COME AS YOU ARE: A CROCS CAMPAIGN

Katarina Vidal Cueva, Liv Burke, Masoma Imasogie

CMGT 599
July 1, 2019
Client
Organization
- Crocs is a Colorado-based shoe company that was founded in 2002, to fix the discomfort
and slipping problem that many boaters face with traditional boating shoes. Its name is an
abbreviation of the word ‘crocodile’, as the shoe holds similar endurance and adaptable
qualities (“About Crocs”, n.d.).

- The Crocs design worked for its audience and the numbers reflected it. “Revenue rose
from $1.2 million in 2003 to $13.5 million in 2004 to roughly $36 million in the first six
months of [2005]” (Prendergast, 2019). Since then, Crocs has had challenges with
balancing out their fast expansion, new growth and investors stratification (DePillis,
2013). However, Crocs are currently riding a wave of success after many celebrity
sightings and high fashion brand ​collaborations​.

Product
- Who are Crocs for? “People who spent long hours on their feet, such as restaurant
workers and hospital employees, [because they] liked the softness and the loose fit. They
were less expensive than, say, traditional surgical clogs, and they cleaned up nicely in the
dishwasher…” (Prendergast, 2019). The closed-cell resin material allows Crocs to stay
lightweight and pliable to the wearer's foot shape, while keeping them secure and
ventilated (Prendergast, 2019). Founders, George Boedecker, Lyndon Hanson, and Scott
Seamans, knew Crocs weren’t extremely fashionable and even categorized them as
‘ugly’. Once they started being sold at trade-shows, however, their success -- due to there
practical function -- was rapid.

Goals
KPI
- We plan on launching this influencer campaign on August 1​st and it will run until October
20​th to coincide with our target audience going back to school. Our goal is to increase
Crocs sales by 20% in women ages 18-24. Additionally, we want to use this influencer
marketing campaign to grow our social media channels. Specifically, we want to increase
our Instagram followers by 25%, Twitter followers by 15%, YouTube subscribers by
100% and Facebook followers by 10%.

Brand
- Previously, Crocs were not known for their style, “...if you’re a Crocs fan, you’re
probably the kind of person who prioritizes comfort over style” (Segran, 2018). However,
Crocs have been evolving in the fashion world in the last 2 years. Balenciaga designer,
Demna Gvasalia even featured them at a fashion show in Paris saying, “...they’re the
 shoes of the future” (Harwood, 2017). As Crocs continue to make strides in the fashion
community, we want to use this campaign to solidify Crocs as a fashionable footwear
brand. We selected women 18-24 as our target audience for this campaign because they
are typically viewed as tastemakers and looked up to by young women in high school and
middle school ((​“Who are the role models”​, n.d.). Through this campaign, we hope to
create a “trickle down” effect that will establish Crocs as a fashion-forward brand.

- Our campaign will ride the coattails of the recent resurfacing of trends like the comeback
of Birkenstocks and fanny packs. ​"​Ugly" styles are no longer denigrated in the fashion
community. “Think about it—I bet you can't thumb through your Instagram feed for
longer than two scrolls without coming across a pair of chunky "dad" sneakers,
loose-fitting baggy jeans, or a bucket hat” (Laplaca, 2019). As alternative “ugly” fashion
begins to take off with more mainstream audiences, we want Crocs to have a leading role
in that style movement. We want to flip the narrative of what once was deemed “ugly”
and make it stylish for a new age of young people.

Audience
The End Customer
- It’s important to be specific on our target audience, so we have crafted an in-depth client
avatar. The ideal new-age Crocs customer is a girl by the name of Ash (Ashely). She’s
between the ages of 18-24 and is currently a college student or recent graduate living in a
metropolitan city in the United States. The university that Ash graduated from was no
surprise to her parents, as it’s the same one she placed on her vision board at the age of
seven and has been working her whole life to attend. Ash makes around $25,000 annually
and is still financially supported by her parents. When it comes to fashion, Ash turns to
Instagram to stay up-to-date, following fashion moguls such as Tyra Banks, Rihanna, and
Halsey. However, she splits scrolling with her interest in politics, activism, reading Teen
Vogue, and her passion for music.

Why Ash?
- We selected Ash’s attributes based on the following findings, “The demographics,
psychographics and preferred brand behaviors [of millennial trendsetters] are very similar
but their income and socio-economic conditions are slightly different. They are either still
in school (50% are in high school or college) or just settling into their first job. 58% of
them live in a household where the [parental] income is greater than $60,000 per year.”
(Oracle, 2015).
 - College-aged females have proven to be fashion tastemakers for their age and younger
women. Oracle (2015) found that the biggest sector of style influencers are, “Primarily
female... [and they] keep up with the latest and greatest through their big social networks
or entertainment gossip. This is the group that is most likely to start a trend”.

- We are trying to capitalize on the larger trend of students looking up to their older
counterparts. High school students want to be like the ‘cool’ college students just as
middle schoolers look up to high schoolers. While age plays a role, sense of style is also a
determinant in why girls ​look up to young women. According to the Washington Post,
“​The main quality teenagers look for in a role model is fashion. Most feel that they have
to dress fashionably to be popular” ​(​“Who are the role models”, n.d.)​. ​Ash hits the sweet
spot and if influenced correctly, can make almost anything, Crocs included, go viral.

Chain of Influence
- The top of the chain of influence begins with a popular fashion correspondent and
journalist, who is constantly trending on social media. She prides herself on being the
first to share new and upcoming trends with her followers. This correspondent would be
one of the first to share her thoughts on the comeback of Crocs via a self-written article
shared on Twitter. If she were to post about Crocs on social media, fashion editors/
directors would definitely take notice.

