Levi's Renovation

Time-honored Brand Renovation Strategy | Jan, 2022

Challenge

"How might we encourage the time-honored brand Levi's to better encounter customers' demands in a Chinese market context?"

Solution

A retail store renovation plan combined with a testing system design and a social media strategy, based on a chain of systematic strategic design research

Project Brief

This is a comprehensive strategic design plan aiming to help Levi's China better encounter their customers' demands within in the fast-developing era of China. There are four sessions in this project, which were detailedly and strictly developed based on the Design Thinking process. Each session can be viewed independently, while can be orderly connected as a full strategic design plan.

This is an individual project, everything was done by myself. It clearly shows my understanding of Design Thinking, how I process and design a comprehensive strategy, and my multi-disciplinary capability in generating in-depth systematic design.

Project Info

Project Type: Full Plan Strategy Design, Design(Market & Customer) Research, Retail Experience Design, Interior Design, Service Design, UI/UX Design, Communication Plan Design

Project Duration: Jul, 2021 - Jan, 2022

Project Status: Completed

Project Team

Crystal Chen

About this Project

This is a full-plan brand revitalization strategy for Levi's China.

It combines design research, customer-centric strategy design, spatial design, testing platform interaction design, and communication plan design.

I am the only one in the team.

Project Section

Click below to see details of each section, or scroll down to view the four sections as a whole.

"Frame a Question

for Levi's"

1

Business & Design Research
(Secondary Research)

Discover

Customers' Needs

2

Ideation based on Customer Observations and Interviews

From Idea to

Tangible Solution

3

Retail Store Renovation Design (Space Solution, Prototype, 3d Modelling)

Test &

4

Testing System UI/UX Design &

Social Media Communication Strategy

01

Frame a Question for Levi's

Objective

Methodology

Outcome

Identify current status, internal & external environment, competitors' status, and customer general preference of Levi's China. Frame a question for Levi's to build the future renovation plan

Literature Review, Brand Status Summary, PESTEL(E) Research, Positioning Map, Self-developed Competitors Research, Information Synthesis

"HMW" Question

"How might we encourage the time-honored brand Levi's to better encounter customers' demands in a Chinese market context?"

01 What I Did

Conducted secondary research on Levi's brand, market, and competitors to understand the ecosystem Levi's currently in and the relation between Levi's and other stakeholders in the market.

Synthesized information to define a challenge that Levi's is facing for further primary research.

02 The Research

I first tried to understand the brand.

I reviewed the history of Levi's brand by reviewing Levi's official website, Levi's annual reports, Levi's product line, press relevant to Levi's, and the past events or campaigns Levi's has hosted.

Key Takeaway / Insights:

Levi's is a denim originator, from a small studio that tries to create wearable pants for workers founded by Levi Strauss in 1853, to a reputed global listed denim company.

Levi's aims to offer jeans in different sizes and shapes for customer in all ages and with different body figures.

Levi's sale & performance in recent years dropped due to the competition of other emerging denim brands and fast fashion brands in China.

I then tried to understand the market.

I reviewed different data, literature, news, and financial reports about the current Chinese market, and synthesized the information with the PESTEL(E) Macro Business Analysis model.

I visualized the outcome in different format.

Key Takeaway / Insights:

Chinese market is continually-developing and fast-growing market with the potential to develop.

Competition in Chinese market is fierce due to the development of online shopping and fast fashion brands.

Levi's has recognition in the market but is receiving decreasing attention.

I then tried to understand Levi's with the market.

I selected 10 competitors of Levi's based on their brand category, price, target customers, and history.

I assessed their brand performance by reviewing reports, and quantitatively analyzing their followers, customer data, and monthly sales on Taobao (online retail purchase platform in China).

I summarized the result with charts, compared them with Levi's, and visualized the ecosystem with Positioning Map.

Key Takeaway / Insights:

Levi's is the oldest brand with a moderate popularity.

I also researched and summarized different campaigns and renovation strategies the competitor brands have implemented in the recent 3 years for brand awareness.

I compared the result with Levi's, and visualized the outcome in a chart.

Key Takeaway / Insights:

Time-honored competitor brands put a lot efforts in Brand Identity Exposure, Visual Merchandize, Co-brand Product, and Experiential Retail to maintain their brand awareness.

