Lee is reasserting its legacy as a American denim brand founded in 1889 with a new brand platform and global advertising campaign. The effort also marks the first expression of a fresh creative vision meant to help the brand forge a stronger connection with a new generation.
“Built Like Lee” celebrates Lee’s heritage, optimism and craftsmanship (the brand claims to be the first to use a zipper in jeans in the 1920s). The campaign spans connected TV, social media, in-store, influencer partnerships and out-of-home events and is the first effort produced by Lee alongside creative agency Yard. Beyond the denim itself, “Built Like Lee” spotlights the people who wear the pants — people the brand describes as future builders and go-getters.
“The iconic skylines, the world we live in now was built by people wearing Lee, and we wanted to take that heritage and align it with the builders of today and the builders of tomorrow,” said Ruth Bernstein, CEO of Yard, of the Lee brand.
A 30-second spot soundtracked to a version of Mt. Joy’s “Come With Me” begins with the line: “Some chase perfection, others chase possibility." A diverse cast is depicted on the go and wearing items like the Lee Rider jacket and 101 jean, among others. The brand's signature button — which has been stitched into its denim for over a century — is spotlighted throughout as a visual cue to togetherness.
“Where some see walls the builder sees a window, where some see challenges the builder sees possibility — the script was really about embodying this and celebrating the mindset of the builder and inviting everyone else to join,” Bernstein said.
Bringing heritage to the next generation
Lee’s brand platform and creative vision were informed by in-depth consumer research, including a segmentation study to help the company better understand current fans of the brand and future-proof its marketing strategy for the next generation. Among the findings, the study revealed its core consumer to be someone looking for essentials and wanting to feel both comfortable and put together. They crave authenticity and trust from a brand.
The study also revealed an opportunity segment, which the brand describes as a younger, “trendy sophisticate” consumer, said Brigid Stevens, Lee’s vice president of global brand marketing. The exec described those shoppers as people with a classic style who may not wear the boldest, TikTok-viral fashions, but instead wish to define trends through their own lens.
“I think the campaign perfectly reflects that,” Stevens said. “A lot of the styles and silhouettes you’ll see are ones that resonate with both of those consumer segments, but also have been a part of our brand for the last 100-plus years.”
Calling back to Lee’s past is key to asserting its legacy, but the move was also inspired by younger consumers, many of whom are discovering iconic styles from the ‘90s and early aughts for the first time through secondhand and vintage markets. As the brand looks to expand its reach, it’s important for its creative work to be reflective of society at large, Stevens said. “Built Like Lee” is expected to be a multiyear platform.
“We are a brand that has been around for 135 years and will be around for the next 135 years, so we really want this to be a brand that is a reflection of our modern, diverse world so that consumers can see themselves in it,” she said.
Absent from its campaign is the use of celebrity talent, an intentional choice as part of Lee’s strategy to focus more on the brand story and consumer that distinguishes it from the recent work of its competitors. Notably, ads without a celebrity performed better in early testing, according to Stevens, though the team hasn’t ruled out using celebrities in the future.
“This spot needed to be about Lee — it needed to be about Lee and the consumers who wear our product,” Stevens said. “There’s lots of cultural relevancy putting a face to a brand, it creates excitement, but I think our goal was expressing our new creative vision from a brand perspective and reintroducing this next generation of consumers to who Lee is."
‘New places and spaces’
A digital-first media plan was intentional for “Built Like Lee” as part of its efforts to reach younger audiences. The campaign spans Peacock, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu and YouTube along with social platforms TikTok and Meta and audio platform Spotify. The effort, which debuted Sept. 15 across the U.S. and Europe and has since expanded to regions including Mexico and South America, will also include events in New York and Paris, the latter of which will bring together editors, tastemakers and influencers who embody the campaign’s ethos.
Lee’s effort comes on the heels of a number of other denim-focused campaigns from brands like Gap and American Eagle, the latter of which found itself embroiled in controversy for its tie-up with actress Sydney Sweeney. Amid a consumer shopping landscape that can be tumultuous, agency Yard worked to align closely with the correlation between Lee and its target consumers, Bernstein explained. “Built Like Lee” was conceptualized and launched over the course of six months after Yard was awarded the Lee account in March.
“We were just leaning into what is true about Lee and its natural connection. I think that the work that was done around insights, both cultural and consumer, allowed us to really connect to builders,” Bernstein said. “It’s not there for provocation, it’s there more as an invitation.”
Lee’s platform arrives as it looks to recover from revenue declines. The company reported global revenue of $166 million in the second quarter, a decrease of 6% year over year. Parent Kontoor Brands, which also owns Wrangler and outdoor clothing brand Helly Hansen, saw an 8% YoY revenue increase during the same period and boosted its full-year outlook, crediting its multiyear Project Jeanius transformation initiative, which commenced last year and is focused on boosting profitability by simplifying processes and systems.
Beyond its latest campaign, Lee has poured resources into new products and collaborations. In August, the brand teamed with Crayola for a line of creative apparel nodding to both brands’ Americana heritage. In March, the company linked with Los Angeles-based retailer Buck Mason for a menswear collection of 1940s vintage-inspired denim apparel. The same month, Lee also teamed with design company Paul Smith to reimagine the denim brand’s iconic styles.
The recent partnerships are strategic to Lee’s goals to align with like-minded brands that also embody an entrepreneurial spirit, Stevens explained. The efforts are also a sign of where the brand is heading as it attempts to grow loyalty with what it hopes will become the next generation of Lee loyalists.
“If you’re looking at where Lee showed up a year ago, we’re showing up in new places and spaces where this new consumer target is,” Stevens said. “The brand has really been evolving through the lens of the consumer, which I think is a true unlock.”
