Is Crocs a trend? why? where?
This is a question I had on my mind for a long time now, as I see more and more of these questionable shoes. I was somewhat surprised when I found a report from hitwise, suggesting that Crocs are the “most searched for fashion item in UK” (see UK graph 1). I used google trends to find the worldwide google picture of this trend. It looks like Crocs has gained popularity around mid 2006. Comparing it to Birkenstocks – we can find another proof for its trend volume (see graph 2). Google trends presents the trend’s volume also per region (see graph 3). It sure looks like Crocs have taken over Israel.
What about the blogsphere? Is Crocs a trend in our online talk? A search in blogpulse shows (see graph 4) that this is a trend in growth (popular 5-6 times more than “Birkenstocks”), but yet it still holds a small part of our talk (1/6 out of diesel citations in blogs, for example).
I found Crocs mentioned lately at Josh Spear trend’s blog: “There is a large segment of the population who despise these homely yet cushy rubber shoes, there are those who openly embrace them (and own every color), and there are those who own a pair because they’re comfortable, but don’t wear them in public”. From Josh Spear I’ve learned about a cult of crocs “haters” (ihatecrocs: a blog dedicated to eliminating crocs). It turns out that in youtube you can see Crocs cut into pieces (must watch the video). As I see it, hate it or like it – this is another proof for its trend popularity.
My final examination will involve a “reality check“: bigcharts presents the Crocs trend (=crox stock) according to the stock market (see graph 5) – it does show an impressive up-growing volume .
My conclusion: yes, Crocs is behaving as a catching and spreading trend. Now, would you say it is a fad – soon to be eliminated?
graph 1: hitwise: uk search for crocs
graph 2: google search for crocs
graph 3: google search for crocs – by region
graph 4: blogpulse: crocs in blog citations
graph 5: crocs stock
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May 11th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Trend, then fad and soon will slip into oblivion to be brought back in a few years by some guy who has a warehouse full of them that he got real cheap! Along the lines of the jelly shoes that come and go (just saw them on a prominent rack in Nordstroms! Like that makes them more fashionable) or Chucks that were a regional NY hit and then spread. I have to admit there are numerous pairs in our house in all the colors. The only person they actually look good on is my 18 month old.
Tim Pedersen
Right Brain Branding
June 21st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Crocs slowly filtered into mainstream and finally blew up last year. As with most trends they are slightly ‘reinvented’ for the next season. This season, slimmer more feminine shapes were introduced appealing to more conservative market. Eventually, I think they’ll fade out and return to being seen as a ‘garden’ shoe or for hippies.. At least, I can only hope…
November 28th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I don’t know. I mean, eventually they will be replaced by something else– like Birkenstocks of the 80’s & 90’s. Right now though, our Crocs inventory gets depleted as quickly as we can fill it. Fortunately they are relatively inexpensive– unless you add $50 worth of Jibbitz to each shoe!
April 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am
As long as it appeals to consumers at large, we think it will still prevail in the market for many years. The product is like a flip-flop, only that it is better in terms of style statement, comfort, fashion and hygiene(all EVA based products – the same material that is used by crocs – are sterilizable / washable). Even before crocs hit the market, we had been manufacturing EVA based footwear for industrial safety. We have now started manufacturing non-industrial footwear that appeals the consumer market. This is after looking at both current and future trends for EVA based footwear products.
February 29th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
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