Pursuing Biti’s - the largest Vietnamese shoemaker - the startup’s founders have defined its brand-building since the beginning of operations. 

“sShoe has made efforts to quickly mark the brand since its launch,” said Mr. Phi Huu Thanh Long, Brand Director at sShoe. 

“Brand-building at this time is a key factor in the company’s business strategy and the opportunity for us to make a mark in customers’ minds.” 

The original slogan seemed to be a smart way for the brand to immediately influence customer mindsets, according to industry insiders. 

The concept of “smart shoes”, however, is unlikely to be persuasive and needs to be defined clearly, according to Ms. Doan Do Ngoc Thi, Brand Manager at Tiki.vn. 

The concept for Xiaomi’s smart shoes is a good example to learn from. 

The Chinese smartphone maker announced the launch of its Ultra Smart Shoes in April, which are basically a pair of shoes equipped with a range of sensors to track the wearer’s movements and the amount of calories burned on a given day. 

“Can the startup’s technology compete with the Chinese brand’s?”, she wondered.

The company believes that smart shoes are designed like formal shoes, but bring comfort to users, like wearing sports shoes. Formal shoes can often be quite uncomfortable, at least until they’re worn in. T

hanks to applying modern technology and using calf leather, sShoe’s products are made from luxurious materials to provide comfort, similar to sports shoes, Mr. Long said. 

They can even be worn to play football. 

But local insiders doubt such claims. “Formal shoes shouldn’t and can’t be used like running shoes,” Ms. Thi said. 

“Just like fish cannot climb trees. Such statements could just be part of their communications campaign, to attract attention.”

Though positioning itself in the high-end segment, sShoe’s products are targeted at two groups: young people and male office workers on middle incomes, and high-income earning males, young entrepreneurs, and foreigners. Products average VND2.5 million ($112). 

Insiders said that this pricing structure is more likely to appeal to the first group, as those in the second group tend to prefer well-known foreign shoe brands. 

It seems to have realized the weakness of its branding, and “without branding, it is difficult for us to approach our targeted customers,” Mr. Long said. 

The startup is nonetheless determined with its branding strategy, as it will conduct marketing and communications campaigns over the next two years. 

“We are willing to spend 50 per cent of total profit on building the brand, in order to quickly approach more customers,” he said. 

It also plans to launch showrooms in major cities around the country over the next three years. 

sShoe has invested VND10 billion ($448,400) in a manufacturing factory in Ho Chi Minh City with an annual capacity of 100,000 products. 

It also expects to launch a second factory in Hanoi with the same capacity, once conditions permit. 

Its products received a good response from customers answering a company survey. 

sShoe can make 20 sizes of shoes thanks to a foot gauge the company is proud to say is unique in the world. 

The startup announced it could compete with major brands in sports shoes, like Nike and Adidas. 

Local insiders believe this is also part of sShoe’s communications campaign; repositioning the brand with big names in order to attract the attention of local consumers. 

“The announcement is not a tactic,” Mr. Long insists. “It is how we define our rivals, to go further and faster in the future. We expect sShoe can be a giant in leather shoes, like Nike and Adidas are in sports shoes.” 

Its plan is to continue to offer more products with diverse designs and affordable prices in the future. 

“Besides our brand-building strategy, creating new ideas and improving product quality are key points of our business strategy,” Mr. Long said. 

Its core value must indeed be good quality products with a successful brand-building strategy.  

VN Economic Times