Integrated Marketing Plan

Zachel Dovans Agency Team 6 Rachel and Zoe Fall 2014

Crocs, Inc. Marketing Plan

Introduction Crocs, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of footwear, best known for their unique and famous rubber clogs. The company is well known for producing shoes that are comfortable, fun, and durable. Despite their strong degree of brand recognition, however, Crocs’ clogs have become notorious for being unfashionable, tacky, and too much of a “fad” (CNN, 2006). The clogs reached the peak of their popularity in 2006-7 (Google Trends, 2014), and since then the company has expanded the range of products it offers to include more traditional and stylish everyday shoes, as well as rain boots (Crocs Official Site, 2014). Despite these new additions to Crocs’ product line, its stock has fallen steadily, and is currently worth about a fifth of what its price was at the end of 2007 (Wikinvest, 2014).

In this report, we investigate the current state of the Crocs brand and its market, Crocs Ad from 2007

and present an integrated marketing campaign centered around introducing consumers to Crocs rain boots and demonstrating that the boots are comfortable, durable, and stylish. This campaign will allow Crocs to reach a new target audience, and will use a combination of print advertisements, radio spots, television commercials, social media marketing, and a live concert. The goal of this campaign will initially be to introduce potential consumers to Crocs’ rain boots line, and to convince these target consumers to purchase Crocs rain boots instead of competitors’ shoes or boots. The ultimate goal of these marketing efforts will be an increase in Crocs rain boots sales, along with an overall increase in consumer perception of the brand, which we believe will lead to higher sales for other Crocs products as well.

Current state of the brand and market Crocs has recently lost a good portion of the market share in the footwear industry, as can be seen in the graphs below which show company sales levels for 2012 and 2013 (Crocs is shown in the light pink in both graphs) (Lipson, 2014). Crocs enjoyed a

Crocs Revenue Growth 2009-2013

strong period of success in 2007, but sales have since fallen due to proliferation of competitors’ knockoffs and changes in fashion trends (including a surge in “croc hatred” especially by younger consumers). Sales in 2007 were around $847.7 million and dropped to $721.6 million in 2008 then continued to fall. In more recent years, the brand has had a resurgence and is estimated to make $1.2 billion in sales in 2014 (Reuters, 2014). This partial recovery from

Mintel Men’s and Women’s Footwear Report: Company wide sales of major footwear suppliers in US Market, 2012 above, 2013 below.

the 2009 bottoming out of Crocs sales can be seen in the graph of Crocs’ stock trends at the bottom of the page.

The Crocs brand in general still has a high amount of recognition, but there are many consumers who are unaware of the other products Crocs has to offer (besides the clogs). Creative marketing could more thoroughly introduce these products to the market (increase brand awareness) and help the company regain the popularity it once held to lead to an increase in sales.

Crocs’ stock trends since February 2006 show a decline since 2007, though this decline seems to have slowed and even reversed slightly in the last few years.

Brand Mission and Current Target Audience (Demographics/ Psychographics) As said by the CMO of Crocs, “Our brand is targeted toward women, aged 30-55, with children” (Overstreet, 2012). This age group of women is “doing reasonably well, but she's also managing a budget and being mindful of how she spends her money” (Overstreet, 2012). This income range is

Crocs ad targeting mothers and their children

about 50,000 to 100,000 (depending on how expensive living costs of the geographic area are). They want a well-made yet cheap product without sacrificing style. A key attribute for these women is the comfort of the shoe(s). (Overstreet, 2012) Another consumer targeted by Crocs is young children, about 1st through 6th grade age. Crocs targets them by doing promotions with popular characters and trends for this age group, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (pictured in image to the left), Marvel superheroes, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Crocs’ accessories brand, Jibbitz, which allows consumers to personalize their shoes by adding small buttons, is also aimed at children.

Jibbitz includes a wide range of options for boys and girls including characters (e.g. Disney princesses, Toy Story figures, Star Wars themes) as well as conventional shapes like hearts, stars, or paw prints.

Current Marketing/Advertising Efforts: Product: -Unique style -Charms/widgets -Croslite technology

Place: -Kiosks -Retail stores -Online sales

Price: -Relatively low to average price points ($100 boots, $30$70 rain boots, $60 wedges) -Clogs are $35

Promotion: -“Feel the love” campaign -Switch to fashionable shoes with croc insoles, “fashion on the outside, crocs on the inside”

When Crocs was first popular, the clog was their main shoe and marketing efforts were centered around it. Their main promotion was the “feel the love” campaign, which emphasized the comfort of the shoe and, according

Right: Crocs’ “Feel the Love” campaign featured a cartoony Croc character Below: A print ad that appeared in the “Feel the Love” campaign

to their VP of marketing at the time, highlighted the “Croslite technology-- the soft, cushiony, foot-loving material in every pair of Crocs” (Malykhina, 2010).

Later efforts have highlighted the new stylish aspect of Crocs’ products, focusing on the fashionable outside of the shoe with the Crocs’ Croslite insoles. The company is trying to move away from the image of the iconic clog and associate itself with stylish shoes that are high in comfort. A recent article in Obsessed Magazine proclaimed “Socks Above: A recent print ad highlighting some of Crocs’ new and more stylish products

Beware: Crocs to Release Upscale Footwear Line” and had a hopeful attitude about a Crocs line that would be a designer collaboration (Marowski, 2013).

Main Competitors and Crocs’ Unique Benefits:

Crocs’ top three competitors are Nike, Inc., Adidas and Brown Shoe Company. These companies had the highest levels of sales in 2012, as can be seen in the graph below.

A Google Trend analysis (which shows the number of times on average a term has been searched on Google) comparison of the four companies (seen on the next page) shows that Crocs does not have nearly the same level of brand awareness as Nike and Adidas.

