Why Levi Strauss moves fast and puts values before profit

Sam Peña-Taylor

The CMO of US apparel company Levi Strauss explores lessons from the pandemic and where the brand goes next.

Early in the pandemic, when the situation was volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, the American apparel company Levi’s shut its stores around the world.

“There wasn’t revenue coming in, we didn’t know when they’d be able to reopen so we definitely went into a mode where we pulled back on our spending,” explained Jennifer Sey, chief marketing officer at Levi Strauss & Co., speaking during Lions Live (October 2020). But the brand needed to remain connected to its customers and online followers.

Pulling spend did not necessarily mean pulling presence, but trying to sell product aggressively didn’t feel right. “We...

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