Take a walk in your customer's shoes

Welcome to Spark, a newsletter from Vivace. We curate and publish the most interesting thinking and ideas from our community on themes ranging from business and finance to culture and creativity. Send pitches and feedback to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Hello Spark reader,

This week, we’re excited to be able to share some original thinking from first-time contributor but long-time collaborator, friend, and ex-colleague Rohan Shams. Rohan is a man who needs no introduction for many in our community, but for all others, he is an exceptional B2B marketing strategist, most recently at ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) and formerly at LSEG. Even more memorable than his great work is the lasting impact he has had on those he has worked with and the teams he has led.

Rohan also used to work with us at Thomson Reuters, an organization Vivace has been delighted to work with again as a client. We had a blast helping to shape and evolve the Thomson Reuters Institute’s podcast, now known as Clarity. (More on that here). 

Thanks as always for spending some of your attention with us today — onto Rohan’s great insights.

-joel

Where have all the cobblers gone?

Guest essay by Rohan Shams

The Shoe Service Institute of America reported that shoe repair shops have dwindled from 100,000 in the 1930s to 15,000 in 1997 to about 5,000 reported stores in 2019 (AP).

Or to put it in another perspective, while in 1930 there was one cobbler for every 60 people living in America, now there is only one cobbler for every 10,000 people.

So, what might be driving this change? Have our feet evolved enough for us to stop wearing shoes? Or has shoemaking technology evolved to the point where shoes no longer deteriorate over time?

The answer to the first question is probably unsurprising—it’s clear our feet haven’t evolved to the extent we can now go barefoot. In San Antonio, Texas, research indicates that every person is a proud owner of at least 12 pairs of shoes, the highest average for any city in the States. Meanwhile, Nevada takes the prize for the overall state with the most ownership, clocking in at 19 pairs per person. Across the pond: British women own a whopping 30-35 pairs of shoes on average, while British men own 18 (RunRepeat).

So perhaps the materials and quality of shoes have significantly improved? Well, not exactly. High-quality pure leather shoes that last a long time have decreased in production, replaced by synthetics and other materials over the years.

So why are the cobblers disappearing?