Here is a brand that sells ugly shoes and grows 20% every year.

Birkenstock is a shoe brand known for their sandals. At first look, many of their shoes look odd, clunky and made for retirees. Yet people of all ages wear them.

On Reddit, many Birkenstock fans own 7-10 pairs. That’s nearly $1200 per customer, returning every year. I’ve been a customer for 7 years. I have NEVER seen an ad. They did run clever campaigns owning their opinionated product back in the days: “Ugly for a Reason” and “Funny Looking Birkenstock Sandals.”

Their secret is the footbed. Firm cork that molds to your exact shape over time. Once you get used to it, everything else is a downgrade. Almost all my shoes are Birkenstock now: slippers, sandals, boots, sneakers.
A brand that works in numbers: revenue grew 70% between 2020 and 2022. They closed 2024 with 22% growth, reaching over €1.8 billion, continuing a decade-long track record of 20%+ revenue growth every year. (20% revenue growth is insane btw)

See, the reason why this works is because the product is the brand, not a brand dressing a mediocre product. This is the part where companies do not bring creative sharp minds, it’s the most important decision and where creativity should live, and yet they do this themselves. Since creatives are left out of the product strategy, which sits at the heart of the business strategy, the effort it takes to make the brand work is more than what it should be, and still, most creative work gets killed anyway. And it makes sense, if the product is bs, so is the brand.

The brand works because they built a product with an opinion, with a narrow audience and a clear proposition. It works because the product is so good that people recommend it without being asked. That is the result of studying the category deeply and finding the opportunities others missed. Eventually, the best business strategy is the old school word-of-mouth, and to do that, strategy should be approached holistically, brand being part of it not all.