Is 'Love Island' Now Helping Soaring Crocs Demand?
A British reality show could be helping boost the brand awareness for Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) footwear according to recently released data. What Happened: Reality show Love Island can provide fashion trends and ideas for viewers and the appearance of certain footwear on the show has caused a spike in demand. Searches for lilac Crocs were up 950% following the appearance of Chugg on "Love Island" with the comfortable clogs, according to data from The Sole Supplier. Searches for white crocs were also up 324% after the appearance of white Crocs from Faye on the show. Searches for Crocs in the U.K. were up 1,300% following the appearance of the footwear by the two reality show contestants. Why Its Important: Celebrities wearing Crocs and marketing the brand have helped drive demand for the footwear brand. Endorsements from Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Luke Combs have led to shares of Crocs hitting all-time highs and doubling in over a year. In the U.K., Love Island had a peak average of 2.8 million people and average viewership of 2.5 million people for its Season 7 premiere. This represented shares of 13.1% and 11.9% respectively for the U.K. television audience. "Love Island" airs on ITV in the United Kingdom, a free television network. An American version of Love Island airs on ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ: VIAC) in the U.S. but is not as popular nationwide. Unlike endorsement deals where a company has to pay a fee to get exposure, the appearances on "Love Island" came at a cost of $0 to Crocs and could turn into being one of its biggest growth items for international sales in 2021. The demand for Crocs in the U.K. could help the footwear company in what is already shaping up to be a record year. First-quarter revenue for the company hit a record $460.1 million, up 63.6% year-over-year. Demand for the Crocs brand is stronger than ever with expected 2021 revenue growth of 40% to 50%, CEO Andrew Rees said. We have raised full-year guidance as we continue to see consumer demand for our product accelerate globally.  CROX Price Action: Shares of Crocs are up 88% year-to-date and up over 230% in the last 52 weeks. Shares were trading down at 0.47% at $117.06 at publication Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy "Love Island"