Daring, stupid, wild and innovative, are some of the campaigns that the biggest jeans brands in the country are currently running. In an attempt to connect with today's youth, wacky and out-of-the box below-the-line (BTL) marketing campaigns are being used, in an obvious bid to build brand connect and appeal to one's intellect (okay not really the latter).

Spykar is encouraging youth to get creative with denim

Take a look at what Levi's, Wrangler, Spykar, Diesel and Pepe's marketing teams are up to these days, and one will notice that brand building and brand positioning are the key focus area for them, as they attempt to build a loyal customer base amidst this ever changing market.

Spykar Jeans currently has a contest running, "Denim regeneration,' which is specifically aimed towards fashion designing students, even though anyone who wants can participate. The basic objective of the contest is to make something out of your old denims. It could be clothes or accessories like wallets, bands etc. The top five winners get various prizes which include digital cameras, PSPs, etc. Also the winners will receive internships with the company. This contest is a part of the company's pan India brand building campaign, and it's being promoted in all the Spykar stores.

Wrangler is targeting women to its macho wear

Wrangler is sticking to its image of being rough, tough and wild, with its latest spring summer 2010 "Dirt Bike Denim" collection. Wrangler India marketing manager Anshul Chaturvedi feels, "The brand is associated with a rugged masculine image and is keen on cashing in on that. It is what differentiates Wrangler from others. While male customers are the prime focus, the brand is now trying to rope in more women customers."

The new dirt bike denim campaign focuses on the action, adventure and thrills of dirt bike and motorcar racing, with roughed up, greased and washed down denim jeans, and traditional biker shirts being a part of this new offering. While the posters and hoarding typically show a guy and his bike sporting the new Wrangler collection, there is of course a good looking biker girl by his side, showing off the latest in women's wear by Wrangler, which include racer back and off shoulder tees, molly fit jeans and much more.

Wrangler's strategy for BTL marketing seems simple and time tested. It is strengthening its brand position by maintaining the brand's macho image across all its campaigns (the previous one being 'forever wild'), and even though the posters and hoardings of the cool jeans, nice bikes and hot girls are such a cliché, maybe they appeal to today's youth and their wild side.

Diesel exploited "Be stupid" to create brand awareness and stand out from the rest of the pack

Diesel jeans, which has tied up with Reliance Brands in India, probably has one of the wackiest BTL marketing campaigns ever seen in the country. "Be stupid" the Diesel campaign which was started before its first store even opened, was meant to create hype, curiosity and publicity. Celebrities sported the "Be stupid" tee shirts at social dos and in various public events. Be stupid merchandise and stickers along with tee shirts were distributed,

Posters, store walls, flyers, and banners carried sayings like "Smart may have the brains but stupid have the balls,' "The stupid are the only ones carrying the banner of interesting", "Smart may have the plans…but stupid has the stories" "Smart had one good idea…and that idea was stupid."

In fact, even the Mumbai marathon had wacky "be stupid" banners around, while there was even a "be stupid" party amongst other promotional activities done for this campaign. The Reliance brands marketing team felt "This campaign has been very well received. The teasers generated the right curiosity, the response has been really good and the campaign will continue as it is in line with the philosophy of the brand."

Levis is rewarding youth who have it through its "change the world" campaign

Levi's current 'Change your World' campaign is being done in order to celebrate its completion of 15 years in India, apart from further strengthening of its brand.

The campaign includes three major initiatives. The first initiative is to identify 15 youngsters, through an online process, who embody the personality of Levi's and support them with fellowships of Rs 100,000 each. The second initiative is to identify a promising rock band for which the company will produce a music video featuring Priyanka Chopra. The band will also be given an opportunity of going on a three-city tour. And, the third initiative of this "Change the world" campaign is in association with Chevrolet and Apple, where the brand is giving customised Chevy Beats, iPhones, Mac Books and iPod Shuffles to youngsters who wear Levi's accessories.

The campaign was launched on 9 April, across 40 cities in India and is expected to reach more than 25 million people. To create the required impact, over a 160 plus billboards, 80 plus bus shelters, 25 plus facades, multiplexes, 80 plus bus wraps, 100 plus cantilevers, 90 plus road medians, 70 plus kiosks, 40 plus Café Coffee Day outlets, 50 plus gantries, 80 plus unipoles and more than five mobile vans were used.

For a better response the media were carefully mixed and balanced according to the city. In Mumbai a greater focus was on cantilevers whereas in Delhi it was on ambient media.

Levi's India senior manager Vishal Bhalla said, "The Levi's change your world campaign is one that we are particularly excited about. I cannot overstate the stellar role that the team at Percept, led by Ovez, has played in amplifying the campaign, and giving it the scale and stature befitting such an initiative." The over all outdoor and ambient spend by Levis on this campaign was approximately Rs 40 million.

Pepe Jeans, is playing up its fashionable and stylish positioning

The Pepe spring summer '10 collection introduces a contemporary and versatile range of highly trendy designs and the latest styles for the season. The collection is an ideal blend of high street elegance, eclectic bohemian styles and relaxed tomboy looks for women. For the men, the collection emphasises on high street fashion, classic summer and resort wear, promoting a more relaxed look and feel. To attract the appropriate target group and create visibility the outdoor medium is being used. The campaign is youth centric and its main objective is to introduce a larger than life image of the brand as well as serve the purpose of brand building.

The outdoor campaign, executed by Moms, Madison's OOH division, principally focuses on Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur, Cochin and Kolkata. Pepe Jeans has strategically chosen a cluster of sites on Mumbai's Mahim Causeway to create a larger than life impact in a high morning traffic area. Also, innovation has been carried out in their Bandra (in suburban Mumbai) hoardings to stand out, using a lighting technology which has been introduced to partially light them up; thus attempting to break the clutter and grab attention from the passer-by. Apart from this it has also used mobile vans, wherein Pepe Jeans brand ambassador Alexa Chung has been highlighted through a huge cut-out.

"In India a very large audience falls under the age group 25 and 35 years respectively and that is the age group Pepe targets. The positioning has been consistently fashionable and stylish in terms of communication (advertising and promotions) and we planned to use the outdoor medium to be highly visible at all strategic location in the targeted cities," says PJL Clothing India director Chetan Shah.

Clearly, with the denim players sharply positioning and differentiating themselves and getting hyper on the promotion front, the jeans market will definitely expand further. And that is exactly what are they hoping will happen.