Love them or hate them… Crocs are back, and they are undoubtedly here to stay! It has been a tough road for Crocs, which has been around for nearly 20 years. Crocs made its first appearance in Boulder, Colorado, US, in 2002, as a producer of boat shoes made from a foam-based resin known as Croslite (Salo et al. 2021, p.106). The brand enjoyed early success, with Crocs amassing sales of 75,000 pairs within its first year of operation and 50 million pairs in the four years that followed. Crocs continued to expand, coupled with rapidly rising sales, and in 2006 bought Jibbitz in a bid to focus on increasing its levels of customization. Jibbitz produces small plastic charms, which consumers purchase and can then insert into the holes of their Crocs shoes to personalize their appearance (Moore 2021). 

Failed Strategy 

The year 2007 saw significant challenges when the brand decided to outsource production in order to ramp up volumes to meet rising demand. This was met with a notable drop in retail orders, due to falling foot traffic in malls, leaving the brand stuck with excessive volumes of inventory. It was also up against a backlash on social media platforms, with younger consumers regarding Crocs as ‘grandparent shoes’ that were comfortable but ugly. To reduce the ever-increasing inventory levels, Crocs embarked on a distribution strategy that saw it flood the market: Crocs were being sold at outlets and towards the end of 2007 were even available at 7-Eleven. They were available everywhere, which accelerated the counterfeiting of the shoes, as consumers–especially those in foreign markets–had difficulty distinguishing the original from the knock-off (Moore 2021). The brand’s image was being tarnished and this was contributing to its premium appeal being lost. Crocs then found itself affected by the 2007 financial crisis, with the US economy entering a recession in December that year. Crocs was in the middle of the ‘perfect storm’ (Weinberg 2009)......

Questions 

1. This case study highlights Crocs’ implementation of various marketing strategies. Within the context of Bonoma’s (1985) strategy implementation matrix, and with specific reference to the ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’ quadrants, outline the factors that could have contributed to Crocs’ initial failures and subsequent successes. 

2. Evaluate Crocs’ approach to managing change within its environment. 

3. Provide Crocs with recommendations as to how it could continue to differentiate itself by increasing its value proposition to its customers.