Levi’s and Sustainability: A Classic Fit

A new cause marketing contest called Care to Air will hit the internet starting June 1st from Levi’s.  Levi’s has smartly positioned themselves as a Cause Crusader in the sustainability realm and they’re wearing it supremely well. This new campaign is a seamless extension of their long-stranding pledge to sustainability – big brands wanting to know how it’s done would be well advised to take a lesson from Levi’s.

Levi’s is doing so very many things right that other apparel companies (and all brands) could learn from:

Top Level Ambassadors

At Levi’s it’s not just the sustainability officer that is a well-versed ambassador of the company’s commitment to sustainable practices.  After reading CEO John Anderson’s speech at UC Berkeley earlier this year, it’s very apparent that the entire company stands behind Levi’s pledge to sustainability, from the top levels down.  It pervades their strategy, culture and communications at all levels.  Not only does Levi’s view themselves as a committed corporate citizen, they’re also taking responsibility to be a leader and role model.

Anderson comments,

Companies have been talking about green policies for some time now. But today — perhaps more than ever — we in business need to establish a new level of leadership in sustainability. We need a more rigorous and systematic way of illustrating the problem — and solving it.

Looking Beyond Your Own Backyard

While Levi’s could’ve easily patted themselves on the back for all the good they were doing in the world and to implement sustainable practices within their own four walls, Levi’s chose a much wider world-view.

Again, CEO John Anderson,

We wanted to build a rigorous and credible assessment of our own impact on sustainability. Something that was science-based and led by an independent third-party. We wanted to understand not just the programs we had started, but the real impact of our products in their entire life-cycle. A cradle-to-grave study.

Our instinct was that if we understood the full scope of our impact, we could create a sustainability program that was far more comprehensive and meaningful. And we also felt that understanding our true impact would give us the clarity to articulate our vision and set priorities for our environmental work around the world.

Levi’s had an independent Life Cycle Assessment done on their primary products and were surprised to find out that the biggest impact their products had on the environment were outside of their direct control – namely their raw input of cotton and how consumers cared for their products after purchase.

Using A Trusted Brand to Leverage Change

Not only did Levi’s make the commitment to investigate the real impact of their products, they took the results, surprising as they were, and made the conscious decision to use their influence to impact change.  Anderson explained,

We realized that if we were going to talk about sustainability — and talk about it seriously — we needed to stretch well beyond our immediate business. We need to think about how we might harness the power of our brands to address issues as big as cotton and the washing machine.

Apparently, identifying sources of cotton is a tricky proposition since it’s a commodity.  But Levi’s rolled up their sleeves and got to work.  They used their buying power to advocate for more humane practices in different cotton-supplying areas of the world and set a goal to build a sustainable cotton supply chain.

Levi’s leveraged their over 130 years of consumer trust to educate consumers by changing their care tags to include, “washing in cold water”, “line drying” and “donating unwanted clothing”.  And they haven’t stopped there.  The June 1st “Care to Air” campaign will engage consumers to find innovative ways to air-dry clothing with $10,000 in prizes.  Part of the reason this is effective is their long-standing history of consumer trust.  But the other part of the equation is the fact that Levi’s is walking its talk and asking the consumer to walk alongside them toward a common goal.

Partner Up

From their partnership with Goodwill to donate used clothing to their collaboration with other brands and retailers in an organization called the Better Cotton Initiative to their partnership with The Alliance to Save Energy and P&G, Levi’s recognizes the value of leveraging partnerships to affect real change.  Although they are making an enormous internal effort, they’re willing to check their corporate ego at the door for the sake of collaboration and industry impact.

Clear and Realistic Baby Steps

Levi’s messaging is clear and concise.  As a consumer, it’s easy to figure out why you should care about the sustainability issue.  How wearing Levi’s has an impact on the environment.  What your part of the equation is.  What difference you’ll make when you participate.  Period.  End of story.  Want more information or background?  It’s all there but Levi’s doesn’t drown their customers in information but rather provides the bottom line basics and asks the consumer to make the right choice.

For other industry leaders, CEO John Anderson offers these similarly “bottom line” basics:

• First, establish common measurements, measure the right things, and do it rigorously. It is the only way to really and honestly understand the impact your business has on the environment.
• Second, look beyond your company’s walls, and even well beyond its immediate business activities. Like it or not, we are all part of an ecosystem, and you can exert real influence on it.
• Third, engage your suppliers and your customers. Expand your sphere of influence. Help them understand your values by sharing your insights with them. They will be better partners and stakeholders as a result.
• And finally, build your commitment to sustainability into your culture, your business goals, your operations, your public presence. Sustainability isn’t an initiative or a project. It’s a world view.

What do you think of the new Care to Air campaign?  Did you realize how involved Levi’s was in the sustainability realm?  Does it change your opinion of Levi’s at all?  As always, your comments are encouraged and welcomed!

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Image credit to imelda.