E-105-E

2-607-008

Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

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“Camper is not a shoe. Camper is the result of a dream. The dream of a
family from Mallorca that has been making shoes since 1877. A

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Mediterranean dream that stands for a way of doing, a way of living and a
way of feeling. A dream that combines the original artisan roots with an
industrial vocation. A dream that has taken Camper on a walk across the
world. As in ancient myths, Camper is a modern David, challenging with
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quality, irony and imagination, the Goliaths of style and fashion.” – Printed
on Camper shoeboxes.
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This case was prepared by Jordan Mitchell, Research Assistant, under the supervision of Professor
Rama Velamuri, as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or
ineffective handling of an administrative situation. February 2007.

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E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

Introduction
Steeped in 100 years of Mallorcan shoemaking history, modern footwear marketer
Camper had become one of the preeminent examples of Spain’s increasing worldwide
leadership in the apparel and footwear sector. Highly revered designs such as “Twins,”
“Brothers,” and “Pelotas” fueled growth and gave Camper an international reputation
for light-hearted, imaginative and comfortable casual footwear. As of 2005,
competition was becoming increasingly fierce. Nike Inc. had just launched its very first
line of non-sports shoes called “Considered.” Nike’s new line was priced in the same
range as Camper’s and boasted five components – something that Camper had
previously achieved with the invention of its 100 per cent recyclable “Wabi” shoe in

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2000. However, Nike was not the only competitor. Camper faced competition from its
traditional competitive set: Clark’s from the UK, Tod’s from Italy and Timberland from

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the U.S. In addition, observers felt that a whole host of companies were offering
variants on select Camper designs.

With a number of competitors traipsing through Camper’s field, what steps would the
Mallorcan company take to stay at the forefront of industrial shoe design?
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The 100-Year Prologue to Camper1
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Although Camper was established in 1975, its origins and spirit dated back to 1877,
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when Francisco Clavell returned on a fateful trip from London, England to his home
outside Inca in Mallorca, with a collection of shoemaking equipment. At the time
Mallorca was primarily an agricultural region with no established industry. With
limited access to raw materials, he began making shoes adapting the designs he had
seen in London and Paris. In the face of the shortage of raw materials, Clavell nurtured
his business by building capabilities on the island to get hold of leather and other
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fabrics. This encouraged other Mallorquins to open up shoemaking practices, and by

the early 1900s the island had over 100 different shoemakers supplying footwear to the
island and other parts of Spain. When Francisco Clavell died in 1917, the business
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went into turmoil. Francisco’s son, Pere, later took over the family business and
revived its health by improving production standards and establishing better
distributor links to sell Lottusse shoes throughout Spain.

During this period, Europe was in political upheaval, with the Spanish civil war from
1936 to 1939 and the Second World War from 1939 to 1945.2 During Franco’s regime,
Spain was isolated from the rest of Europe with heavy restrictions on importing
materials and technologies from other countries. Despite these obstacles, Pere Clavell
was eager to maintain his the company’s connections to the rest of Europe, and made
it a point to open horizons for his three sons by sending them on summer trips to

1 Some names, figures and details have been disguised to protect confidentiality.

2 Spain was not involved in the Second World War directly, but shortages throughout the rest of Europe affected Spain during this
period.

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 Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive E-105-E

European destinations such as England, France and Switzerland. One of the central
values he transmitted to his sons was the continuity of the business, as he was very
concerned about the ability for the shoe business to survive.

By the 1950s, the Lottusse shoemaking business had regained its strength and Pere
Clavell noticed the emerging tourism on his island. In 1957, he purchased a small
travel agency called Viajes Iberia (“Iberian Travel”) ahead of the boom that eventually
turned Mallorca from a quiet isolated region to one of the most visited tourist centers
in the Mediterranean.

Design + Comfort = Camper Is Born

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Influenced by the social uprisings and hippy movements of the late 1960s and early

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1970s, the youngest of Pere Clavell’s sons, Terenci, wanted to break the Spanish
preference for conservative black and brown shoes. His idea was straightforward:
design + comfort. Terenci declared:

“The idea of combining comfort and design was definitely a reflection of the times.
Literally – it was giving more freedom to the foot! Here you were going from a rigid
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shoe to something much more flexible. Then you add color.”

