Crocs: How the footwear brand turned its business around

1/14/21 7:00PM

Crocs (footwear brand, not the animal) had a really good year. The brand with a distinctive style, known for their foam clogs and sandals, sold just under $1.4bn of shoes last year. That marks Crocs third straight year of revenue growth, revitalising a company that looked like it was in trouble in 2017.

Forget Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook or Apple — if you'd correctly predicted Crocs would make a comeback and bought shares in them at the start of 2017 you'd have made more than 10x on your money, more than what you would have made from owning shares in any of those 5 tech companies over the same time frame.

‍Make Crocs cool... again(?)

‍Uncool can become cool, and vice versa, very quickly in the fashion world. No better example is in 2017 when luxury fashion brand Balenciaga sent a model down the runway in huge platform Crocs, fully embracing the clunky ugliness — and selling out of $850 pairs of similar platform Crocs by Feb 2018.

It's probably a stretch to say that a few fashion shows are entirely responsible for turning the brand around but they underpin a strategy at Crocs that has been in motion since new CEO Andrew Rees took the reins halfway through 2017. Collaborations with celebrities, influencers and limited edition "drops" of custom Crocs have all helped the company engage with younger buyers and turned the clunky design of the main clog into an asset.

The new marketing effort came with ancillary benefits for Crocs as well. Back in 2006 the company had acquired Jibbitz, which make little charms that you can stick onto your Crocs (through all those holes they have on them) to let you customize them. It's easier just to show you rather than explain what they look like at this point — but buyers absolutely loved them. As Crocs got more popular with younger customers, they wanted to stamp their own style onto them — and search interest for Jibbitz has exploded accordingly.

‍A year to be comfy

‍Of course, it's easy to forget amidst all of this marketing hype that Crocs main feature remains the fact that they are just insanely comfy. Indeed, there's certainly a strong argument to be made that if any shoe was going to thrive in a global pandemic it was going to be one that was really comfortable, even if you didn't love the look. No-one is looking at your shoes on Zoom.

Max Knoblauch6/15/26

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

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JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

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Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

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The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

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