Everlasting school shoes...

We have to buy school shoes tomorrow - said dad I was super excited. New shopping for me and outing. Too young to recall the place but the name Bata felt like my uncle’s neighbourhood store. Local language mostly and very friendly.

There we are as a family in my uncle’s store to buy school shoes. Friendly smile to 2 naughty kids. What do you want - they ask. New school shoes!!!

I always loved that small red chair they would make me sit to measure my foot size. Then dad would say - a size bigger please. Oh that ritual went on for years.

Only until I grew up to be a marketing professional to realise it was never my uncle’s store. And we grew up wearing branded shoes. Some footwear designer must have used his creativity to design and produce each new item.

What an amazing marketing strategy in the no social media era. Well if I have to term it I would say - twist direct marketing to direct socialising. Everything was about trust. The size, colour, texture, fit. Your foot becomes longer but the shoe never ceases to look new.

How? The footwear designer and production head, along with their team knew how to create a superior product. Nothing can replace a great product. No loyalty points, no offers, no discounts. Just trust in the brand and the fact that it refuses to disappoint over the years. Value delivered was way higher than the expected value.

A marketing lesson well learnt. Retail still holds a dominant position, especially in the footwear industry. A lot many times a colour that looks good on screen, doesn’t look spectacular on my foot. Reason being my skin colour was darker or lighter than the model’s. It often looks great but how do I ensure it’s equally comfortable when worn?

A business model that is a mix of online and brick-and-mortar might work wonders for this industry. Food for thought!

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year! 

Photo courtesy- www.pixels.com