Marketing Insight – Crocs’ reputation had them shaking in their shoes

While Crocs first positioned itself in the market as a functional shoe used for various water activities, word soon spread about their practicality and comfortability. Crocs quickly became “the shoe” to wear when sprucing up the garden, pottering around the house and even for nurses and chefs who are on their feet all day.

It was clear Crocs had an outstanding product and if it could be marketed to a wider audience, this could really accelerate the growth of its sales. Crocs had one key challenge it had to overcome first: moving brand perception away from “fashion disaster”. 2008 was a difficult year, Crocs faced a total net income loss of 185 million dollars and to top it off, in 2010 the shoe brand was included in the list of 50 Worst Inventions in Times Magazine. Even in 2016, Google search rankings revealed “memes” was the third most common word linked to Crocs on the search platform. The brand knew it had to change direction and switch things up.

Media Innovation – The shoe is on the other foot

Collaborations and partnerships have played a key role in Crocs’ successful marketing strategy, with a wide range of high-profile celebrities, fashion designers and brands getting on board. Limited edition Crocs even saw the likes of KFC releasing the fried chicken Croc.

The brand’s strategic choice of celebrity collaborations has been the primary driver behind its success. Instead of opting for partnerships with celebs who are under the spotlight, the brand cleverly partnered up with legitimate fans of the brand. We saw this exemplified with the likes of Justin Bieber and Post Malone. These marketing campaigns blew up because fans of these celebs saw a genuine collaboration, rather than false advertising for commercial benefit.

Partnerships saw Crocs transform its brand perception from being a practical product to one that had entered the fashion arena. The most iconic partnership was in 2021 with Balenciaga and the $850 high heel Croc which sold out in a matter of hours. This unlikely relationship created so much buzz, leading to a ton of free PR that most brands would pay a great deal for. Love them or hate them, everyone was speaking about the Croc brand and as Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga’s creative director, says: “fashion is subjective”.

Strategically choosing who to partner with was Crocs’ first step to collaboration success. Its second was tactfully limiting the availability of these high-profile collabs. Economics 101 states that by limiting supply you drive up demand and Crocs certainly capitalised on this theory. By deliberately constraining product supply, consumers are driven to buy these Crocs as quickly as possible before they sell out. The best example of this was with Bad Bunny’s Crocs, which sold out within 16 minutes and led to 1,300 fans signing a petition for Crocs to release more.

While Crocs saw huge success from these high-profile collaborations, it didn’t ignore the importance of smaller influencers too.  Crocs knew that by focusing on micro-influencers, it could appeal to a wider and more engaged audience. Whilst these influencers may have a smaller following, their followers are usually extremely loyal. The inclusion of influencers into Crocs’ marketing campaigns meant that social media played a critical role. Influencer’s weren’t the only people showcasing Crocs across social media platforms, the brand also encourages its customers to share their love for Crocs.  The “Come As You Are” campaign urged people to share what makes them unique with the hashtag #ComeAsYouAre. This user-generated content builds trust and acts as free advertising for the brand. To further broadcast the campaign, Crocs created a musical style ad with brand-ambassador Drew Barrymore singing the lyrics “get comfortable in your own shoes”.

Accelerating Growth – Hitting the ground running

Since 2017, when new CEO Andrew Rees joined the brand, the success of Crocs’ marketing efforts is undeniable with a long list of positive results and achievements. The brand went from the 50 Worst Inventions list in 2010 to Amazon’s number one best-selling product across clothing, shoes and jewellery in 2022. Two years after Rees joined, Crocs jumped from 30^th to 13^th most popular footwear brand amongst American teens.

Popularity surveys aside, Crocs’ figures speak for themselves. The brand saw huge success after being unprofitable for four out of eight of the years between 2009 and 2016. Not only did its revenue double between 2019 and 2021, but its net profit also increased five-fold. Many cynics suggested the cause of this success was purely due to fact that people were sourcing an “at home” pandemic shoe, and growth wasn’t sustainable. But Crocs proved this theory wrong when it saw year-on-year net revenue grow 54% in 2022 and a further 11% in 2023.

Having powered through the notion of being a “pandemic fad”, it is still up for debate whether Crocs will wind up just another dated fashion trend. However, the brand has proven the power of partnership marketing. It’s seen great success by widening its audience and aligning itself expertly with the right influences and brands. Whether you love them or hate them, what was once considered an ugly shoe is now a fashion statement.