Taking inspiration from his Mediterranean roots, Terenci named the company Camper,
the Catalan word for “peasant.” The first model was a unisex shoe called “Camaleón”3
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and was made entirely from recycled components including otherwise unusable off-
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cuts of leather, strips of canvas and used tires. See Exhibit 1 for a picture of the
“Camaleón” as well as other early designs. The shoe was based on an age-old design
worn by Mallorcan farmers, who used scraps to construct their own shoes for working
in the countryside. Terenci made the design more attractive and adapted it for city use
in bustling areas such as Barcelona and Madrid.
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Terenci broke family tradition by refusing to set up a factory to produce the shoes.
Instead, he sought local partners in Mallorca and other areas of Spain to manufacture
them. Selling the idea to the family business that Camper would devote itself to design,
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marketing and sales was a tough slog. Terenci recalled:

“After 100 years of always making the shoes, Camper set out with the idea that we
would just be a marketing company. We wouldn’t make the product. My father
thought this was extremely risky. He asked, ‘How would we control the quality of
the product if we weren’t making it?’”

The idea to focus solely on marketing came from Terenci’s travels to the United States
as an 18-year old. As he explained, “There was sort of a hysteria in the textile industry.
I was seeing companies that were starting to just market and not actually make the
product.” Camper was the first entity to try the idea of working with outside
contractors in Spain. Terenci explained how he was able to find suitable contractors:

3 Camaléon is Spanish for chameleon.

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E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

“We were quite lucky because there were actually a number of good shoe factories
in Mallorca and they had been making shoes for French and English companies.
The French and English companies pulled out. What we found was an opportunity
to put production into these Mallorcan companies. We made a lot of the first
products in Inca.”

Camper was established on April 5, 1975 during a tumultuous time in Spain. Franco
died in November 1975 and the monarchy was re-established in the country. A system
of parliamentary democracy was established, with the first general elections held in
1977 after nearly 40 years of dictatorship.

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Phase I: 1975-1991 – Configuration

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Emphasizing humor and a light-hearted approach, Camper’s first marketing messages
included the following cutlines: “Wear shoes. It’s more comfortable,” “Camper: a
mixture of Lamborghini and Kawasaki, with a bit of Kamasutra.” 4 Despite these
creative messages, Camper did not invest heavily in advertising. As Terenci pointed
out, “We’ve done marketing in our own way and have done so with very little.”
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Exhibit 2 shows samples of Camper’s advertisements.

Along with off-beat consumer messages, Camper sold its shoes solely through third-
party shops for six years before deciding to open up its own shop in Barcelona. Terenci
explained the decision to own shops:
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“In 1981 we were restless and we opened up our first stores. This was one very
important step. The store incorporated the spirit and the graphics of the brand and
the idea was not only to sell the product, but to do so with an emotional
experience. We wanted to use the store to not only sell, but to communicate our
message.”
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Esteve Llull, owner of the Barcelona-based store Vinçon was employed by Camper to
design the first shop. Llull stated:
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“The idea was not to merely decorate the interior but rather do something quite
different. The mandate was not to do the interior of one shop but to develop a
concept that could be scaled for a chain. We actually analyzed the act of buying
shoes. People would go in to a shop and look at all the shoes in the window and
then ask the store employee to get the shoe for them to try on. It was really quite
absurd. We wanted to give much more liberty to the customer. We proposed a new
type of layout where for the first part the client could make the purchase without
the intervention of the store’s personnel. They could come in, touch the shoes, pick
them up and try them on. This was one of the biggest successes that we had.”

The shop was considered to be a radical departure from the existing retailing
environment for footwear. The success of the first shop in Barcelona spawned other

4 Kamasutra refers to an ancient Sanskrit text that outlines rules for sensual pleasure for married couples under Hindu law.

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 Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive E-105-E

stores in Madrid and Seville. In this expansion, Camper learned that deviations from
the original store design were necessary to ensure that each store was in harmony with
its surroundings – however, the central idea of using the space to communicate never
wavered. Llull stated, “The concept was very rigid and strict, but each store was much
more chameleon-like.” Exhibit 3 shows images of Camper store concepts.