Levi's put a lot efforts in Brand Identity Exposure, Co-brand Product, and Service Extension.

Experiential Retail is lack of focus and could be something for them to leverage in the future.

I synthesized all the information with sticky notes on Miro.

03 The Outcome - Define for Further Research

How might we encourage the time-honored brand Levi's to better encounter customers' demands in a Chinese market context?

02

Discover Customer Needs

Objective

Methodology

Outcome

Based on the HMW questions from Session 1, identify customers' demands by observing the in-store environment and customer behavior, and interviewing target customers, to generate possible solution direction.

Observation(on-site recording), Interview(one-on-one in person), Information Synthesis

Future Solution Direction

As a professional denim producer, Levi's needs to offer clearer guidance and customized services to help existing customers find the perfectly fitted jeans, while creating interactive equipment and activities to attract new customers.

01 What I Did

Conducted primary research through on-site observation and interviews to better understand the current situation of Levi's China and the target customers' need.

Synthesized information, turn findings into actionable solution direction for future design.

02 Observation

I went to 3 Levi's offline retail stores to observe the current retail experience and customers’ behavior with video recording, and try to understand the customers demands behind.

I recorded the results and summarized the in-store traffic, customer route with detailed layout plans.

I concluded 2 findings through the observation.

I first selected 3 different Levi's stores located in different core district in the city and drafted the layout of each store.

I collected basic info of each stores, recorded the customers traffic, observed the average customer age in store.

I recorded video for an hour in each store, and rerun them afterwards to observe customer in-store route and behaviors.

I concluded 2 findings through the observation.

Finding 01

Finding 02

Levi’s has age gaps between current customers and target customers.

Levi's retail stores contain non-effective function area and lack attractions to retain customers.

(Most of Levi's retail customers are around 26-45 years old, showing some gaps compared to their initial target "offer jeans for people of all age and all figures".)

(Most Levi's retail customers only visit the entrance area of the store, while the retail stores' highlights are mostly displayed in the central area.)

03 Interview

I conduct 10 semi-structural interviews with 10 Levi’s target customers to better observe their purchase psychology, understand their demands, and identify pain points and opportunities for Levi’s.

I concluded 3 findings through the interviews.

Based on Levi's customer targets, I selected 10 participants from different age groups, with different jobs and income ranges. And frame questions structure for the interview.

I recorded the interview as audio, extracted the keywords from the content, categorized them into clusters with post-it notes, and identified opportunities.

I concluded 3 findings through the interview.

Finding 03

Finding 04

Finding 05

Customers have unfulfilled needs for a pair of perfect-fitted jeans.

Customers want more introduction and guidance when purchasing jeans in-store.

(“Perfect-fitted Jeans” = fitted size + comfortable, sustainable cotton material + capability to shape better figure)

Customers need sustainability but they are not yet aware of Levi's practice in Denim Sustainability.

04 Information Synthesis

I gathered the 5 findings from the primary research, categorized and synthesized them with post-it notes.

05 The Conclusion

I turned the findings into actionable strategy direction for future design. The following chart shows the process.

What Levi's have:

Pain Points:

Opportunity:

(Actionable Plan)

Professional and historical denim production foundation.

Strong capability to offer various sustainable denim styles and sizes to customers.

Inadequate introductions to jeans.

Inadequate customized jeans services.

Lack in-store highlights to attract and retain young customers.

Levi's need more visualized in-store guidance and new DIY services with interactive equipment to function as an in-store highlight and fulfill their customer's needs. This renovation can also become a new performance for Levi's professionals.

How might Levi’s assist and guide their customers to find a pair of ‘perfect-fitted’ jeans in a renovated retail experience?

03

From Idea to Tangible Solution

Objective

Methodology

Turn the solution direction from Session 2 into a tangible solution(spatial solution), by prototype and iteration.

Interior Conceptual Design, Prototyping, Modeling, 3D rendering...(space design skillset)

Outcome

A Levi's retail space renovation design plan

01 What I Did

Analyzed jeans, human body figures, and the retail store to start the design process.

