Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG Brand

The director of marketing for Levi Strauss Canada needs to decide the future fate of the GWG brand, a fallen giant in the Canadian jeans market. For the last three years, GWG had been licensed to a small manufacturer, who has failed to meet the requirements in the license agreement. While the director is keen to use some of the latent brand equity in GWG, she know that Levi's and Dockers brands come first and that she can not divert marketing dollars towards the brand's revival. As well, she must be careful to manage her small but powerful portfolio of brands in the five main channels without cannibalizing the already declining volumes of the Levi's brand.