The Ultimate Shoe-down!
Do these brand logos look vaguely familiar? If you are from India, it is very likely that you relate better to the Woodland logo and if you are from the west, the Timberland logo is what you must have nodded to.
Several international brands have successfully thrived in Indian markets in spite of a higher price markdown compared to the local alternatives. Yet, there are several examples of brands that have failed in their endeavour to make a mark in the Indian markets.
For me, the quintessential example of one such brand failing in India has to be Timberland especially due to the canvas on which the entire journey was drawn. Given the success of other brands, it would be imprudent to qualify the failure as a direct effect of just the pricing.
When I travelled to the US in 2017, I chanced upon a visit to one of the Timberlands outlet and struck a conversation with an old employee (I think he was like a store manager) who was generous with information and opinions alike.
My hypothesis about Timberland’s failure is not one I can back up with data or stats but is based on this brief conversation and also the fact that I grew up proudly wearing a pair of Woodlands and then when news about Timberlands started circulating, I (along with many other friends) really did think that Timberlands were actually fakes.
Timberland was conceived in the US back in the 1920s before formally launching the brand “Timberland” in the early 70s. Timberland established itself as the go-to brand for trekking and outdoor shoes. Shoes like the ones below were their ideas and are still very much their domain.
For a long time, much like other brands, they didn’t move into India. Back in 1992, a Canadian brand – Aero Group, saw India as a potential market and quietly entered the country with a brand very similar to Timberland. They replaced the Timber with Wood and quite evidently didn’t put too much effort into the logo either. The brand was the now popular Woodland.
In a country that hadn’t heard of Timberland, Woodland became a runaway success. Woodland of course specialised in outdoor shoes like these, much like Timberland.
Then in the mid 2000s, Timberland decided to enter the Indian markets but by then, Woodland was so well established that people couldn’t help but doubt the veracity of this new brand. Of course it sounded like a fake brand! I think, for a lot of Indians – Timberland was to Woodland , what Abidas (or Adibas) was to Adidas!
Timberland struggled to capture a market which was already being dominated by a brand that was a pinhole away from being called a Namesake. They eventually had to exit in 2015.
Woodland refutes claims of imitation but whether proven or not, I think Woodland has been able to plant itself as a trustworthy brand in India. There was even a legal battle between the 2 brands over IP going on. Read more about this fascinating yet less known saga at –
- https://www.livemint.com/Industry/NflULbpgmD76ahkoRF7dsI/Woodland-forces-Timberland-out-of-India.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/business/global/16brands.html
Fun Fact – For those wondering about Abidas, they are fakes/copies of Adidas. And so is Adibas :-). Adibas went a step further and even opened a store
