyer, but hey. : )

So, 1 million isn't a good start? Isn't putting their massive ad campaign out there to get our eyes open a good start?

Seems strange to put down the campaign as it's a starting point to highlight what needs doing, not a bid to prop up the city entirely.

Let's take a step back. Let's separate the campaign from the deed. The campaign itself is fantastic. I think the ads are as close to art as advertising can get. Heck, they are art. The campaign certainly will raise awareness of the product and the plight of working class Americans, as well as promote Levis as a good corporate citizen. That is to say, that it will likely be a very effective campaign in terms of those objectives.

But what if the objectives were to revitalize a post-industrial city/town. $1 million may seem like a lot of money, but it's really a drop in the bucket. $1 million isn't a good start. It's a lackluster start. I've worked with philanthropy organizations who have given more than $10 million to just one failing, inner-city school.

Granted, Levis isn't a philanthropy organization, but I would bet that the production and media buy for the campaign itself cost more than $1 million. $1 million is band-aid money–not problem solving money.

And that's where the campaign talks out of both sides of its mouth. It's presenting their deed as generous and as a push towards revival. True, it's not claiming it's a cure-all, but it is boasting about something that is, in the grand scheme of things, a rather paltry amount. If they really wanted to put their money where their mouth is, they'd spend their money on actually finding ways to create a sustainable economic growth in the town, such as finding ways to help people who's jobs have been outsourced to other countries.

Absolutely beautiful videos and brilliant campaign. Thanks for sharing, Chris. I hadn't seen this campaign yet, but I think it's artful, smart and well done.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts their bottom line. It's not as sexy as something like the Old Spice campaign, so I doubt it has the viral capability. However, it certainly strikes a nerve. I think you can't help but be touched by this message. It certainly has changed my opinion of Levi's.

I think people are becoming immune to traditional ad campaigns and I hope this represents a shift in consumers wanting to buy from socially conscious businesses that are working to better our world. I grew up in a small town that has deteriorated over the years. I'm sure many others can relate to this story. In addition to encouraging favor with the Levi's brand, maybe, just maybe, this campaign will help inspire others to go out there and look for ways to improve the world around them. Kudos to Levi for working to make a difference in a small way.

The cinematic nature of the commercial immediately draws in interest; I (like most people) typically tune out a commercial after a few seconds, but the style of this particular commercial allows it to get through my filter, to the point that I'll watch it in its entirety. Interesting commercial

Jason
http://twitter.com/StartupSidekick (follow me on Twitter for fresh entrepreneurial advice)

Ooooh. Maybe a guest blog post or video between you and your son? : )

Amazing what can happen when a company with financial ability puts it back into the world that needs it. Thanks for sharing their story with us Chris.

Time and time again advertisers have proven that telling a story can be the best method of marketing a brand. Levis has done an incredible job here of focusing on an issue that America is dealing with – small towns that are suffering economically. What works really well is that the Levis brand is already associated with hard work and America's growth in the 20th century. Now can the brand be re-associated with the re-birth of small towns like Braddock? It takes more than a $1 mil investment and a 5 minute video.

Levi's is a for-profit entity, of course they are in the business of making money (selling Levi's jeans and related products) that is their primary mission.

However, that the company has made a concerted effort to align that primary mission with an important social cause, is worth a second look. After all, it's a step in the right direction of what is a long and trying process, but that will likely produce at least some measure of positive result for the community of Braddock — despite an apparent lack of finesse at the start.

What I don't like about the Levi's campaign is their approach, which I personally found a bit condescending, even slightly bordering on obnoxious. If social responsibility is truly an emerging priority for the company, why not focus first to more carefully portray some meaningful and evident results for their “do-good” efforts? If their mission is successful, the goodwill and recognition through a more subtle branding approach would more likely yield them not only the financial rewards they seek, but more importantly, trust. What they are presenting with this campaign I think and feel is a bit too contrived. It is not a believable proposition, one that would cause a majority of conscious consumers to consider them a genuine corporate champion for social good.