During the 1980s, Camper solidified its position in the casual shoe market with such
releases as the “KenBoot” in 1982 and the “Brutus” in 1985. Promotional activities
included the formation of the “Red Raiders Camper Team,” which sponsored a
challenger in the three quarter ton yachting regatta and the Paris to Dakar motorcycle
race where participants drove off-road dirt bikes from Paris, France across the Sahara
desert. By the late 1980s, Camper had become the leader in the Spanish casual shoe

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market, but stiff competition was imminent. Terenci explained:

“Really until about 1988-1989, we didn’t have much domestic competition. Before

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that, I think a lot of people didn’t take us very seriously, but then we started seeing
a lot of other people doing more of what we were doing. In 1989, the Panama Jack
brand came out – it was a boot that’s extremely well constructed with top quality at
our price points.”
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Camper fought off competition by releasing several new collections and putting
innovation at the forefront of its design. One such example was the release of the
“Twins” collection – a series of shoes where each of the two shoes in each pair had
slight differences in color and patterns. The company also worked to open more of its
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own shops and offer broader collections to third-party stores.
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In 1987, Camper had made its first attempt to sell shoes internationally. Terenci and
his team traveled to the premiere footwear trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany to reach
new customers. The Camper team returned home disenchanted with the experience.
Terenci explained:
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“We had no credibility, being a company from Spain. People actually really liked
the product and I remember one of the most difficult moments when we were at the
stand and we would have people sit down to take orders. On a few occasions,
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people saw our company information on the order form and saw a Spanish address.
And, they just got up and walked away. They had thought we were Italians. No one
had seen a Spanish brand. Mind you, at the time Spain was producing lots of
footwear, but it was always for other brands. In 1987, Spain had a terrible image for
exporting to other countries in Europe. It was a drama – one of the worst moments
in my life. Afterwards, we wanted to improve the image of Spain abroad.”

Phase II: 1992-2002 – Internationalization

The disappointing experience in Düsseldorf did not stamp out the company’s desire to
export Camper. With Spain’s participation in the expanding European Union, the
Olympic Games in Barcelona and the Universal Exposition in Seville, both in 1992, the
image of the country began to improve. The team felt that the moment had come for

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E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

an international expansion. In prospecting markets overseas, they looked at cities

rather than countries. This time, the company opened up its own shops in four key
cities in Europe: London, Paris, Milan and Cologne. The store designs were in line with
the Spanish layouts, where Camper used the space to communicate with visitors.
Terenci explained the challenge of expanding outside of Spain:

“Up to this point we never had to explain what Camper was. People had seen us
grow in Spain and they knew a little bit about the story. When I traveled to other
places, people said to me, ‘What is Camper?’ And, I said, ‘what do you mean?
Camper is Camper.’ I was stumped by this question. So, we did a series of meetings
to try and define what Camper was, and came up with four to five ideas or claims:
the first was Tradition and History. This was the idea that the Mediterranean was

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the net and represented a centuries-old tradition of interchange of ideas, goods,
services, and people. Then there was the idea that Camper equals peasant. Another

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was comfort with imagination. The stores were to serve as an open house for the
consumer. Last, Camper is people. We don’t have great structures and we live on the
basis of imagination.”

Explaining the Camper brand in a foreign context was challenging, since there were no
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reference points for audiences in other parts of Europe. In addition, Camper was
burdened with the challenge of supporting the operating costs of shops in cities double
or triple the cost of a Spanish city like Barcelona. Of the four stores that Camper
opened, the store in Cologne failed to deliver sales and was shut down after one year
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of operation. Terenci explained, “With England, it’s obvious – it’s London. With
France, it’s Paris, but with Germany, where is it?”
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Finding Spanish professionals with experience in Europe was another obstacle that
Camper faced in trying to establish a presence outside of Spain. As Terenci explained:

