ETERNAL CHERRY
Change seems to be the only thing that is constant in the world, when I turn around to see the way I grew up and the brands that I was fond off – all seems to have got archived. We are in a changed world. Walkman, Kodak, Alarm clock, Type writer, Radio, Tape recorder, Scooter, Ink Pen, High ceilings, VCR, Post cards, Cassette player, vehicles and if I keep writing, the list never ends, but everything has changed. We are in a complete new world, a world of instant, a world of use and throw, a world which forgets fast. Loyalty gets redefined. Brands die fast.
Today morning, when I was busy polishing my shoe, I just saw the brand and what I remembered was the time when my dad used to get ready to his office, I used to help him locate the polish and today even though the setting has completely changed and my son is trying to assist me in polishing our shoes, but interestingly the brand has not changed. I just jogged through my memory lane and what I remembered is: I have changed shoes (Innumerable of them), changed the colours, styles, texture, the brand – everything changed but interestingly the brand of polish never got changed. Foot wear today is a fashion item. Today, no one dreams of presenting themselves in a clumsy manner for an interview or for their first date.
It’s an old adage that first impressions are lasting impressions and good clean shoes are often one of the first things you are judged on. With this is in mind, put your best foot forward with this quick guide to shining your shoes. I just remember the time and effort my dad spent on his shoes polishing and so do I now. Cherry Blossom withered with times, generations and decades to remain as the most preferred polish brand.
The iconic “one penny tin” with its original “butterfly” twist opener was introduced in 1907 as was the name “Cherry Blossom Boot Polish”. Then Reckitts, a company who manufactured their own range of polishes, purchased a substantial share of the company and their experience was used to good effect to expand the business by concentrating on the manufacture and sales of wax polishes.
In the 1920’s they went on the acquisition trail and by 1928 had become the predominate force in the market with other brands such as Meltonian and in 1929 renamed themselves Chiswick Products Ltd. Padawax, a major step forward for convenience, was introduced in 1960. You could now apply polish with just the sponge and buff with a cloth. 1983 saw the “butterfly twist” tins replaced by the “snap open” variety and in 1986 New Meltonian and Cherry Blossom Shoe Care Plus was introduced – a liquid wax shoe cream designed for fast and easy application and fast shines. Now, Cherry Blossom Premium serves the customer as they want it.
Although sales of shoes have been climbed steadily over recent years – faster than clothing sales – shoe cleaning has, “remained a mystery to younger people. Shoes have become a commodity. You get them scuffed. You buy a new pair.” I have witnessed youngsters wearing a clean blazer and an unpolished shoe. Does, this generation just use the shoe and throws it?! But getting those younger people to clean their shoes remains a challenge,”.
I need some thoughts for few questions that ponder my brains.
1. How did Brand “Cherry Blossom” sail through decades and sustain in spite of the world changing?
2. How do you make youngsters to clean their shoes?
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19 Responses to ETERNAL CHERRY
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1)As mentioned earlier in the article that change is the only thing permanent, cheery blossom seemed to take this very seriously.. and kept innovating and making things according to taste and preferences of people
2) youngsters nowadays adapt a easy and fast lifestyle suiting according to their ever changing mood swings,so to make them polish their shoes their should be a reason thats changes their dressing style and would create an impression they would do that with priority
1.”CHANGE” thats what they did through out these decades,they keep on changing or more adding to it they kept on adding more shines ingredents to it.As many eminent people say “When we look at a shoe we can understand his personality”,so to keep shoe clean ,they have to either wash the shoe or polish it .so here shoe have to get polished and not to get worn out ,the so they found a huge light in front of them which made them walk till this decade.
2.Its a reflection of personality,do they bath daily,like that its all a self realization that they have to look perfect,or look clean .Teachers can punish,parrents can stop buying shoes to them but will that make a change in them?
(1) CHERRY BLOSSOM, is the quintessential shoe cleaner. From school children to adult office-goers, it has held sway over other brands that have appeared and then silently disappeared.
Generations now have approved and applauded the ‘goodness and shining effect’ of CHERRY BLOSSOM, that in recent times people have stopped asking “Have you polished your shoes?”. It is now “Have you cherry blossomed your shoes?”
