Over the past six years, rigorous marketing efforts have transformed Crocs perception to become one of the most appealing footwear retailers. A dedicated positioning strategy based on “comfort” and “individual expression” was well intended to capitalize on recent buying changes dictated by younger consumer markets. In a time where comfort culture, individual expression, social connectivity, and compassion were ever more important, Crocs was able to bridge the gap and join the voices of the new generation.
Prioritizing personalization as their brand ethos, adopting a digital first strategy and then blanketing the market with authentic collaborations have powered the brand into a sphere of influence amongst Gen Z consumers.
Owning the social conversations for their iconic yet “ugly” clogs, Crocs has shifted the perception of their clogs as a badge of honor for an expression of confidence and garnering attention.
Through both rational and emotional appeal, Crocs was able to master the art of shifting narrative and perception by handing over the power to the public to express themselves in the distinct categories of “comfort” and “self expression” to grow widespread acclaim and demand around the world.
In 2016, a quick Google Image search of the term “crocs” would lead one to a comical number of memes, solely dedicated to mocking what was perceived as the ultimate fashion disaster at the time. Yet, in the last seven years, the memes have been replaced by impressive headlines as the brand transformed itself into an ‘iconic’ fashion statement that’s embraced by celebrities, fashion houses, and become a staple for the Generation Z without changing a thing about its product. In a press release just last year, Andrew Rees, the Chief Executive Officer of the public company, confidently stated of their path to growth of over $5 billion in sales by 2026 (Crocs Inc., 2021).
To explain the resurgence of Crocs, the term ‘positioning’, coined by the Jack Trou and Al Reis in the 1980’s is at the root of the transformative strategy that would establish Crocs as a mainstay fashion item with a cult following that has struck a chord with Gen Z. While maintaining the ethos of “comfort” as one of the core distinctive features of the brand, a new marketing strategy guided by a digitally led, social first approach appealed to a whole new target audience, leaned into controversy and tension around the brand, and owned a new ethos of self-expression that was further reinforced by the right collaborations and an incredible sense of community and brand connection.
The value based positioning that Crocs established to inform their marketing strategy roots back to the company’s inception in 2002. Crocs were founded in the early 2000s by three friends – Scott Seamans, George Boedecker, and Lyndon Hanson - with the simple idea of creating a foam boating shoe. The value in the show was its proprietary foam material, called “Croslite” that provided a lightweight, form fitting, material that was also waterproof . The acquisition of exclusive rights to Croslite technology established the competitive advantage that Crocs still maintains at the root of their vision today: “The Most Delightfully Comfortable Shoes In The World”, as stated on the homepage of their website (Crocs.com).
However, beyond the comfort, there was one more differentiating feature that was hard to ignore: the unusual design. Specifically, their first model, the clog style, became a huge point of divisiveness online. In 2010, the company was featured on Time’s “The 50 Worst Inventions” list (Oloffson, 2010). Between 2016 and 2019 Croc’s sales struggled as interests in the infamous clog style shoes declined and the brand shut down 160 retail stores (McCann, 2022).
It was not until Crocs began aggressively embracing the unique clogs as part of their positioning strategy that the company found a new surge of popularity in 2017. Rather than exploring new designs and models of shoes to avoid the controversy with their designs, embracing their clogs started a new movement that defined the shoes as a fashion statement, and embodied a brand identity that was positively reinforced by the consumers and made the product relevant in fashion communities. By June of 2021, the clog-style shoes were reported to account for more than 76% in footwear sales for Crocs, becoming the most popular design by a long way (McCann, 2022).
Marketing campaigns centered around self expression and individuality with slogans such as “Come As You Are” were impactful positioning statements that transcended the brand and the product. The campaign, launched in 2017, was an invitation for people to share their identity and their uniqueness with the Crocs product providing the blank slate to this expression (Crocs, Inc., 2017). The campaign was one of the first with an immense digital and collaborative focus, leading with the hashtags #ComeAsYouAre and #BeYourselfie, and inviting the ambassadorship of public figures such as Drew Barrymore, YOONA and John Cena to support the messaging with their fanbases around the world (Crocs, Inc., 2017).