Company wide sales of major footwear suppliers in US Market, 2012 (Mintel)

Left: Google Trends analysis of the 3 firms in the shoe industry with highest revenues and their comparison to Crocs

One of Crocs’ strengths that sets the brand apart is its reputation for comfort and ease. The company has a strong foothold in the active, outdoorsy crowd, as their shoes are waterproof and durable. Crocs is also seen as a relatively affordable and fun brand.

SWOT Analysis:

Internal

External

Helpful Strengths: -Brand awareness -Comfortable fit -Durable (waterproof, washable, and odor resistant) material Opportunities: -Advertise other footwear lines!

-Charity (consumers are unaware of shoe donations)

Harmful Weaknesses: -Clogs (look tacky) -Unpopular with younger generations -No public awareness of shoe’s that aren’t clogs -Seasonal usage (popular in the summer) Threats: -Knockoffs -Cooler competitor shoe brands (Nike, Timberland) -Strong consumer opposition to the clogs (i.e. ihatecrocs.com) -No longer allowed in some hospitals because of static electricity (affects MRI machines and respirators)

As mentioned in the SWOT analysis above, one of the threats Crocs faces is extremely strong consumer opposition to the clog, or “Crocs hate”. Many websites and Facebook pages have sprung up as “fan pages” to this Crocs hatred (see right). This antagonism means

Above and below: Examples of websites dedicated to dislike of Crocs clogs

the company will have to work hard to increase awareness of its other product offerings.

One of Crocs’ biggest strengths is their brand awareness. The company has a 66% brand awareness among women and a 47% brand awareness among men (Statista, 2014). It has become a household name and is generally well known among all

age groups (with the exception, perhaps, of the elderly). The look of the traditional, perforated clogs is unique and recognizable, and the shoes’ bright colors stand out to customers in store aisles. Another one of Crocs’ distinct strengths is the comfortable fit of their shoes. The rubber material used is lightweight and flexible, in addition to being waterproof, washable, and odor resistant (Crocs Official Site, 2014).

Undeniably, Crocs’ biggest weakness is its reputation for creating shoes that are considered “ugly” or “tacky.” The bright colors may be considered childish, and the wide, rounded shape is Above and below: Examples of recent “hate tweets” about Crocs

often thought to be unappealing. On top of the offputting quality of the design, Crocs simply have a reputation for being unfashionable and unpopular among younger demographics (see the tweets to the

left). Further evidence for this widespread animosity comes from the fact that Wired.com felt comfortable opening an article about them with snide comments about the brand (Wired, 2011). This animosity, while great, seems to be largely focused on the classic clogs, and less on Crocs’ newer, more fashionable expansions of the brand (as evidence for this, many websites that claim to hate Crocs feature only the classic clogs in pictures). Indeed, there seems to be a general lack of awareness of any of Crocs’ lines of shoes other than the classic clogs. The company needs to work on increasing awareness to regain higher sales levels and market share.

A large opportunity for Crocs would be to strongly advertise the fact that they make shoes other than the traditional clogs, and that these shoes are decidedly more fashionable and

Above: A Twitter account called “Worse Than Crocs” dedicated only to making fun of Crocs’ clogs

generally palatable to the average consumer. In particular, Crocs already has a strong reputation for producing bright, waterproof shoes, so selling rain boots is a natural next step. While Crocs does offer several types of rain boots, it is clear that these boots are far from the company’s main focus. Creating a cohesive, expansive advertising campaign for their colorful rain boots would therefore be a promising opportunity, especially since rain boots have been increasingly popular (especially during the winter), as can be seen in the Google Trends graph below.

In addition to rain boots, Crocs might advertise the fact that they give so much of their proceeds to charity.

According to Reuters, “As of December 31, 2012, the Company has donated over 3 million pairs of shoes to individuals in need both domestically and internationally in more than 40 countries including Democratic Republic of The Congo, Haiti, Iraq, and Malawi” (Reuters, 2014).

A significant threat to the Crocs’ brand is the variety of very close imitation knock-off

Google Trends data showing rain boots have been growing in popularity since 2005 (and are particularly popular during the winter months)

clogs. Since Crocs originally failed to adequately secure the patent for its materials soon enough, some of these knock-offs are made of the same material as name brand Crocs, and therefore look and feel like the real thing (Fredenburgh, 2014). Another potential threat is the loyalty that consumers have to other, more “fashionable” shoe brands such as Nike or Adidas. The converse side of consumers’ loyalty to competitors is the large amount of (possibly irrational) hatred that many consumers feel toward the Crocs clog style. Finally, while Crocs had been popular among nurses and hospital staff who often have to be on their feet for long shifts, hospitals are beginning to ban Crocs because they have been said to exert a strange form of static interference on hospital equipment (Wired,2011).

New Target Market: We suggest a strategy of market development by focusing on marketing Crocs rain boots to women aged 18-34.

This demographic constitutes the largest purchasers of dress and fashion boots, as well as the second largest purchasers of hiking shoes and boots (after men aged 18-34) (Mintel, 2014). In terms of psychographic segmentation, Crocs

should target young women who are trendsetters and influencers, which will help it move away from the “uncool” or “tacky” stigmas that have previously surrounded the clogs. This is particularly important, since women aged 18-34 tend to buy shoes and boots for the purpose of keeping up with the latest trends (Mintel, 2014).

Day in the life of the new target market: A typical day in the life of this new target market segment would go as follows: After waking up, she drinks coffee or tea while reading a magazine or the newspaper before heading to work. She has young children (or plans to in the coming decade), and is usually very busy and always on the go. She cares about how fashionably she dresses, and wants to keep up with current trends, but also wants her apparel to be of good quality and to meet her busy lifestyle. She often watches MTV or VH1 to relax after work, but listens to the radio when in the car. She is active on Facebook and Twitter and watches content on YouTube (as well as various other social media sites), and is generally very aware of what her friends and her favorite celebrities are doing and wearing.