(2) In the fast changing world of fashion, grooming has taken a back seat and informal dressing has become the trend.
Youngsters do not want to waste time on grooming, so as a result “unkempt tresses, unpressed dresses and unclean shoes” have come to stay.
To change this, you need to change the mindset of the entire generation – guess the possibilities !
1)To be successful or to gain an edge in the business world, the brand should have audience knowledge, uniqueness, passion, competitiveness, innovation etc. Apparently Cherry Blossom possessed all these characteristics as a brand. Probably there weren’t much competitors at that time and they continued to improve and offer quality products and also they have branched out into liquid polish. Moreover they built a trust among the customers (over the decades).
2)In order to make youngsters clean their shoes they should be made aware of the importance of physical appearance, attire, and cleanliness. Make them self conscious just like how slimming companies do to fat people or how fairness companies do to dusky or dark complexioned people.
The reason for Cherry Blossom success was the fact that they managed to keep their product proposition “relevant” throughout the years.
They knew their target demographic – It was basically parents of school goers, office goers, formal occasions like marriages or ceremonies which demand a certain standard of “cleanliness” which always have takers in all generations.
This relevance that they brought into the market helped them to sustain their position in the minds of the masses across generations.
1.) The reason for Cherry Blossom success was the fact that they managed to keep their product proposition “relevant” throughout the years.
They knew their target demographic – It was basically parents of school goers, office goers, formal occasions like marriages or ceremonies which demand a certain standard of “cleanliness” which always have takers in all generations.
This relevance that they brought into the market helped them to sustain their position in the minds of the masses across generations.
2.) Youngsters look for role models to derive their fashion sense. Most of the youth icons and role models today are themselves unkept or ill-groomed in public. Hence the youth today need some solid role models who they can look upto to raise the standard bar.
1- cherry blossom has also been changing with time. They kept introducing and bringing new changes into the market.It was a one penny Tin with a butterfly twist opener which was replaced by a snap opener and then they introduced a liquid form of it which you can directly apply to the shoe.so it survived because it changed its form as time went by.
2- Youngsters look for role models nowadays to derive their fashion sense. At present youth dress carelessly but making them aware of it can make them groom themselves.Another marketting stratergy is some company gives shoe polish along with the shoes so that people will keep their shoe clean.
1. The world has changed with time , but ‘black’ shoes have become an integral part in most of the world’s population. So the shoe care brand ‘Cherry blossom’ concentrated on improving their quality , also adapting to the changes and Innovating their product from time to time. And with the evolution of media such as television they put in the effort to market it very well. One notable example is the tv ads which featured The grand daddy of comedy himself, Charlie Chaplin.
2. If wearing clean shoes becomes a trend or a fashion then most youngsters would spend time in cleaning their shoes. Its just a matter of consciousness . Younger generation nowadays (myself included) are very much conscious how we look from our head to ankle but we fail to bother about what is below the ankle.
1. Not only eternal cherry,any brand for that matter can travel through ages facing giant competitors if quality is maintained. Compromise on quality should never be entertained, no matter how hard the opponent fights. After all tough times never last but tough people do,eternal cherry proves it.
2.Youngsters of course are tough to be dealt with. But whatever said and done if the due importance of a clean, neat and shining shoe is explained, I feel any youngster would spend some time polishing the shoes. Or may be by virtue of some bitter experience, like getting rejected from an interview for wearing untidy shoes, might change them!
1. They always try to give what the customers expect from them and they never let customers down. As mentioned , the charecter reflect on ones footwear so every individual other than corporates or executives also prefered to use this product.
Even the advertisements helped the company in many ways.
2. Advertisement helps in decision making of any age group. They can advertise there product in such a way that , it Inspire or Impress the teenagers. The target audience should be of teenage and midage.
1) TRUST …plays a major role in branding a product, and CHERRY BLOSSOM has done it perfect among both father and son.They made their product better n better as expected by generations. ”Changes are the only thing that doesnt change”…There can be change in style ,design ,taste but not the motive
They gave more than what we expected.