I'd like to see Levi's continue this effort, but present a campaign that uses social media to highlight the “process, progress and results” of their goodwill efforts. I want to see employees of Levi's working alongside Braddock community members, to hear direct commentaries from their citizens speaking to that specifically and what it means in their quest to become vital. I want Levi's to enliven viewers by allowing us to watch the actual transformation…which in reality will happen in stages. Only then can I truly entertain the idea that a time tested corporation like Levi's has cared enough to see the frontier of “it's own brand” as a powerful tool for social change, versus a gimmick to sell more jeans. That said, Kudo's to Levi's for stepping into the arena…I look forward to seeing this develop.

An added benefit to the Levi campaign is the “inspiration” factor. Can you get other towns and corporations inspired to do this in other abandoned cities. I think you can and it's not about bringing in heavy industry. It's about the town having the will to clean up the wreckage and find out how to rebuild itself.

On the Facebook website, one person was quoted as saying, “Some think we can make Braddock like it was, but we can't. It'll never be the same again.”

Sounds dismal, but that statement is exactly the truth. The steel mill and the textile mill aren't coming back. Something can happen to make Braddock as good or better than it was, but you can't go back to the old way of doing things. With today's technology, small independent business people can operate from virtually anywhere. If towns like Braddock were to use the money they're being given to add massive Internet capacity, all over town free wireless, dirt cheap property, cleaned off and ready to build on. Low cost fixer-upper houses. Super low tax rates. You can attract these portable entrepreneur's. Get enough of them and the stores and shops and restaurants will come back. Make it a bicycle friendly, “green” town. Save the brick streets and the art-deco brick fronts where you can. Get the people who live there working on improving schools, cleaning up neighborhoods, stopping crime. Then you make the place attractive.

Everybody get together and make sure the town has easy access to airports and commuter trains. Do some planning.

Towns like Braddock can never be like we remember them, but we have the capacity to make them better. We just have to get inspired and get up off our butts and do something about it besides whine because Levi Strauss won't bring back the jeans plant.

Hey, my sister worked at a Jeans plant for Levi-Strauss. Nice people, but it was miserable repetitive work that fries your brain from the shear monotony. There are lots more interesting things we can do. Fill the town with greenhouses and become vegetable farmers or flower growers. Pick an industry that needs something that individual entrepreneurs can do with a few micro-loans or some economic development grants.

The thing about the Levi campaign is that it shines the light on the problem and helps inspire people to believe they can do something about it.

Good on 'em I say!

Great post – and interesting controversy. There is no question that Levi's is a for-profit company, so why should it be a surprise that they are using this as a marketing tool. At the same time, Braddock is a town that has obviously seen better days, I agree with a previous post that states “every little bit helps.” As a professional in the planning and community development field, I find it fascinating how this effort has taken a small scale planning process that is in it's infancy and propelled it into the national spotlight. If only we could shine a light on all the small towns and villages out there, and showcase them for investment. Hmmmmm, that actually gives me an idea!

It is a very cool idea and I think that it says an awful lot. Hopefully people will not get caught up in the cynical side of things and consider it to be self serving for big business.

Advertising, schmadvertising….

Indeed. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Levi's less viral video campaign generates a bigger ROI? If you hear anything about the revenue generated will you share it?

It would not say, it made me want to buy a pair of Levi's necessarily. But it did inspire me to make changes within to make a greater contribution to the world, our country, my local state, and community. It is easy, so easy, to casually walk upon what others worked so hard to build, yet be beneficiaries and not carry those visions into new ones. And build what they never thought of today.

More of us need to awaken the best within us to carry forward into the new. Bring out the best of the human race infectiously around the world, starting where we are first.

Love the frontier quote. Reminds me of the Jeep commercial – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uIBL_ei5VM Have you seen it? As a creative, I totally buy what this commercial is selling.

Glad it resonated.

So maybe they moved you, but just not in the jeans-buying department. Thanks for your thoughts, Paul.

Can you explain the totalitarian state part?