Crocs Vs. the Empire

We have all heard of Crocs. They are all-weather, germ proof multi-purpose foot wear. They grip like trek shoes, can be worn from the beach to the board-room (provided you work at the Google-Plex) and, now that they are popular, look trendy. They wash off and dry within minutes, and will forever feel like your feet are floating on a cloud.

In other words, Crocs have few, if any, substitutes. They are unique. They offer a user experience that precious few else can offer.

Nike and Adidas are similar. While they do have substitutes, their dominant position in the market is one whose history is fulfilling the needs of the user experience (as my good friend likes to remind me, the “brand promise”). Rugged, purpose built and rarely ever disappointing.

These are Brands. That they participate in market distortion or unfair labour practices today is a by-product of their success. They influence legislators and politicians having won the right to demand some anomaly. To get to where they are, they have had to innovate, create and re-create; capture imaginations and maintain consistency.

Than you have those whose very reason for being comes from their core relationship with wealth. This is the kind of wealth that makes legislators, politicians and lobbies. These came about by creating strict control over precious items like energy, medicine and defence.

These are not Brands, these are Mega-Corporations; the real ‘Empire’. The very premise for their distortion is that they drive the machine itself.

Crocs have a certain right of passage in the free market, more than a little tint of capitalistic nobility. Brands create passion, and inspire.  

The Empire, well, it will always have to fight back.

Shahbaz Ali-Khan

Simli Dam, 22nd December