2)I feel teenagers were not the target customers
I have grown up watching add’s were polishing of shoes were made for gentlemen searching for jobs & businessmens(were shoes shows up your character)
It was always a mature mens act working in a corporate…
1. The brand cherry sailed through long years because before 1980 the use of formal shoes were huge and it was crucially important for people to keep it neat and tidy (with refference to europe america)So there was an increasing need of the shoe polish cherry blossom
2. Its just personal interest which the youngsters show in whatever they do…but as the youngsters of today use oly branded wear theres need to polish it….this is the time where a jean is worn more than an entire week and its considered a social custom. So its a little difficult to make them polish their shoes
1 The company has understood the market trends and changes in a better way than their competitors
2 Having a succesful campaign or making the idea a social craze like “kolaveri di” is a very interesting approach to youmgsters
1. As it is a shoe polish brand, for them the competitors were less when compared to other products and they knew how to tackle their competitors by adopting innovative strategies. They were able to successfully market their product globally.
2. We should create a public awareness especially among the youth regarding the significance of being well groomed and that keeping ones shoe polished and neat is very vital in developing ones personality.
1.The world has changed and people keep changing.People keep innovating and they change their tastes and preferences accordingly.They get to know about new brands through various social media and they intend to change by their advertisments and the way they broadcast their product. there are many competitions in todays world and they have to change accordingly.
2.Youngsters nowadays prefer a very easy life…. but an unpolished shoe tells the personality about the person.. one can bring in innovative ideas so that they would look smart.
1. Well, cherry blossom has been there for decades probably because the young generation do not really care much to polish their shoes and then wear it. No much competitors for this brand because people do not use it frequently and not much importance is been given. That could be the reason why other brands did not emerge and also for “cherry blossom’s” existence till now.
2. Firstly, it should be taught as a basic manner to everyone from their small age. And,if their advertisements are more powerful and probably with an actor or a sports person endorsing it,then that will stay in the youngsters mind for a longer time.
1.”change seems to be the only thing that is constant” and this made the eternal cherry run its business successfully. it focused on the changes and adopted itself to the changing world, improved its quality, satisfied its customers and stood out from its competitors and all these factors have kept the brand going successfully for decades.
2.youngsters follow trend and if wearing clean shoes are to be in trend then majority of youngsters will be spending time cleaning their shoes.
1- As footwear retail is my family business, I find this topic really interesting . “Cherry blossom” was one of the first companies which revolutionised the way shoes were kept clean. They were perhaps the first company which marketed the product in the utmost manner which created an impression that “shoes” have to go synonymously with “cherry” shoe polish predominantly when it came to shoe care . I remember one of their Marketing campaigns where they used “Charlie Chaplins” ideology of no dialogue advertisements. They were truly unique and created a lasting impression. Over the years ,”cherry blossom” has evolved as a company, but at the same time it has lost it’s market share to quite a few domestic and international companies which have also evolved over the years. I guess it’s the tradition which keeps it going . Certain traditions are followed for generations !
2- Being a youngster ,I know how painful it is to polish my shoes. We are a generation where we need things fast and easy. We find time to post statuses on Facebook or tweet our issues , but when it comes to basic things, we always are lethargic. I guess if we are to be made to keep our shoes clean, the first step would be correlate it with some benefit. We are resource driven, probably that will be a motivator when it comes to shoes. Typical wax polishing is time consuming, instead we could promote the use of easy to use shoe shiners and on the go liquidised polishes to keep the shoes clean.
1. “change is the only thing that is permanent in this world” cherry blossom has kept on innovating their product according to the recent market trends and preference of the people, they also made the product very easy for their customers to use and improved the quality of the product which automatically leads to satisfying the customer.They stand out from their competitors as they keep on changing with the trend.
2. “fashion keeps changing”. nowadays youngsters prefer informal clothes like torn jeans and faded shirts and along with that they prefer wearing dirty shoes,this has become the recent trend.They don’t clean their shoes because they think it is not fashionable to wear clean ones and they also do everything so fast and easy and they don’t want to waste their time cleaning their shoes instead they prefer buying new shoes.If wearing clean shoes become a new trend, im sure that every youngster will be cleaning his shoes.