Strategy: The main hurdle Crocs will have to overcome is the fact that many current and potential consumers simply don’t know that the company makes shoes other than the clogs (Crocs FAQ page, 2014).

When concentrating on the chosen target market, women 18-34, it will further be important to focus on the fact that Crocs’ rain boots are comfortable and durable as well as being stylish, since consumers (both in the target market and otherwise) value these three qualities the most when shopping for new footwear in general (see graph to the left).

Mintel Report on Footwear Trends: Main qualities consumers look for in shoes they purchase

In addition, Crocs’ close competitor Muck Boots has recently introduced a line of less colorful women’s rain boots, so

advertising the bright, eye-catching nature of Crocs’ boots would present an important point of difference from its competition (Marketline Advantage, 2010).

The best way to reach the target market will likely be through online advertising, since women age 18-34 tend to buy shoes online (or at least “window shop” for them online before buying them in a store) more than other demographic segments (Mintel, 2014). They also particularly value free shipping, which Crocs offers for orders over $24.99 (Crocs Official Site, 2014). The creative strategy will focus on marketing Crocs rain boots to this target market, women 18-34, to increase sales for the company. The goal of the integrated marketing campaign outlined below is to increase awareness of Crocs rain boots to thus increase sales by 15% in the next fiscal year. The strategy statement and creative brief below will provide concise and specific guidelines, which the rest of the marketing campaign will follow. This will focus marketing efforts so that they all promote a specific, targeted message to consumers. The creative brief itself provides a (brief) explanation of our advertising purpose, target market, proposed direction of advertising, central “big idea,” things to avoid or know, and specific media components needed to accomplish the proposed goals.

Crocs’ competitor: the Muck boot

Strategy Statement: Agency: Zachel Dovans Inc Client: Crocs Product: Crocs Rain boots

The advertising will convince women age 18-34 who are trendsetters in their social environment that Crocs rain boots exist, are comfortable, durable, and fashionable (of secondary importance is that the boots are fun, waterproof, provide good protection, and are odor-resistant). The support will be that Crocs’ shoes (including the clogs) are already known to be comfortable and durable. Support for the fact that the rain boots are fashionable will come from seeing the actual boots; the bright colors are visually appealing and the style of the boots is consistent with other trendy boots on the market currently. The tone will be lighthearted, in keeping with the fun color scheme, but will also convey the idea that Crocs boots are fashionable.

Examples of the bright, stylish rain boots Crocs currently makes

By targeting a new market segment and focusing on a different product Crocs can distance itself from the stigma of its clogs and increase awareness to increase sales. The company can focus on the fun aspect of the brand’s personality to further appeal to fashionable trendsetters and influencers in the chosen target market. To fully reach these consumers, the company can implement an integrated marketing campaign with print, television and radio ads and social media content to invite interactions with viewers, each of which will be discussed in detail in this report.

Print Advertisements Creating a print advertisement is often the first step in presenting the overall theme or “big idea” of an advertising campaign. Presenting the ad in this medium allows the advertiser to demonstrate the brand and product’s personality to the consumer, as well as to get their message across in an eye-catching and memorable manner. The visual aspect should, minimally, capture the reader’s attention and the overall ad should convey the advertiser’s business objectives and actually make the consumer want to purchase the product.

Our particular demographic target market (women 18 – 34) is likely to read magazines (see Mintel graph to right), so we believe this campaign will be most effective as full-page magazine advertisements, particularly in magazines such as Vogue or In Style, since these publications are already places where consumers are expecting to see advertisements that promote stylish products. Since bright colors are an integral aspect of Crocs’ brand image and are an essential part of our current campaign, these advertisements should be run in magazines that Mintel report on Women’s glossy/fashion/beauty monthly magazine usage, by demographics demonstrating that magazine ads will reach our target market of 18-34 year old women

can accommodate bright color printing. Additionally, we have presented the advertisements in landscape orientation, so that they have the potential to act as an eye-catching foldout display.

As previously discussed, there is overwhelming evidence to say that consumers generally have a negative opinion of the Crocs brand, but that this stems only from their knowledge of the clogs, and not of Crocs’ other shoe offerings. Crocs’ rain boots are actually quite appealing and demand for rain boots in general has been steadily increasing over the last decade, so we strongly believe this is a good direction for a new marketing campaign. The big idea underlying our advertising is therefore simple yet logical: Crocs makes good-looking rain boots. This embodies the essential idea that may very well change consumer perception of Crocs as a brand: it’s not just about the clogs, while also stressing that the rain boots in particular are good-looking. Secondary aspects that we want to get across are as follows: these rain boots are stylish, comfortable, and durable. As previously outlined, this idea is based off of research indicating that consumers in our target market buy boots primarily based on comfort, followed closely by durability and style. In our first advertisement, shown below, we use the copy to highlight the idea that the boots are comfortable. This is reinforced with the visual, where models in impractical shoes are falling next to a model wearing Crocs rain boots, who is comfortably walking down the runway. The setting of a runway itself serves to emphasize the style component of our creative strategy, since the boots are being presented in a location where we would expect to find very fashionable shoes. The idea that the boots are stylish is then also echoed in the headline.

The fact that the boots are on a runway at all is surprising, and grabs the viewer’s attention initially. The bright pink accents then carry the reader’s eye across the page, eventually leading to the brand and product name in the lower right hand corner, as well as a QR code that serves as a “call to action,” taking the viewer to a website featuring Crocs’ rain boots, and a free coupon. The “Snap this for a stylish surprise! (crocs coupon!)” caption further serves to excite the viewers' curiosity, and ties in with the general theme that Crocs (surprisingly) makes great rain boots.

