Dockers® takes to LinkedIn to prove you don’t need a suit

For the last three years, the Levi Strauss-owned Dockers® brand has been on a journey to engage modern professionals with its vision of workplace fashion. In the 1980s, its ground-breaking ‘Casual Fridays’ campaign made Dockers® synonymous with the concept of smart casual, and built one of the fastest-growing fashion brands in history. That initiative involved writing letters to the heads of more than 25,000 HR departments to promote a new way of engaging employees. When it came to re-igniting the conversation though, Dockers had a more powerful platform at its disposal. 

“30 years on, we found we have a platform called LinkedIn that’s perfectly suited to engaging professionals at all levels,” says Joan Calabia, Director Brand Marketing for Dockers® Europe. “It’s where a modern, contemporary brand that’s born at work needs to be.”

The Challenge:

•        Build awareness of the Dockers® brand among millennials
•        Re-connect the brand to lapsed audiences among Gen X and boomers
•        Reinvigorate the conversation around fashion at work

The Solution:

•        Striking video ad campaign with young professional overcoming an empty suit in a wrestling match
•      Campaign message that “to change the world, you don’t need a suit”
•      Integrated content and advertising including Carousel Ads showcasing Smart360Flex designs and The New Casual Book guide to workplace fashion
•      Targeting decision-makers on workplace culture, job switchers and young professionals starting careers

Why LinkedIn?

•      The destination for the world’s professionals
•       Ability to build awareness and update perceptions at scale
•      Targeting capabilities
•       Engagement levels for content, video and Carousel Ads

Results:

•       The campaign achieved 57% market penetration and over-delivered on every KPI, with tracking studies showing significant rises in brand equity
•      The engagement rate for video ads beat LinkedIn benchmarks by 31% 
•      The Carousel Ad click-through rate (CTR) outperformed benchmarks by 33%