Levi Strauss & Co. reported a year-on-year drop in first-quarter sales this week but its share price still surged more than 12% Thursday—and analysts say it was partly due to the power of Beyonce. The star has made a pivot to country music and her new song "Levii's Jeans" is expected to give the brand a big boost, Business Insider reports. In 2016, sales at Red Lobster jumped 33% after Beyonce mentioned the chain in an NSFW line in her song "Formation." Levi's has changed the spelling on its Instagram page to mirror the title of Beyonce's song, which is a collaboration with Post Malone.
"I would just say that denim is having a moment and the Levi's brand is having a powerful moment around the world," CEO Michelle Gass said on an earning call. Asked whether the Beyonce song had boosted sales, she said the company works hard to make sure Levi's "remains in the center of culture. And I don't think there's any better evidence or proof point than having someone like Beyonce, who is a culture shaper, to actually name a song after us." The company predicted stronger profits than previously expected and a full-year rise in sales of up to 3%, reports CNBC.
The company reported stronger than expected profit despite the 8% drop in sales, thanks to cost-cutting measures including a reduction of up to 15% of its global workforce. With recent media coverage of Levi's mostly focusing on management shake-ups, Beyonce's song couldn't have come at a better time for the company, writes Joe Berkowitz at Fast Company. He describes the song, with lyrics like "I'll let you be my Levi's jeans," as "the business equivalent of Beyonce granting saddle space on the white horse from her album's cover art and riding off with the brand into the sunset." (More Beyonce stories.)
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