Levi Strauss kicks off a new stage of its ‘Go forth’ campaign by Wieden & Kennedy that was first launched in 2009. In 2011, the company used ‘Now is our Time’ message to encourage youth; this year, it is adding a new, more product-related slogan: ‘This is a pair of Levi’s.’ The new slogan will appear in ads not only for Levi’s jeans but also for dresses, shirts and nondenim items. 

Photo: putting on Levi’s denim, from www.nytimes.com

The new 60-second commercial introduces the process of getting dressed as a ritual, a whole philosophy: putting on clothes is compared to donning armor for battle. The commercial starts airing next month in Britain, China, France, India and the United States. In the U.S.  there will be ads in magazines, online, in stores and outdoors.

According to The New York Times, the ad features young men and women dressing and heading out to start their day, a voiceover says, “This is a pair of Levi’s, buttons and rivets and pockets and cuffs, and the thread that holds it together.”

It continues with an almost poetry saying: “When the road gets rough and the sky gets jumpy and the stars start falling on top of your head and the waves start breaking against your leg, it’s the thread in your seams that’s tied to your dreams.”

The conclusion is an advice to “follow your heart, follow the leader, you’re the leader” and Twitter hashtag, #GoForth. 

The campaign is aimed to empower youth to put on clothes they like and make the world better every day positioning Levi’s products as armor which gives more self-confidence and power.

According to Kantar Media unit of WPP, Levi Strauss spent $24.4 million in 2011 to advertise in the brand in theUSA.  The budget for the campaign is expected to be the same.