“There were no Spanish professionals with experience in Europe. Today we have

experienced professionals because of the success of Zara, Custo and Mango 5 and
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others. In the early 1990s, people had experience dealing with the exterior, but they
had never really been doing that with their own brand. It was always with other
brands. No one could transmit the Camper culture.”
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“We realized that if we were going to triumph, we had to do so with our people,” explained
Terenci on creating a homegrown workforce to deal with international expansion. Terenci
did not want to rely on professionals from other countries. He explained why:

“If you were to go to France, they would say, ‘you have to respect our culture,’ and
they would take you around and say, ‘these are what shoes for the French market
look like.’ But we were very clear – the reason why we existed was because we were
selling Camper, not just shoes. We didn’t want to fit in. You can’t make concessions

5 Zara was established in 1975, and by 2005 it had grown to 1,000 shops in 62 countries with revenues of €4.4 billion for Zara alone
(Zara’s parent company, Inditex, had revenues of €6.7 billion in 2005). Custo was founded in the early 1980s and had become one of
Spain’s pre-eminent labels shown at ready-to-wear fashion shows in New York, Milan and Paris. Mango was established in 1984 and had
grown to 850 shops in 82 countries and revenues of €1.1 billion in 2005.

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 Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive E-105-E

with your identity. When you make the biggest errors is when you don’t know
when to say no. It’s much more difficult to say no.”

Camper had opened franchisees for stores in the late 1980s and early 1990s in other
areas in Spain, which by the mid-1990s were not performing well. Camper had to take
action and close down the franchises, which led to a drop in domestic sales and a
significant loss of distribution points. Amadeo Zamora, general manager of Camper
joined in 1996 from a position with a large German tourist operator based in Mallorca.
He explained the immediate challenge:

“One of the first things I was involved in was closing the franchises. There were a
number of them around the country and we tried to make them work, but they had

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to be closed down. Basically, it was a lot of effort for very little return. The decision
to close them was partly knowing the domestic and exterior markets.”

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At this time, the company was struggling both at home and abroad.

“But then something incredible happened in 1996,” Terenci said, “We got a call
from a Japanese company. They had seen Camper products in London and Paris.
There were actually two companies that we ended up selling to who had big
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premium chains in Japan. So they made the first order and the first product that
they purchased from us (‘Brothers’) had an immediate success. In the first year, we
sold 100,000 pairs. It was really the first foreign country that Camper had ever had
success in. There we were dragging around for four to five years and then after that
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it was like a cascade. This really gave us a great deal of morale and it also gave us
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greater financial resources.”

The validation and cash flow from the Japanese market made it easier for Camper to
promote its efforts in Europe. By the end of 1997, the collection known as Pelotas
began to become popular in England and Italy. Stores carrying the Pelotas line, which
resembled a hybrid between a retro football boot and a bowling shoe, found it hard to
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keep up demand and soon, movie stars and popular figures from Europe and North
America had adopted them as a part of their wardrobe.
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Unparalleled domestic and international demand for Pelotas continued from 1997 to
2001, helping to more than triple the size of the company from sales of €43 million in
1996 to €151 million in 2001.6 See Exhibit 4 for Camper’s sales results and employee
growth. Camper picked up the Spanish award for design in 1998 and received
international press citing the brand as the example of “the new Spain.”

Camper experienced its first ever decline in sales in 2002. Part of the decrease was
attributable to a distribution deal in the U.S. that Camper had terminated in 2002. A
year earlier, 15% of Camper’s sales were destined to a U.S. shoe marketer and
distributor. Although the deal provided Camper with large volumes, Camper’s
management found that the distributor was selling the product in discount stores and
in venues where the Camper product was placed alongside lower-end brands. Camper

6 Sales results based on Coflusa S.A. from the Sabi database, Accessed 10 April 2005.

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E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

decided to end the agreement and build its own distribution by opening up Camper
stores in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Jose and managing other sales to U.S.
retail shops from Spain.

Aside from this challenge, Pelotas had reached a saturation point – numerous
imitations of the Pelotas model had flooded North American and European markets.
Zamora reflected:

“The [decrease in the] demand for Pelotas had made it difficult to use the brand to
communicate. This was a period for me that was extremely tough with a great level
of tension. Almost a crisis. Things weren’t moving either in Spain and or outside.
We had to insist with a lot of the stores to try out new products and take some of

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the new designs.”

