Do you want to know what a woman wants? Ask Levi's

Ivonne Kinser

When I came across Levi's Fitting Experience Platform I was not sure if I was more fascinated by the product they had created, or by the brilliant social media approach. Levi's Digital Fitting Experience is, without a doubt, one of the most significant global digital campaigns to date, executed by the brand that invented jeans for women nearly 75 years ago, and that is today using digital as the backbone of a global product launch.

Levi's Experience provides women with engaging content and personalized tools to demystify the process of finding perfect-fitting jeans, based on their shape, not size. Women are able to identify their Levi’s CURVE ID fit by completing an interactive quiz and following a simple step-by-step measurement process.

According to research conducted by the brand, 54% of women try on at least 10 pairs of jeans before finding "the one", yet when the jeans don’t fit, women blame themselves. Was Levi's really listening to the internal dialogue women have with themselves when trying on jeans? According to Mary Alderete, Levi’s vice president of global women's marketing, they indeed were. By interpreting the numerous insights of study participants, Levi's was able to create a new system that added to the traditional dimensions of jeans – length and width – by adding a third dimension; shape. "From now on, it is shape that counts, not size".

Levi's strategy - A perfect fit for the Hispanic market
Whether or not Levi's decides to translate its digital platform into Spanish, the product and the message are naturally relevant to the Hispanic woman. Fashion is fashion, but when it comes to shopping for jeans, Latinas look for what fits their body type, which tends to be different not only from the Anglo woman's body type, but from other Latinas as well.

Women from Central America often have more Aztec blood mixed with European, so they tent to be shorter than those from South America who often have greater European mix. Central American and Mexican women, often look for petite versions of clothes to fit their smaller frame.

The body shape of Latinas from South America often resembles that of women from Spain, not very curvy, but not as tall as the Anglo woman either. Many Latinas that come from the Caribbean, (Cubans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans) often have a mix of African blood so their body types tend to be more curvy and resemble more those of African-American women. These women are looking for clothes that accentuate curves and are not designed for the less curvy South American woman.

Finally a jeans manufacturer that can please all Latinas and Anglo women with one product.
In order to develop its CURVE ID line, Levi's conducted extensive research that showed that 80% of women around the world fall into three distinct body shapes, so one size could never fit all. Their goal was to engage women online with their interactive, custom fit experience that matches them with their perfect Levi’s® CURVE ID fit whether they are a Slight Curve, Demi Curve or Bold Curve. Or should we say whether she is Anglo, Mexican, Argentinean, Puerto Rican or Colombian?

However we want to put it, this may forever change the way women shop for jeans.