In terms of the layout of our ad, we have chosen to balance the major elements symmetrically, since a large part of our message is that our product is comfortable, and advertisements that are symmetrically balanced tend to make viewers feel more at ease. We realize that a potential risk with this choice is that symmetrical ads tend to be less eyecatching, but have determined that stressing balance and comfort is our primary focus, and that the surprising visual content and bright colors will do the work of catching the attention of our target consumers. For similar reasons, we decided to “break the rules” a bit and consciously violate the “golden mean” rule. We purposefully centered our product on the page to allow it to stand out and to demonstrate its prominence over competitors’ products. We also put the least important element (the QR code) in the lower left-hand corner (which viewers often skip when their eyes move over the ad in a “Z” pattern), and kept the product and logo in more prominent positions (Drewniany, 2014).

We have employed elements of both harmony and contrast in our print advertisements, the harmonious elements being the consistent font (we chose a sans serif font to give the ad a modern feel and to fit in with the relatively minimalist design) and the repeated framed panels. The greyscale pictures in our first ad show impractical, unstylish and uncomfortable shoes that contrast with the bright color of the Crocs boots, making the product stand out.

Similarly, the lurid yellow and green colors of the uncomfortable and unstylish shoes in the second ad contrast with the more aesthetically pleasing pink of the Croc boot. Overall, our campaign employs the gestalt principles of similarity, contrast and rhythm (in the repeated framed panels) (Drewniany, 2014).

To show that our advertising campaign has legs and is not simply a flat idea, we have presented two more advertisements that are styled in the same vein as the first, but with a few slight changes. Note that these ads could (but do not have to) appear in the same place in the print medium (the final ad would work especially well in a small space since the visuals are large and there is little text).

In the second ad, we first present the yellow shoes as an example of an uncomfortable footwear option, followed by the green boot as an example of an unstylish one. This paired with the headline sets up a need for a comfortable and stylish boot, and the image of the more appealing Crocs rain boot is meant to offer an immediate solution. As in the first ad, the promise of a coupon will encourage consumers to snap the QR code, bringing them to the Crocs website where they can shop for and buy the boots immediately.

Similarly to the first ad, this second one employs symmetrical balance to put the reader at ease, but also employs the “golden mean” rule, since the two pictures of ugly shoes will be in a 2-to-3 proportion, 1/3 of the way from each side of the page (Nubloo, 2008). The ad will also feature a great deal of white space on the outside of the ad, in order to frame the images and so that they are given the focus. The Crocs boot contrasts with the rest of the ad in terms of color but, significantly, we gave the other shoes the same color tone so that the Crocs boot would not look too bright in comparison. The font and overall layout matches the first ad for consistency (similar type will be used in the television advertisement as well). Again, this ad employs the gestalt principles of similarity, contrast and rhythm (in the two repeated framed panels), and we also believe that the depicted ridiculousness of the competitors’ shoes keeps the ad in line with the brand’s lighthearted and fun personality. It is likely that our target market will appreciate the humor, namely the pun in the headline, without thinking it is too heavy-handed since it is the only aspect of humor in the ad (Drewniany, 2014).

For the third ad, the main visual is a Croc rain boot that actually blends into a crocodile mouth – presenting a surprising (we don’t normally expect crocodiles to be pink or attached to boots) visual that is attention grabbing and reinforces the brand name. This ad also employs the gestalt principle of similarity, and the bright colors will attract readers’ attention. We chose the text “fierce fashion” after conducting an informal opinion poll of several members of our target market, all of whom said they associated the word “fierce” with Beyoncé or simply pop singers in general, and we felt that this was a convenient and cheap way to invoke the idea of celebrity endorsement without having to spend any extra money (note that the word “fierce” itself is not in any way copyrighted).

Overall, we intend for this print element of our advertising campaign to capture our big idea: Crocs makes great rain boots. They are great because they are durable, comfortable, and stylish, while other shoe and boot choices don’t offer all of these benefits. The ads themselves are bright and offer surprising visuals that will catch the

attention of our target market, and introduce them in a bold way to Crocs rain boots, a product they may be currently unaware of. We believe that the ads will not only attract our target consumers, but will actually convince them to buy Crocs rain boots, since they will see the fun and stylish aspects of the shoes for themselves, and will have the added incentive of a coupon to encourage them to make the purchase decision.

Radio Advertisements Radio is a unique medium that allows advertisers to do many things that can’t necessarily be done in other forms. Sound can be used to create elaborate mental images in the minds of listeners, and since these images don’t need to be presented visually, radio advertisements tend to be relatively cheap and allow a lot of room for creativity.

For example, although television ads have a broader sensory scope in that they show visuals, sound, and motion, it would be very difficult (or at least expensive) to show a large-scale events like tidal waves or to depict characters from history.

Creating a radio commercial would be beneficial to Crocs as part of its integrated, consistent marketing strategy, since, as is shown by the graphs below, a large proportion of our target market listens to the radio regularly. The 60second ad outlined below would be part of a brand awareness marketing strategy, since a large proportion of our target market does not currently know that Crocs makes rain boots at all, much less that they are stylish, comfortable, and durable (again, this is consistent with information outlined in the Creative Brief).

The 10-second live event promotion would act as a particular sales promotional tool, since its message will be to convey to our target audience that Crocs is sponsoring a particular rain-themed music concert for which attendees will be expected to wear Crocs rain boots.

Zachel Dovans Inc Radio:60 “Puddles” SFX: (5)

RAIN AND FOOTSTEP SLOSHING NOISES FROM SHALLOW PUDDLES. RAIN SOUNDS FADE UNDER.

WOMAN 1:

Hey Olivia!

WOMAN 2:

Hey Becky!

BECKY (disheartened):

Ugh, I can’t believe it’s raining again, I literally just got these new rain boots but you know what? My socks are still getting wet. Like, what did I even pay for?

OLIVIA:

Really? Huh. I actually just bought Crocs rain boots and…

BECKY:

[Interrupting] Wait a minute. CROCS makes RAINBOOTS? I didn’t know that!