- The fashion journalist has many influential followers within the industry, one being
Vogue’s fashion and beauty director. If Vogue’s director saw the post on the Crocs trend,
Vogue would be quick to write a story or create a magazine spread about it.

- Ash’s mom would then read through the Crocs spread in her favorite magazine, Vogue,
while getting her weekly pedicure at the nail salon.

- Upon getting home from her appointment, she’d fill Ash in on the latest styles as she
knows her daughter is fashion-focused.

- Ash would be influenced by her mom to check out @Crocs on Instagram and follow the
account. While scrolling through the Crocs account, Ash would recognize her favorite
artist on the feed and decided that she needed the same pair.

Influencers
Billie Eilish
- Singer/songwriter, Billie Eilish has become a powerhouse in the music industry at the age
of 17. Eilish’s career has skyrocketed due to her natural talent and strong work ethic. Her
 fans, primarily high school and college females, have found her music moving​ ​because of
her relatable and raw lyrics. She finds it important to be tapped into her fanbase. “​I don’t
want to be out of someone’s grasp. All I have tried to do is be available to fans because I
never got that” ​(Ewens, 2019).

- Eilish primarily uses the social media platforms Instagram and Twitter. Her Instagram
has 28.6M followers with an average of 4.6M likes per post (Eilish, n.d.) And her Twitter
has 2.1M followers with an average of 2.1K retweets per tweet (Eilish, n.d.). Eilish would
bring meaning to this campaign because of her confidence, speaking directly to the Crocs
“come as you are” moto. On a campaign side, Eilish embraces the popular ‘ugly’ fashion
trend and already highlights uncommon clothing pieces. Through this campaign, Eilish’s
fans would see Crocs in a new light. Her endorsement would spark interest in the brand
as her audience trusts her opinion and honesty. When she does promote something, she
can be seen wearing the product for months before and after the campaign. This shows
her audience she only promotes products she genuinely wants to wear. Eilish would most
likely partner up with Crocs because they align with her unique style.

Safiya Nygaard
- YouTuber, Safiya Nygaard, is influential because she is known for taking extreme or
“out-there” clothing items and making them fashionable for the average women. Whether
she is wearing see-through pants or a jean jacket with 6-foot long arms, she can make
weird fashion cool (Nygaard, n.d.). She creates content to entertain, as well as give her
subscribers a different view of new and distinct fashion trends.

- Previously, Nygaard was a video producer at Buzzfeed. Currently, she has made a name
for herself on YouTube with 7.9M subscribers with an average of 7.8M views per video
(Nygaard, n.d.). She also has an Instagram with 1.8M followers with an average of ​365K
likes per post (Nygaard, n.d.). Nygaard would bring meaning to the Crocs campaign
because she would show her community that Crocs are an extreme, but cool fashion
statement. Nygaard would be likely to participate because she is always looking to do or
try new things for original content for her platform. She is known for trying different
products, so Crocs would be right up her alley.

Elaine Marie Welteroth

- As the former Editor-and-Chief of Teen Vogue under Conde Nast, Elaine Marie
Welteroth has used her voice to influence the world of beauty and fashion media. She is
known for educating the masses on topics that are commonly looked over. Welteroth is
passionate about “celebrating people’s differences and disregarding the societal belief
that women are only worth as much as their looks” (Shatzman, 2018).
 - Welteroth uses Instagram and has 376K followers with an average of ​12K likes per post
(Welteroth, n.d.). She uses Instagram to post about the topics she cares about,
specifically politics, fashion, and people she admires. However, when it comes to
Welteroth’s following it’s more about quality than quantity. She is followed by fashion
guru’s such as Brooke Jaffe, the editor of InStyle and Vogue, actress Kelly McCreary,
and celebrity designer Nicole Gibbons. ​Welteroth would be a great participant of this
campaign because she believes all brands and personalities should partner up if both
share similar values. The Crocs brand is driven to “providing accessible, comfortable,
and affordable products to people of all walks of life (“About Crocs”, n.d​.)​ ”, which are
values that align with those of ​Welteroth​.

Customer Journey
Awareness
- Influencers like Billie Eilish and Safiya Nygaard would be very effective for awareness
as they both have millions of followers, impressive like/views-to-follower ratios, and the
largest reach of the influencers selected. For this stage, we will measure success through
the number of impressions, likes, shares and comments on the sponsored campaign posts
themselves.

Interest
- Elaine Welteroth is our choice of influencer for this stage because she’s not only a
fashion expert, but also the former editor of Teen Vogue. She can write about Crocs in
various publications. She will publish an article about how Crocs are becoming a
high-fashion trend and how to accessorize them with a few different outfits. For this
stage, success will be measured by website clicks, Instagram Story ‘swipe-ups’, and new
social media follower counts across each platform.

Desire
- Billie Eilish and Safiya Nygaard are perfect for this stage because they are role models
for many women 18-24. Eilish and Nygaard both are very active on social media and
aren’t afraid to show their “back-stage” personalities that young, college-aged women
can relate to. The desire stage will be measured by the number of times Crocs are
saved-to-cart on our website and added to wish lists on Amazon.

Action
- Elaine Welteroth would be the best influencer choice for the Action stage in the
purchasing funnel because she has established the most trust with her followers. During
her prime years as a journalist, she was obligated to give unbiased reviews. Additionally,
 she has established herself as a leader in the fashion community for young women. The
success of this stage will be measured by the percent increase in number of Crocs
purchases from women 18-24.

Satisfaction
- For the final stage, we can use all three of our influencers. To give the Crocs audience
time to complete the purchase funnel, we will review metrics a month after the
campaign’s e​nd-date. This will be measured through a sentiment analysis of comments
left on the influencers’ social media platforms or blog articles related to the campaign.
We assume that satisfied or unsatisfied customers will want to let the influencer know
their thoughts on the product.
 References

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