The new designs included the Wabi collection – footwear that was 100 per cent

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recyclable. Whereas the majority of shoes contained over 60 components, the Wabi
was an attempt to reduce this to five or six. The outer shell of the shoe was recyclable
plastic with a removable insert made from organic materials. The futuristic form and
shape of the shoe was considered by some to be a departure from the retro style of
Pelotas. Exhibit 5 shows selected Camper footwear designs.
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Camper in 2005
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Apart from the task of designing new collections, Camper had the challenge of
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convincing talented individuals from all disciplines to move to Inca, a town of 28,000
people. Terenci’s son, Pere Clavell, who joined Camper after working at an investment
bank in Switzerland, commented on employing the right individuals:

“95% of the people who come to the island come for tourism purposes. There is a
big issue, which is that we are on an island here and more than that, we are located
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in the small town of Inca. Part of the problem is finding people who want to live in
Inca. Mind you some people love it. There’s a chap from London who moved here
with his family and they are very happy to be away from a big city. The other thing
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is that students coming from the big business schools believe that they’re going to
get to a top management position in three days and make a lot of money. In reality,
it’s much slower than that.”

Consolidation of Operations
Because the company had been in a mode of constant growth for the previous five
years, many of the operational processes were strained in trying to keep up with
demand. The company used the slowdown in sales growth as an opportunity to
consolidate operations and firm up internal processes. One such example was the
installation of SAP, an enterprise-wide system aimed at putting the sales, production,
shipping, receiving and accounting systems on a common platform for enhanced
sharing of information. While Camper documented plans for future sales one year out
to allow for production planning, the company did not draw up traditional business

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plans with financial targets. Camper needed to manage 15 families of product lines
with five of those representing the major percentage of sales. In those 15 families were
approximately 500 models and then 2,500 SKUs.7 In dedicated Camper stores, there
were approximately 200 to 300 SKUs at any one time.

Retail Prices and Camper’s Consumers

Retail stores sold Camper in Spain for between €80 and €140 for a standard shoe or
boot, with sandals averaging between €35 and €50 euros. In the rest of Europe, North
America, and Asia, prices were slightly higher ranging from €100 to €170 euros. The
price point pitched Camper against brands such as Timberland, Panama Jack, Clark’s,
Tod’s and Hogan. Exhibit 6 shows some key statistics from the shoe market in select

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European countries. Camper considered its appeal to be quite open. Terenci elaborated:

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“We do have quite a bit of diversity in our target and the idea of the Twins was a
bit more feminine, so it opens it up to both men and women. I would say that the
average target age is around 30 years old. The range is probably between 25 and 50
years. We’re not fashion and we don’t want to be fashion. We view ourselves much
more as industrial design. We go for consumers from professions such as
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architecture, design, advertising and teaching. Modern people that aren’t looking to
grab attention, but are looking for a product with good quality that’s designed well.
Nothing more.”
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Diversification
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In the past, Camper had several opportunities to diversify into other products by
licensing out the Camper name to a wide range of companies including makers of
eyeglasses, watches, backpacks, belts, clothing, household ware and other accessories.
Camper’s management was never satisfied with the proposals from external companies.
Terenci explained:
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“What does it really do for us to have watches or sunglasses if everyone is doing

them? We wanted to take a very different step. We do understand that we have a
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great privilege being a family owned company and the motivation is very different.
We don’t plan our growth out in a traditional way. We basically want consumers to
buy our products in a way that is not forced. Our approach has always been more
passive and we’ve shied away from traditional marketing, which is much more
aggressive. The intention in not diversifying is that we wanted to wait and see
exactly what diversifying was going to do for us.”

Pere shared his view of licensing:

“Camper was once used as one of the worst examples in Spain of underutilizing the
brand. But, why do we have to license our name for a line of glasses if we don’t
want to? We don’t like licensing agreements. They do have some value, especially

7 Models included the same model in different colors. SKUs accounted for sizes.

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some financial value, but they may not match the overall value of the brand. When
looking at the values, each idea has to bring something to the brand and add
something extra that will match the current image. We think a lot of companies
don’t really have a lot of imagination… As reference points, we look to companies
that have imagination such as Apple, Swatch and Virgin. The Camper culture
promotes imagination.”