OLIVIA (excited):

Yeah, I actually think Crocs makes pretty awesome rain boots! They’re really comfy and they definitely keep my feet dry, watch this!

SFX: (3)

BIG SPLASH FROM JUMPING IN PUDDLE.

BECKY:

Yeah, see, I feel like these old boots would totally leak if I did that. And your Crocs boots really match your outfit too! Love that color.

OLIVIA:

Thanks! Yeah I always love wearing bright colors on rainy days, you know?

SFX: (3)

SLIGHT FADE IN OF RAINS SOUNDS THEN FADE UNDER AGAIN.

BECKY:

Wow, this storm is getting pretty bad, I might buy a pair for myself. Are they comfortable?

OLIVIA:

Oh yeah, I wear them every time it rains, and walk to work in them all the time.

BECKY:

That settles it, I’m getting a pair!

SFX: (9)

SONG CLIP*. FADE UNDER TO PLAY FOR REST OF COMMERCIAL (REPLACE RAIN SOUNDS)

ANNCR:

Crocs rain boots. Comfortable, durable, and stylish on a rainy day! Visit crocs.com today to Live Bright.

Details: Announcer: Becky:

Olivia:

Character: Woman with polished, mature voice Vocal Direction: radio announcer cadence and tone, enthusiastic and knowledgeable Character: Young woman (in 20s), disheartened about unnamed brand rainboots, impressed

by Crocs rainboots Vocal Direction: Casual tone, speaking clearly Character: Young woman (in 20s), sophisticated, hip, and fun sounding, excited about Crocs rainboots Vocal Direction: Casual tone, speaking clearly

* Song: These Boots Are Made for Walking- Nancy Sinatra (Jive Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyxtOdpZDug FADE STARTS AT 0:03, FADE UNDER STARTS AT 0:13.

The radio spot opens with interesting sound effects as a way to grab the listener’s attention. The rain and walking sound effects serve to “paint the scenery” (Drewniany, 2014) (that of a rainy day), which the two characters are walking through. As recommended by Drewniany, these sound effects are also identified in the dialogue, in the beginning of Becky’s first line (“Ugh, I can’t believe it’s raining again!”). This helps to reinforce the scene created by the sound effects and prevents listeners from becoming confused (Drewniany, 2014).

The radio spot is done as a dialogue, since we felt that this method was most effective for our target market.

Women in our demographic and psychographic target audience love to discuss fashion and shopping, so a discussion about where the two characters bought their shoes and how much they like them is a natural and believable conversation between friends. The dialogue approach was chosen because it was the most genuine option for Crocs rain boots and helps keep the ad from sounding stilted or phony.

The clip of music towards the end of the ad was chosen to help portray the fun personality of the Crocs brand.

The song is upbeat and the lyrics “These boots are made for walking” reinforce the comfort and durability of Crocs rain boots (using a song about cowboy boots to refer to rain boots also offers humorous and unexpected wordplay).

While obtaining commercial rights can be expensive, we believe the effect added to the radio spot by this song clip justifies its price both because using a fun, familiar song will help generate goodwill for the product and brand, and the catchiness of the song will likely remind consumers of the product long after they have finished listening to the ad.

As can be seen in the Mintel graph to the right, of consumers surveyed in the 18-34 age group, 40 to 50% listen to the radio daily. While this data includes men and women, we can hypothesize that it indicates a large portion of our target audience (women ages 18-34) listen to the radio frequently if not daily.

Radio Usage by Age, July 2010-March 2011, Mintel: Percentage of Men and Women who listen to the radio daily

PR Live Event: Types of Live Entertainment Events Attended in last 12 months by Gender, Mintel: Percentage of Men and Women who attended Music Concerts or Festivals

As the target market for Crocs rain boots enjoy music festivals, which are known for getting dusty and muddy, it is a great pairing for Crocs rain boots to sponsor an outdoor music event. The festival could be called “Crocs Music and Mud Fest” and could be held in April (in the hope of rain to make the event muddy). We chose to make our event a music festival because, as can be seen in the Mintel graph to the left, of

consumers who attended live entertainment events in the last 12 months, 44% of females went to music concerts/festivals.

To promote the idea that the Crocs brand is young, fun, and cool, the festival would promote “having fun in the mud.” Participants would come to play and sing in the rain (and mud) with friends, all while wearing Crocs rain boots.

This would serve the dual purpose of showing our target consumers that Crocs can be worn in settings where young people usually try to dress up and look stylish (i.e. big, outdoor music festivals), as well as demonstrating that they are comfortable enough to wear all day and durable enough to run around in.

Muddy Concert-goers at Woodstock (left) and Lollapalooza (right)

Muddy feet of concert-goers at an event at Carelton College showing the opportunity for a festival encouraging attendees to wear Crocs rainboots

In order to keep costs down, Crocs can hire local cover bands to do their own versions of famous songs about rain. This way the company only has to get the rights to songs rather than the actual artists which would allow for much more freedom in song choice. To appeal to all women in the target market, there would be cover bands or singers for different styles of music, (e.g. pop, rock, or classics), so attendees can listen to whichever style of music they prefer. Singers could include people who have been on popular TV shows, such as The Voice or American Idol; which would keep costs reasonable yet also attract fans of semi-famous acts. The performers would also have the opportunity to play their own songs, with the goal of making the entire event seem like an actual sponsored concert and not just an advertisement.