Sketched, simulated layout plan, and 3d prototyped to ideate and conceptualize the spatial solution that solve the pain points identified in the last project.

Selected materials based on the consideration of the brand tone, feasibility, practicality, and sustainability.

Refined and iterated the design concept, used CAD to finalize the layout plan, used Sketch Up, Revit, and D5 Rendering to create 3D model to simulate, test, and iterate the final design result.

02 Body & Jeans Analysis

Deconstructed human body figure and jeans to better understand detailed components and come up with an ideal customer journey to guide customers find the perfect fitted jeans.

I deconstructed body figures, categorized them into 5 different shapes, and identified the corresponding needs of each shape for jeans.

I then deconstructed jeans to related them with body figures.

03 Store Analysis

Analyzed the store to understand the current layout and the Levi's brand tone within.

I selected a store from the three Levi’s stores observed in project 2. The overall scale is 3500 ft2, and the new renovation plan will be built within this space.

I analyzed the in-store structure, current customer circulation, current customer jeans purchase guide, construction materials, and the in-store brand display.

04 Design Ideation & Iteration

I analyzed the customer journey to better implement a new in-store circulation.

Sketched and simulated to ideate spatial design concept.

Simulated and iterated the solution 3 times, with 3D prototyped and modeling.

I simulated different design possibilities based on the consideration of customer journey, brand tone, construction materials, and etc...

I came up with different layout plans and utilized physical models to quickly assess the plans.

I combined and iterated different design possibilities to reach an optimized outcome.

05 Final Design Outcome

Re-check the key responses and related them with the key findings.

Finalized the solution.

Visualized the outcome with Sketchup, Revit, D5 Rendering, and Photoshop.

I listed the 5 pain points identified from the previous sections and related the key responses from the final solution correspondingly.

Finalized and visualized the outcome, and created explanatory images to demonstrate the solution.

04

Test & Share

Objective

Methodology

Outcome

1. Create a testing system for Levi's to gather customer feedback and make necessary adjustments accordingly if the renovation landed in reality;

2. Create a communication(social media marketing) strategy for Levi's to generate rapid awareness after the renovation.

Testing System Design, Experience Design, UI/UX Design, Social Media Marketing Research, Communication Strategy Design

Offline Testing Feedback, Digital Testing System Structure & Interface Design, Communication Strategy Design

01 What I Did

Conducted 3 rounds of in-person testing to gather feedback.

Created a digital testing platform for Levi's to help them further test the store and gather future customer feedbacks if the spatial design plan landed in reality.

Design the online user journey and experience combining with the spatial design plan.

Design the user interface (UI).

Create a short-term marketing campaign communication strategy for Levi's to expand their awareness.

02 In-person Testing

Conducted 3 rounds of in-person testing with physical store simulation model to gather feedback.

I invited 3 groups of Levi's target customers to join the test. I showed them physical models and explained the solution.

Feedback:

Some in-store details might be missed without a direct guide.

The practicality of the cabinet screens is doubtful.

The construction cost might be a little bit high for such a retail store.

Will the store become hard to maintain?

03 Digital Testing Platform Design

Designed a digital testing platform for Levi's for their future store testing and customer feedback gathering.

I analyzed the stakeholders, the target customer journeys, and the store layout to map the anchors for testing.

I finalized the functions and constructed the platform structure with the framework logically.

I started from low-fidelity interface to iterate the user journey for 3 times.
I then turned the low-fidelity interface into high-fidelity interface with consideration of the brand tone and user visual experience.

04 Communication Strategy Design

Create a short-term marketing campaign communication strategy for Levi's to expand their short-term awareness after the store landed.

I first researched the current social media platform (platform landscape, top content category, etc) in China, then select the best option for Levi's.

I further researched the selected platform with 2 case studies.

I created a content strategy for the communication plan, with detailed post content, budget setting, and result measurement.

The End

Self-Reflection

Through this full-plan strategy across the whole Design Thinking process. I obtained a clearer and deeper understand towards Design Thinking, and have developed solid skills bridging all the gaps along Design Thinking.

I learned how to conduct and identified insights from deep primary and secondary human-centric research, and turn them into solid actionable design solutions.

I am clear about my passion in Strategic Design.

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