The Colorful Crocs

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the colorful Crocs sandals. Their bright and flamboyant colors should have caught your attention by now. They are also renowned for their comfort and lightness.

What surprised me is their popularity among the elders – I observed that more people from the older generation are wearing them compared with the younger generation. Before this observation, I never associate bright colors with the aged and matured population.

What do you think is the reason for this phenomenon? I thought most elders dislike flamboyant colors especially on apparels and footwear? Do older consumers view comfort as a much more important product attribute than appearance?

I think not many elderies in indonesia would not be interested to use them...

i personally think the design is so ugly i would not want to wear it!
But i'm also surprise why so many people like it.

few reasons not to like it:

1. it doesn't look appealing... especially for woman! it makes your feet look fatter!
2. the choice of color are so bright.. it won't match the majority of clothes you have in your wardrobe!
3. it is expensive for such an ugly shoes
4. there are now many fake crock shoes, so ppl may mistaken you as using the fake ones although you've spent so much on them

I think it is so popular now because a lot of people want to wear something that is eye-catching

Not only old people wear it, but also toddler...

However, when I tried one pair of it at the shop (so expensive $49.90 if you buy the original one) I feel a bit strange...

It's not soft or comfort to wear.... It will become smelly when you use it so many times...especially during rainy-day... and the material itself is not suitable for shoes

Btw from what I know... this crocs are coming from Netherland (the first shop sold these is in Holland V. area)...and quite popular over there since it is adapted from klepon ( forgot the name...It's the Dutch traditional sandal made from wood)

This whole crocs phenomena reminds me of the 'emperor's new clothes' story. They ARE UGLY. I think the fad might not last. Why? Because now you can get fake ones from HDB shoes shop - and because they are just one big lump of rubber and hence not that difficult to copy - you can't tell the diff. Hah! So no one is going to pay $50 for them.

But .. the reason why they are supposed to be good:
a. they mould to your feet as you wear them - hence they are supposed to be very comfortable.
b. unlike rubber shoes, they are supposed to be made of materials that doesn't make your feet smell.

Reasons why old people wear them - well, becos they want to look young and hip!

My 2 cents worth.

to me, it looks like those shoes you wear to the muddy area.. hehe...
not feminine at all

Hehe.. Personally, I'm not a fan of these sandals also, and I don't think wise and old people in their 70s or 80s want to look young and hip. I think there should be some other reasons.

Although, these sandals don't look good on many people, I found an exception yesterday :

oh, can u actually take picture in the mrt?

I thought only no eating and drinking, no smoking, and no durians???

Crocs must have realized the poor aesthetics of their beach models. They are organizing a Crocs Shoe Design Competition for tertiary students in Singapore:

http://www.crocs.com.sg/competition/tac.aspx

Anyone interested to participate?

Interestingly, before reading YSL's post I've never really noticed crocs being worn, but now i see the EVERYWHERE! it's crazy....

But i realised that it's actually mainly their beach model (the one everyone wears) which is not so asthetically pleasing. Some of their other models are nice I actually quite like their ballet flats model....

An incentive if anyone is interested in getting crocs is that you get a 15% discount off crocs shoes for submitting a design for their design competition. So design away!

so the winner will get supply of crocs for 3 years?? :D

Personally, I think that Crocs are pretty ugly. However, if you talk to people who are 'hip', they will talk about Crocs as being the 'in' thing...This could be due to marketing and hype. Also, it is pretty difficult to miss such colourful and bright shoes in shops, thus adding to their 'visibilty'.

Remember Bubble Tea? When it first entered the market, it was the 'in' drink to buy. It was pretty expensive and many copycats entered the market. However, it now a 'common' drink and relatively cheaper. The trend cooled off. Maybe Crocs will be like Bubble Tea?

My 2 cents worth...

isn't this curious... everyone here is dishing crocs sandals so who are the people wearing them? Any crocs supporters wanna stand up? Fashion is surely a strange thing... i still remember how it was a trend to wear neon green and yellow colored stuff when i was in secondary school it scared me off green for many years to come.

If I'm wearing crocs, I won't dare to own up after seeing the above merciless criticisms. They are probably well-hidden in my storeroom now.

tmuihuan wrote:

Personally, I think that Crocs are pretty ugly. However, if you talk to people who are 'hip', they will talk about Crocs as being the 'in' thing...This could be due to marketing and hype. Also, it is pretty difficult to miss such colourful and bright shoes in shops, thus adding to their 'visibilty'.

Remember Bubble Tea? When it first entered the market, it was the 'in' drink to buy. It was pretty expensive and many copycats entered the market. However, it now a 'common' drink and relatively cheaper. The trend cooled off. Maybe Crocs will be like Bubble Tea?

My 2 cents worth...

At least bubble tea is nice to drink. But crocs are ugly according to most of the above comments. I always thought that to be "hip" and "in" means to look good - not to look ugly. Is it possible to turn something ugly into an "in" thing? Can marketing substitute aesthetic designing?

Aesthetic appeal is subjective. Subjected to trends and standards of the society. I suppose it is formed through marketing and whatever the fashion gurus say are the 'in' things?? Notice how clothes of ladies change over the years?

so perhaps instead of understanding how a certain product appeals to consumers, affective design researchers should study how fashion gurus can influence consumers' perception instead

Ya, I agree that aesthetic appeal is transient - what is considered ugly now may be a beauty in the future. Given that consumers are significantly influenced by marketing and fashion gurus, I can formulate three hypotheses :

1. The people in this forum are old-fashioned
2. The people in this forum are immune to marketing and fashion gurus
3. The people in this forum are simply abnormal

hi
we have came up with new designs for crocs sandals .
you can find the new crocs design at www.Roscom.co.il עיצוב קרוקס
gold and diamonds on beach model D7 and Mary Jane model D7
Thank you very much

Hi Roscom

Very interesting designs. You gave the crocs sandals a classy and more feminine feel. The D7 models look more elegant, and the F7 models look more girlish.

May I know more about you? Which country are you based in? Do you have a partnership with crocs?

iez wrote:

so perhaps instead of understanding how a certain product appeals to consumers, affective design researchers should study how fashion gurus can influence consumers' perception instead

The following paragraphs are written by businessweek's design blogger Bruce Nussbaum. Looks like fashion and marketing gurus are losing their ability to influence consumers:

"Wow. I just came across this speech by design leader P&G CEO AG Lafley and it's dynamite because he tells an Association of National Advertisers audience to face reality and stop trying to control their brands because their own customers are the ones defining and shaping them. Now consider the source--the head of one of the great brand companies in the world.

Lafley argues that thanks to media framentation and user-generated content, marketers are more likely to be in touch with their customers if they face reality and let consumers be in control. It's all pull now, not push, when it comes to products. One example he showed was a Pringles video made by a British teen shown on YouTube. I went to YouTube and found tons of Pringles videos. This was my favorite.

You gotta be careful with user-generated content." Bruce Nussbaum

Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2006/10/pgs_lafley_says.html

say shalom to Baruch from israeli friends.