Several ideas had been born within the company from several different individuals.
The company sought imaginative ideas, promoting the notion that “Imagination is not
expensive.” For example, in 2003, Camper opened up a small restaurant called
FoodBall and inaugurated a hotel called CasaCamper (see Exhibit 7 for a promotional
pamphlet for the hotel). The company moved some of the design team to a farmhouse

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in the Mallorcan countryside that would become known as Son Fortesa, or informally
as Camper’s “factory of ideas.” The company had also created a small school in

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Mallorca where cultivators could learn about organic agriculture, as well as a project
aimed at teaching organic agriculture to inner-city youngsters in major European cities
by helping to install organic gardens in the school yards. Both of these were
philanthropic efforts as was a recently established program to work with independent
craftspeople in India, Africa and South America for the fair-trade fabrication of
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footwear. Pere talked about how he saw all of the ideas fitting in with the brand:

“They’re all things that are quite distinct and different. They show innovation, but
more so, imagination. With [all] concepts, it’s important that the design element is
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strong. As for future plans, we are not under time pressure to roll these out. We are
a slow company. We let the ideas mature.”
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Forward Imagination
Fighting the typical image of what a shoe company should be, one thing was certain:
Camper was one of the best-known Spanish brands both inside and outside of Spain.
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Terenci reflected:
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“We need to translate our know-how of managing the emotional component using
design and communication to [everything we do]. If you look at someone like
Richard Branson [founder of Virgin], there are truly no barriers to what he does. I
believe within a few years it will be much more habitual to see leading brands go
into products and types of companies that are not very related.”

When asked whether Terenci wanted to convert Camper into a giant, he responded:

“No way. One of my worries is to be large enough to continue growing and

defend ourselves on an international level. However, be careful, because I
don’t want [Camper] to be so big that the administrative and managerial
functions take away from the emotional part of the business.”8

8 Susana Blázquez, “Han dejado Huella,” (They’ve left a footprint) Elle España, 2005.

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Exhibit 1
Camaleón Shoe

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Camaleón, Oruga and Ken Boot First Camper Ad 1975

Cutline: “Use shoes. It’s more Comfortable.”

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Exhibit 2
Sample of Camper Advertisements

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Cutline: “Camper: a mixture of
Lamborghini and Kawasaki, with a bit op
Cutline: “If people don’t give you a lot
of kisses, we’ll give you your money
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of Kamasutra.” 1977 back.” 1978
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1981 Cutline: “The other Spanish fashion.”

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Cutline: “It Cutline:

would take “Don’t insist.
you six We don’t sell
months to them
curve the separately.”
shoes like 1992
this. Don’t
bother.”
1992

Source: Company
documents. Used
with permission.

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Exhibit 3
Camper Store Concepts

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Conceptual Layout of a Camper Store
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Images from Inside a Camper Store. Translation: “Camper stores: An open house.”

Source: Company documents. Used with permission.

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Exhibit 4
Camper’s Sales Results

Camper (Coflusa S.A.) Revenues

100.0% 160

140
80.0%
YoY % Change in Revenue

120

Millions of Euros
60.0%
100
Rev €M

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40.0% 80
%YoY
60
20.0%

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40
0.0%
20

-20.0% 0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
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Year

Camper (Coflusa S.A.) Number of Employees

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no

300

250

Number of People
200

150
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100

50
D

0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year

Source: Coflusa S.A., Sabi database, Accessed February 5, 2007.

