The Indicator | October 4th, 2024

By Sonal Gandhi
Chief Content Officer at The Lead

A few big-name partnerships in the news this week including Levi’s campaign featuring Beyoncé, LVMH’s partnership with Formula 1 and QVC’s with USA Pickleball. Meanwhile ABG completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Champion from Hanes and is planning to expand the Champion athletic wear brand globally.

'HAPPENINGS'

'INNOVATION MOVES'

Levi’s announced a global campaign with Beyoncé called “REIIMAGINE” which will unfold over four chapters, leaning heavily on the history of the company. It became apparent for executives at Levi’s after the release of “Cowboy Carter” that Beyoncé could be the key to achieving one of the company’s top strategies: convincing more women to shop the brand. Levi’s wants to bump the percentage of the brand’s female shoppers to 50% from a third. (NY Times

LVMH and Formula 1 announced a decade-long partnership to begin in 2025. As part of the deal, several LVMH brands including Louis VuittonMoët Hennessy and TAG Heuer will enjoy sponsorship opportunities across the sport. Formula 1 has also enjoyed booming cultural appeal in recent years, leading to interest from sports giants like Puma and streetwear brands. (Business of Fashion

QVC has partnered with USA Pickleball to stream the sport exclusively on its platforms, starting with the 2024 National Championships. By integrating live sports with its shopping experience, QVC aims to enhance audience engagement and capitalize on pickleball’s rapid growth in the US. (CNBC)

CPG Startups like PoppiHilmaJacobsen Salt Co. and Spring & Mulberry are leaning into social media giveaways to let people know about their availability within mass-market retailers. Giveaways are also a way to drive social media engagement and increase follower counts at a time when CPG startups are competing with hundreds of other brands for attention online. Giveaways also help create enough in-store awareness and have become a part of these brands’ retail marketing playbook. (Modern Retail

The North Face expanded its Renewed trade-in program allowing customers to return pre-owned items online and in stores. The North Face will give customers brand credit for each qualifying used piece that can be resold. Accepted pieces will be inspected, cleaned and repaired before being offered for resale via the brand’s Renewed online store. (Retail Dive)

Amazon has launched five new visual search features. To help users sift through a range of similar items, Amazon has introduced visual suggestions which display products similar to the search term they’ve typed. The “more like this” feature showcases comparable items and speeds up search. Shoppers can also see product videos for the items they’re seeking without clicking on a product. The company now allows shoppers to add text to their Amazon Lens image search. Shoppers can also isolate items by circling what they would like to search within an image they have uploaded to Amazon Lens. (Retail Dive

'Financial Moves'

  • Authentic Brands Group completed its acquisition of Champion from HanesBrands and partners with Ames Watson (GearCO)AMG Companies, BBC and Gildan.

  • Off White (lifestyle brand) was sold by LVMH to Blue Star Alliance.

  • Moschino (fashion brand backed by Aeffe) sold its beauty rights to Euroitalia.

  • Levi’s Inc has begun to seek strategic alternatives for the Dockers brand and may put it up for sale.

  • Lucky Energy (energy drink) raised a $11.8M Series A from Brand Foundry Ventures, among others.

  • Marlo (women’s health) raised an investment from Love x Money Ventures.

  • True Beauty Ventures invested in Sofia Pavitt Face.

  • Perelel (Women’s Wellness) acquired Loom (educational community platform for reproductive health, sexual wellness, and parenting education). 

Financial Moves Powered by MMG Advisors

'Career Moves'

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