Levi’s new international campaign develops passion for art and self-discovery in youth

Levi’s new international campaign, “Make Our Mark,”  aims to evoke an inner artist in every person and links to the art project-on-the-wheels, “Station To Station,” which is now being rolled out across the U.S. through September 28. The new campaign, developed by AKQA , invites people to ponder over their creative identities and get inspired by a roster of experts in the fields ranging from music to writing to technology.

Forget new land, try new possibilities… the only boundaries are in the mind,” the brand says. The campaign taps into the brand’s tagline, “Go Forth,” introduces back in 2009, adding a dose of the emotional “The Future is Leaving” message.

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Pic.: A screenshot from makeourmark.levi.com loading page (click to enlarge)

The online destination «Make Our Mark» asks the visitors to answer four questions in the “Art projects” section—“Who are you?”, “What moves you?”, “What’s your approach?” and “What’s your dream?” using hashtags like #MakeOurMark #Who. There are individual sections for each question, where user-generated content such as tweets, photos and short videos can be viewed on a “living” wall in the top of each page. Additionally, the themes are illustrated by short branded videos in a distinctive black and white manner that promote the latest Levi’s collection.

The brand has also tapped leaders from various industries to inspire the process of exploring your creative self. Eight different artists including designer Cedric Kiefer, AKQA creative director Rei Inamoto, Google interactive developer Justin Windle, and artist/programmer David Kraftsow to name a few explore the suggested themes (two per each). Their profiles and short interviews can also be viewed on the site in the Pioneers section, along with their original works.

The “Instruments” section includes pictures and descriptions of vintage equipment such as a typewriter or a camera repositioned as tools for social media communication. They are currently used on the Train of the Station to Station project. For instance, a Gibson ES-125, “the preferred axe of jazz hounds and rockabilly cats the world over” has been transformed into a Soundcloud guitar, a tool that lets pioneering musicians on the Train contribute sounds to the project, while an Underwood No. 5 from 1901 has evolved into a Twitter-typer, “turning the Train artists’ words into Twitter poetry.” These inventions are displayed along with promo visuals depicting the latest Levi’s collection.

The MakeOurMark online destination has a global version as well as local sites for the U.K., France, Germany and Mexico. While sites for other markets offer just translations of the main page, the UK platform includes a special London project within the “What moves you?” theme. Levi’s is inviting the audience to upload their contributions via Soundcloud and Instagram to see how they will be shaping a collaborative work by a trio of the UK’s most exciting young artists, Hostpoet, Koreless and Alex Turvey. The project is said to culminate in a free to attend, one-night only, live experience  in London on October 9.

With its new large-scale international initiative, Levi’s is joining the team of other brands including ABSOLUT Vodka and Diesel that push the spirit of discovery and self-exploration.