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Exhibit 5
Photos of Selected Products
Brothers Twins

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Pelotas
op Wabi
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Peu Industrial
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Source: Company documents

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Exhibit 6
European Footwear Industry Information

UK MARKET
Market Size - £ millions
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
4,864.00 4,908.60 4,930.00 4,980.00 5,076.00

1999 2003
Men's 35.0% 36.6%
Women's 48.3% 47.7%

y
Children's 16.7% 15.8%
100.0% 100.0%

op
% of total industry sales value 2003
C&J Clark 12
Marks & Spencer 10.3
Nike 4.2
Adidas 3
Reebok 2.5
C
FRENCH MARKET
Market Size - € millions
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
9,960.00 10,050.00 10,140.00 10,230.00 10,328.30
t
1999 2003
no

Men's 31.4% 32.0%

Women's 52.2% 51.3%
Children's 16.4% 16.7%
100.0% 100.0%

% of total industry sales value 2003

Vivarte 16.3
Eram SA 13.8
o

Adidas AG 6.2
Chaussures Bally SA 2.2
Mephisto SA 2
Bata France SA 1.6
D

GERMAN MARKET
Market Size - € millions
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
9,733.30 9,745.00 9,840.00 9,850.00 9,920.00

1999 2003
Men's 30.3% 31.0%
Women's 49.3% 49.0%
Children's 20.4% 20.0%
100.0% 100.0%

% of total industry sales value 2003

Salamander AG 12
Gabor Shoes AG 10
Bally Deutschland GmbH 9

Source: Euromonitor database, Accessed 10 April 2005.

16 IESE Business School-University of Navarra

 Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive E-105-E

Exhibit 6 continued
Select Competitor Information

Clarks (C&J Clark International Ltd.)

Date founded: 1828

Head office: Somerset, United Kingdom
Revenues in 2005: $1,258.1 million (€1,010 million) – Increase of 7.4% over prior year
Number of employees: 12,021

y
Privately held
Brief description: Clarks was one of the largest makers of casual shoes in the world

op
selling its Clarks, Bostonian and K Shoes in over 150 countries. Clarks had over 500 of
its own shops and held the number one position in the UK market for casual shoes.

Timberland
C
Date founded: 1933
Head office: Stratham, NH, U.S.
Revenues in 2005: $1,565.7 million (€1,321.9 million) – Increase of 4.3% over prior
t
year
no

Number of employees: 5,300

Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange
Brief description: Timberland marketed a range of shoes such as dress, causal, hiking
and sandals and a full line of apparel and accessories. Timberland sold through
department stores, smaller shops and over 200 of company owned or franchised stores.
o

Tod’s (Tod’s Group)

D

Date founded: 1900

Head office: Milan, Italy
Revenues in 2005: €503 million – Increase of 19.5% from prior year
Number of employees: 2,176
Publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange
Brief description: The Tod’s Group manufactured casual footwear and leather
accessories for men and women under three brands – Tod’s, Hogan and Fay – at its
nine factories. The company sold through department stores, independent chains and
over 80 of its owned or franchised shops.

IESE Business School-University of Navarra 17

E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

Exhibit 6 continued
Select Competitor Information

Nike

Date founded: 1964

Head office: Beaverton, OR, USA
Revenues in 2005: $13.7 billion (€11.0 billion) – Increase of 12.1% over prior year
Number of employees: 26,000

y
Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange
Brief description: Nike was the world’s largest shoemaker. It held more than 20% of the

op
U.S. market for athletic shoes producing footwear across practically all sporting
categories (basketball, football, tennis, etc.). The company also sold athletic equipment
and apparel, and operated Niketown and Nike Factory outlet shops. The company sold
in over 160 countries.
C
Bally (Bally Management Ltd.)

Date founded: 1851

t
Head office: Caslano, Switzerland
no

Revenues not available

Privately held
Brief description: Bally marketed men’s and women’s luxury dress and casual shoes as
well as accessories and apparel. It sold through department stores, independent shops
and approximately 200 of its own shops.
o
D

Source: Compiled by case writer based on profiles from Hoovers.com, Biz.Yahoo.com and company websites (www.clarks.co.uk,
www.timberland.com, www.todsgroup.com, www.nike.com, www.bally.com)

18 IESE Business School-University of Navarra

 Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive E-105-E

Exhibit 7
CasaCamper Pamphlet

y
op
tC
no
o

Front Cover of Pamphlet

D

IESE Business School-University of Navarra 19

E-105-E Camper: Imagination Is Not Expensive

Exhibit 7 continued

y
op
t C
no
o
D

Inside of Pamphlet

Source: Company documents

20 IESE Business School-University of Navarra