As an example of the sorts of cover bands the concert would feature, in Baltimore, semi-famous local cover bands and singers include Austin Ellis, a singing guitarist who was on The Voice and covers pop music bands, and Controlled Chaos, a band that covers rock ranging from Prince to Bob Dylan. Crocs would have to acquire rights to rain-themed songs like the following: (for pop enthusiasts:) “Umbrella” by Rihanna, “A Year Without Rain” by Selena Gomez, “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele); (for rock enthusiasts:) “Purple Rain” by Prince, “Rain” by The Beatles, “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan, (and for classics fans:) “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls, “Singing in the Rain” by Gene Kelly, and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. These are just a few examples, as there are many songs that would fit the theme of the festival. Crocs could work with cover bands and artists after hiring them to find songs they would be interested in performing that would work well with the theme of mud and rain. While we realize that not having the actual celebrities perform might make the trendsetting segment of our target audience potentially less likely to attend, we believe that the unique, quirky, and surprising idea behind the event (i.e. a music festival where the intention is to get muddy) is enough of a draw that avant garde 18-34 year-old women will be interested in attending, as well as (ideally) purchasing a brand new pair of Crocs rain boots for the occasion.

10 Second Live Read Script for Crocs Music and Mud Fest: “Get ready for the Crocs Music and Mud Fest, April 4th at the Zachel Dovans Campgrounds, rocking your very own Crocs rain boots. Visit crocs.com today to pick out the perfect pair. Get muddy and enjoy the music, and don’t forget to Live Bright!”

This short promotional message quickly gets the message across about the Crocs Music and Mud Fest concert.

Crucially, it includes date, time, and location information for the concert, contains a measurable call to action (asks listeners to attend the festival and directs them to the website to buy a pair of Crocs rain boots before the event) and gives them an incentive to buy a pair to wear to the festival. The tagline “Live Bright” also reminds listeners that Crocs rain boots are colorful and stylish (one of the main points of the marketing campaign), without actually saying it explicitly.

The medium of radio will give Crocs’ integrated marketing campaign a new dimension, since it’s a platform that allows advertisers to put ideas directly into consumers minds via sound. Its cost-effective compared to a television ad of a comparative length, and is more likely to reach a specific, local audience (Drewniany, 2014). Additionally, radio provides an ideal way in which to advertise a music festival, since the ad can be played on only certain channels, according to consumers’ music preferences.

For these reasons, radio is a prime channel to promote local live shows, and it should therefore help to draw a large audience to the Crocs Music and Mud Fest Concert. Stressing the fact that concert-goers will be encouraged to wear Crocs rain boots will hopefully incentivize a strong percentage of our target market to purchase a pair in preparation for the festival. This will in turn portray Crocs rain boots in a positive light to other concert-goers who will then be more inclined to purchase a pair of their own as a result.

Television Advertisements Television commercials are an extremely useful advertising method to include in an integrated marketing campaign since they allow advertisers to use the combined power of visuals, sound, and motion (Drewniany, 2014).

For our product, rain boots, television advertisements are crucial because they will allow consumers to see the product in action. The main motion associated with boots is walking, so showing the boots on someone’s feet as they walk will

allow consumers to see what the boots really look like when they are worn, and will help them picture themselves walking with the boots.

Ideally, television advertisements should catch the attention of consumers (even if they have turned the volume down), be interesting and visually appealing so that consumers continue to watch the ad, and memorable so that they talk about (or even share video of) the ad to others, leading to an eventual increase in product awareness and/or sales revenue. The most successful ads in these respects tend to be ones that tell a story, since this seems to make them impactful and memorable (Quesenberry, 2014).

Our proposed advertisements will serve the purpose of promoting brand awareness, not one particular sales promotion, but will include a call to action that encourages consumers to visit the Crocs website and purchase a pair of rain boots. We suggest that these ads be played on channels whose demographics are mostly women age 18-34 (our target maret), such as MTV or VH1 (51% of VH1’s viewers are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 57% are female, while 64% of MTV’s viewers are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 56% are female – higher than most other networks) (Network Demographics, 2014). These stations are also highly watched and have shows that are often talked about on social media (two of the top 10 “most tweeted about” shows last fall were on MTV) (Neilsen, 2013). We also believe that the viewers of these stations who are in our target demographic market will also be in our psychographic target market, in that they are trendsetters who will inspire others to buy Crocs rain boots.

For a 30-second commercial, we decided to continue our theme of women who are happy because they are wearing comfortable Crocs rain boots in the rain yet still feeling stylish. The commercial is set to the iconic song “Singing in the Rain,” and will closely follow the famous dance by Gene Kelly in the Singing in the Rain movie. This will act as a continuation of the “rain-themed-songs” theme of our live event, and while we realize that obtaining the rights to the musical number will we very expensive, we believe that the benefit afforded to the brand by being associated with such a universally-loved song and dance will justify the cost. In addition to having good associations in consumers’ minds, the song is also catchy and will likely stay with the viewer after the commercial has ended. It’s worth noting that the original song is by Johnny Marvin Orch and is actually in the public domain, but the dance number itself is copyrighted.

The ad itself will have the format of featuring the product as the star of the show, since the entire song and dance number revolves around the fact that the boots make the girls happy to be in the rain. This formatting concept will be reinforced by the fact that the boots and girls will be in color and everything else will be in greyscale (this technique ties in with our first print ad).

The entire ad will be one continuous shot with no transitions (except for the initial cut “in” at the beginning and cut “out” when the ad ends). We believe that this will keep viewers engaged for the entirety of the ad (in order to see the call to action at the end), and will also impress viewers (since it’s well known that continuous cuts are more difficult than splicing together many takes, because everything must go perfectly throughout the one shot).

At this stage, we believe its best not to specify whether the advertisement should be objective or subjective. We believe that this should be decided at the time of filming after seeing whether it seems natural for the main actress to sing directly into the camera (subjective) or not (objective). If looking into the camera seems too forced, we believe that she should not do so, but if it seems natural during filming, we believe eye-contact with the camera may make her seem more friendly and approachable.

The camera angle will change throughout the ad, beginning lower than eye level with the close-up of the boots, then gradually zooming out during as the dance starts. At the very end of the ad, the camera will pan upward into an aerial shot, and, if possible, the colors of the umbrellas will match the colors of the Crocs logo (pictured on the right).