Simultaneously, shifting the narrative online around the clogs was core to this aggressive positioning exercise that asserted personality and cultural relevance into the Crocs brand identity. Heidi Cooley, Chief Marketing Officer at Crocs, states that “at the forefront of being consumer centric is social listening” (Bruce Horovitz et al., 2022). By being conscious of online conversation and inserting themselves into the narrative that’s being discussed, the brand was able to grow its relevance and likeness. "Our goal is not to make the haters love the brand," says Andrew Rees, Crocs’ CEO. "It's to exploit that extrinsic tension because it creates opportunity, it creates PR, it creates media, it creates interest. It creates a whole lot that would cost you a fortune to buy in other ways." (McKinnon, 2021). The way Crocs has mastered in doing just that, according to Heidi Cooley, is by hiring young and fresh faces to “create incredible conversations on behalf of the brand” while branching out their social media channels and tappng into trending content & topics online (Bruce Horovitz et al., 2022).
Shifting to a digital-first philosophy was also a key strategy in segmentation and targeting of a key demographic for the brand: the Gen Z. Targeting strategies are used by companies to identify potential consumer groups and apply differentiated strategies to address specific wants and needs of these groups of consumers and super serve them in a superior way (Keller, 2015). Positioning would help to understand where the brand fits in their frame of reference. For the case of Crocs, leaning into “dadcore” and “uglycore” trends, all while the pandemic prioritized comfort in fashion choices, was the perfect storm that aligned with the ethos of Crocs. Through the distinctive feature of comfort, individual expression, and trends, Crocs was able to bridge the gap and ultimately embody the spirit of self expression that was in demand among Gen Z. Crocs has been able to stick with their core value and core product while simply adopting their marketing to meet gen Z demand – both things that hold high value with the Gen Z.
Legitimizing and amplifying this ideal positioning required an aggressive social digital strategy, by fabricating pop culture moments, creator partnerships, celebrity endorsements, and social media buzz. Since 2018, crocs has consistently partnered with some of the biggest name in streetwear culture and among celebrities. The first partnership with Post Malone in 2018 kick started a series of limited edition sell-out collections that have lasted minutes, with Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny following suit (Hall, 2022). In addition, Questlove made headlines as he stepped on the red carpet at the Oscars with gold colored Crocs legitimized crocs as a fashion statement rather (Gorsler, 2021). Crocs’ creative and authentic collaborations are generating brand loyalty, as unexpected creative collaborations and tapping into music & streetwear audience create a sense of anticipation for what’s next from the brand. Handing over the keys to the voices and creative of Gen Z, in pursuit of inclusive, purpose-driven strategic collaborations are an incredibly important aspect of Gen Z that has furthered Crocs’ success (Francis & Hoefel, 2022).
In addition, establishing a robust social media presence that reflects what’s happening in youth culture will keep them ahead of the curve, and harnessing TikTok is where Crocs unlocked the doors to get the attention of Gen Z, their target audience. Through a rigorous TikTok strategy the hashtag #crocs has garnered 5.7B views, creating snowball effects with their strategic and authentic collaborations with Gen Z creators who are able to influence their peers. This strategy was a curcial opportunity for the brand to lean into their “customizeable” positioning. According to a recent study conducted by Marketing Dive, 75% Gen Z are more likely to buy products that they are able to (Hall, 2022). Crocs unique play on the sales of their “Jibbitz” allows their customers to put their unique stamp on their crocs, making every shoe unique in t’s own way, and an extension of their personalities. Crocs stands out as the preferred brand by never allowing the consumer to compromise on their personality or sense of self expression.
Finally, “a good positioning has one foot in the present and one foot in the future […] the tricky thing is striking the right balance what the brand could be and what the brand currently is” (Keller, 2015). Crocs resurgence has demonstrated the staying power the company has, now positioning itself aggressively among Gen Z preferred shoe retailers. Asserting themselves as the innovative casual footwear brand for Millennials and Gen Z also put social consciousness into consideration, and it’s no doubt that Crocs has been loud about their commitment to transparent, socially conscious, and sustainable business practices. In 2020, Crocs launched ins “Free Pair for Healthcare” initiative, donating more than 860,000 pairs of Crocs to frontline workers. Such an enormous undertaking was a defining moment to legitimize their claims. By 2021, Crocs has become 100% vegan, and by 2030 Crocs is targeting to reduce their carbon footprint by 50% (2021).
By 2020, The New York Times declared “Crocs Won 2020”, contradicting the trends of the retail footwear sales, which were down 20%, with a growth of footwear sales of 48%. It may seem as though Crocs were in an enviable position of selling the right product at the right time during the COVID pandemic, but the success of the company predated the pandemic. Rigorous marketing strategy to establish their positioning among target customer that prioritized comfort and individuality, through the art of social media conversation, creative and authentic collaborations, and a brand ethos that resonated with the Gen Z, the biggest consumer base of the future, guaranteed their rise to success.