Levi Strauss is working hard to make itself a global brand. To that end, Levi’s has been beefing up its human capital, the better to bring its global campaign and corporate citizenship message to the world.

The brand just hired Beto Guajardo from Avon to serve as global VP of strategy, following its recent hiring of Rebecca Van Dyck as global CMO, a marketing whiz who Bloomberg reports “led Nike Inc.’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign and helped Apple make the iPhone a best-seller,” to help revive the Levi’s brand.

“I had always worn Levi’s, but they sort of drifted away in my mind,” said Van Dyck, who was wearing Levi’s (of course) and prefers to go by "Becca," to Bloomberg's reporter. “I want us to be present and show up and be confident, and that’s going to be appealing to young people as well as old people who grew up with Levi’s.”Continue reading...

Gap is turning to storytelling in its new global campaign, promoting its 1969 premium denim collection with "real people" (to start with, the team behind the collection, at its Los Angeles denim studio) and some other local touches, including tapping into the mobile truck craze and even featuring the studio's resident dog.

The first major campaign by the brand's new CMO, former Ogilvy exec Seth Farbman, the "1969: L.A. and Beyond" campaign aims to tell "the story of its 1969 fall collection from the inside out. Starting with the personalities behind the denim, 1969: L.A. and Beyond gives a transparent look at the designers and how they come together each day to create the latest in denim fits, fabrics and washes. Taking it from the studio to the real world, the campaign also shows how the denim comes to life in various cities by the people who wear it."Continue reading...

In a reverse marketing strategy, Levis Strauss this week brings its successful Asian denim brand, dENiZEN, to North America, just as it exports its US marketing campaign internationally.

The dENiZEN jeans are now exclusively available at Target, with an all-American marketing push and special offer: like the brand's dENiZEN US Facebook page and become eligible to win a reward ranging from a $3 rebate on the purchase of a pair of the jeans, a free Target gift card, or a free pair of dENiZEN jeans.Continue reading...

The latest "World Map of Social Networks," confirms Facebook’s global dominance in social media, with nearly 700 million users; but, while gaining users abroad, Facebook is losing U.S. fans. Or is it?Continue reading...

The Ford brand is coming into focus — make that Focus — globally, with the imminent launch of the Ford Focus globally.

For the most accomplished global automotive brand of the last two years, Ford has been lying a bit low lately. Expect that to change beginning Tuesday, however, when Ford introduces its crucial new Focus subcompact in the US with TV ads on American Idol. 

Ford brand marketers met with journalist this week in New York to talk up the fact that the 2012 Focus is the company’s first truly global car.Continue reading...

Among whiskey aficionados world over, single-malt Scotch consistently ranks high in cachet. But in the UK itself, drinkers can’t seem to get enough American bourbon, and the American invasion shows no signs of stopping.

Bourbon sales in the UK rose by 25% between 2005 and 2009, and are forecast to increase by another 22% up to 2014, according to International Wine and Spirits Research figures. Meanwhile, Scotch whisky sales have fallen off by 11% in the UK between 2005 and 2009. Criticism in some quarters has focused on Scotch brands’ marketing strategies.

It’s not all bad news for Scotch: Global sales are still three times that of American whiskies and growing.

Looks like some Canadians, too, increasingly prefer their American cousins’ hooch: While overall whiskey sales in British Columbia fell 2% in the year that ended November 2010, American whiskey grew 9%. High-end American whiskey, which sells for more than $30 Canadian per bottle, grew by a whopping 35%.