We chose the song “Singing in the Rain” specifically because it fits in with our rain theme from the radio ad and live event, but also because it is a fun, classic and

Crocs Logo

happy song, that portrays the personality of the Crocs brand.

The overall idea behind this first television commercial continues to convey the message that Crocs rain boots are stylish, comfortable, and durable, but distinctly uses a “show don’t tell” method of doing so. In other words, consumers will see that the boots are stylish for themselves, especially because stylish girls will be wearing the boots.

The dance number itself will underscore the fact that the boots are comfortable and durable, since the girls will

be able to dance in the boots without falling and without the boots tearing (a quick Google search for “problems with rain boots” suggests that tears and leaks is the most common problem consumers find with boots they own).

The ad will also be a strong asset for social media content for Crocs. Since the rights to the song and dance will have been purchased and a choreographer will have been hired, Crocs can produce a full version of the dance for minimal extra costs. This video can be posted on the Crocs website; encouraging viewers of the television ad to visit the site and watch the video will be an added extra pull to Crocs’ site (which could then display a coupon for the rain boots next to the video). Crocs can also post this video on social media, since it has strong potential for shares and views because it is fun, valuable content with a relatively subtle sales message.

Overall, we believe that this advertisement will carry forward our big idea that Crocs makes great rain boots, while at the same time demonstrating that they are stylish, comfortable, and durable. The ad is upbeat, fun, and memorable (if only because the song itself is very catchy), and above all highlights the product and calls the consumer to buy it from the Crocs website.

The second, 15-second television ad will continue the theme from our first print ad of comparing Croc boots to uncomfortable heels, by which we hope to indicate that these boots can be as stylish as stilettos, while at the same time being more comfortable and much more durable (they won’t suddenly break like high heels do).

This ad will achieve memorability by presenting a short but relatable story: a fashionably dressed young woman steps out every morning in heels that keep breaking, until she eventually tries on a pair of Crocs rain boots and ends up comfortably strolling down the street on her way to wherever she is going. Women in our target market will likely find this ad relatable, since for them, getting dressed in the morning often involves considering a tradeoff between comfort and fashion, and a product that looks good while still being comfortable and long-lasting fills all of these needs.

This ad combines multiple formats, but may best be categorized as “slice of life,” since it presents a problem with Crocs rain boots as the solution. It may also perhaps be considered a story, since it features one woman experiencing a continuous struggle for adequate footwear before finding the perfect solution, and may also be considered “product as star,” since everything will be in grayscale but the rain boots.

There will be several cuts in (very) quick succession between each pair of heels, but the scene will remain continuous the entire time the rain boots are featured, allowing the focus to be on them. For the last four seconds, the image will fade to blur, allowing the text to appear and the announcer to read the call to action. The point of view of the ad will be objective until the last few seconds, in which the woman wearing the crocs turns and smiles into the camera before walking off. The camera will be high enough to feature the woman’s whole body in each shot (so that it is clear she is the same person each time), and will finish at eye-level, so that the target viewer feels like the woman is turning and smiling at her, as if she were standing on the street.

In the background, the same remix of “These Boots were Made for Walking” that we used in the radio ad will play (we’ll already have these rights, saving us the cost of purchasing another catchy, famous song). The Croc boots will appear just as the music says “Are you ready boots? Start walking,” (this will ideally sound slightly humorous, since the woman is literally starting to walk comfortably as the music says this). The sound effects of heels clicking on the ground and breaking will be timed to the beat of the music.

For both advertisements, the tagline “Live Bright” will appear along with the call to action. We feel that this will help to reinforce Crocs’ brand image as fun and lighthearted, and will also help the consumer realize that their rain boots are bright and colorful. It also subtly suggests that buying Crocs is a smart life decision to make, since “bright” can mean “intelligent” as well as light.

Overall, these television advertisements will carry on our “big idea” that Crocs makes good-looking rain boots.

Both commercials will showcase the rain boots and allow the consumer to see how good they look on a fashionable woman just like herself, and both will demonstrate the boots’ comfort and durability (since they can hold up during a

dance number and won’t break like high heels). We believe that both commercials will be engaging, since they will present bright visuals and exciting, well-known songs which will stay in the consumer’s thoughts long after they finish watching the ads. We also believe that the clear call to action at the ends of the commercials will convince our target consumers to log on to the Crocs website and purchase their own pair; and furthermore we hope that the fun nature of the videos will encourage viewers to share them on social media, or at the very least to talk to their friends and start conversations about the fact that Crocs makes great, colorful rain boots.

Social Media The social media approach of this campaign will have many parts, all tied in closely with the longer television advertisement, and aimed at connecting with consumers on a more personal level. The TV ad itself will encourage viewers to visit the Crocs website to see the full video with an extended dance scene, as well as a related making-of spot and an outtakes reel (we imagine there will be many comical aspects to attempting to dance quickly in rain boots, but all videos will be careful to show Crocs in a positive light). Clips of the video can also be shown on Instagram and Vine to help capture viewer’s attention and curiosity so they will visit one of Crocs’ social media platforms to see the full video.

In addition to these videos, visitors to the Crocs website will be able to see videos from the Music and Mudfest live event, and will even be allowed to submit their own videos from the concert (submissions will be vetted for appropriateness). All videos will also be featured in a playlist on the Official Crocs YouTube channel.

Crocs will also have an active presence on the most popular social media websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, College Fashionista, and HerCampus. On the more text-based sites, Facebook and Twitter, Crocs will maintain its relevance by posting about seasonal sales and holidays. Posting pictures (on Pinterest and Instagram in particular) will help to reposition Crocs as a fashionable and young brand, while the collegiate-themed websites will help encourage our target consumers that Crocs boots are the sort of thing their friends are (or soon will be) wearing. All of these channels would include “#LiveBright” in their posts, allowing consumers to click on the hashtag to see a succinct list of Crocs posts.

Since an important goal of this campaign is to appeal to young, trend-setting women, Crocs would also advertise in iPhone and Android phone and tablet applications. Tablet advertisements will be the main focus of this aspect of the campaign, since as of last year nearly 20% of Americans owned one or more iPads, with the number growing steadily each year. A large percentage iPad owners fall into our target demographic of women 18-34, and, importantly, iPad

owners are more likely to interact with their favorite brands online than the average adult (Market Research, 2013).

Phone and tablet applications are usually associated with younger generations, so advertising there would also serve to remind consumers that the brand itself if young and fun. While most in-app advertising is done through annoying banner adds, Crocs would instead be featured as an actual component within fashion game apps (this type of app has become increasingly popular; high-grossing examples include “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” “Covet Fashion: Fashion and Dress” and “Dress Up – Red Carpet”).

Guerilla Marketing A second form of non-traditional advertising Crocs will engage in will center around introducing Crocs as fashionable shoes during fashion weeks in major U.S. cities. Each year, the most major metropolitan areas have these weeks (for example, Baltimore’s next one is August 13-16, 2015) wherein models dress up in the latest styles and attend runway shows and related events. Since one of the main attractions of the event is seeing what everyone is wearing as they walk around on the street, Crocs will send in strategically placed models wearing fashionable clothing and Crocs rain boots on their feet. This will subtly help to convince consumers that Crocs are fashionable, and an added benefit will be that fashion week attendees often take and upload pictures of people they see on the street. This would essentially give Crocs additional social media advertising in a way that’s free and comes from the consumers themselves. While in the past consumers uploading pictures of Crocs has not always been beneficial (as discussed previously, there is widespread mockery of the brand online), we are not concerned about disparaging comments where the boots are concerned since their inherent stylishness speaks for itself. It simply wouldn’t be funny to mock Crocs rain boots because they do look trendy. It will be important to have these models disclose that they were given the Crocs rainboots to wear, but we’ll leave it to them to give their own reviews of the boots (which will be glowing as Crocs rainboots are so comfortable!)

The final, finishing touch on this integrated campaign will incorporate aspects of the print ads, TV commercials, and social media platforms. On a rainy day, Crocs will stage a flash mob in the middle of Times Square, with women doing the dance routine from the 30-second television ad (wearing Crocs rain boots). It will be professionally filmed and edited, and will be posted on social media (YouTube in particular) with the intention of going “viral” (Crocs will work closely with a company that specializes in creating viral videos). We believe this is a good direction for the campaign to go in, since a great number of “flash mob” videos on YouTube have over 1 million views, - especially the ones staged in times square - and it is possible to promote a video on YouTube such that it is “suggested” whenever

someone in our target audience logs in. While this may be an expensive strategy, we believe that the amount of attention and campaign awareness it will generate will be worth the cost, and that it will ultimately be cheaper to produce than a television advertisement of the same effectiveness.

Conclusion Overall, Crocs are currently thought to just be ugly clogs in the eyes of most consumers, but recently they’ve expanded to other shoes (boots, wedges, flats, etc.) that are more stylish. The company has established itself as a fun, lighthearted brand, though it may be a challenge to completely change the perception of the clogs in the eyes of younger market segments.

We propose they stress the fun, colorful nature of the shoes and maintain a lighthearted tone in its advertising while still highlighting the rain boots’ comfort, durability, and stylishness. The creative brief will serve as succinct guidelines that will give the integrated marketing campaign direction and focus.

Print advertisements will provide a bold and eye-catching visual introduction to the boots which will allow them to speak for themselves in terms of style. The QR codes with the promise of a coupon will provide a measurable call to action that will lead the consumer directly to the Crocs online store, where they can purchase the boots immediately and conveniently.

Radio advertisements present another important aspect of the campaign, since the ad is not constrained by what it is possible to visually represent, as print and television ads are. The frank conversation is designed to be relatable to the target market, and the song is attention-grabbing and will stay in consumers’ heads long after the ad has ended.

Since radio is a convenient medium through which to reach specific, local audiences, it is an idea way to promote the Crocs local, live Music and Mud Fest Concert, during which attendees will be encouraged to wear the Crocs boots.

The concert will also present the brand in a positive light, ideally convincing concert-goers and their extended friend group to look favorable upon Crocs, and to purchase a pair of their shoes.

Television advertisements will allow consumers to see the boots in action, and will allow women in the target market to picture themselves as the women in the ads. The motion aspects will allow consumers to see first-hand the durability and comfort of the boots (at least to some extent, in the models’ ability to dance and happy expressions). As with the radio ads, using well-known, well-liked, catchy songs will help the consumer immediately appreciate and remember the ads, and the call to action at the end will encourage consumers to visit the Crocs website right away.

Advertising on social media will allow the Crocs brand to connect and engage with consumers on a more personal and multidimensional level. It will further integrate all of the buzz from the ads that make up this campaign, and encourage the creation of a two way interaction between viewers and Crocs as a brand. Customers who receive feedback from the brand through shares, likes etc. will feel a greater sense of goodwill towards the company and will then help to portray Crocs in a strong, positive light to their friends.

Finally, guerilla marketing will continue to increase this buzz created by the other aspects of the marketing campaign. It will tie in with the social media aspects of this strategy in that a video of the flash mob will be posted on social media, and we believe that seeing models wear the boots in real life during a fashion week event will further solidify in consumers’ minds that Crocs rain boots are indeed fashionable and fun to wear.

Overall, we expect this campaign to lead to a 15% increase in sales volume for Crocs in the next year.

Moreover, it will provide a much-needed way for Crocs to change its brand perception among consumers of all demographics. Crocs has the potential to become a much tougher competitor. Consumers will begin to see them as not simply producers of rubber clogs, but also as an innovative leader in its industry that sells a variety of practical yet fashionable footwear options. And it all starts with rain boots.

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