Floris: “In 2008, for the first time, we sold as many Floris van Bommel shoes as Van Bommel shoes. The good news was also that we didn’t sell less Van Bommel shoes but even slightly more. Floris van Bommel was less and less often considered a line within the Van Bommel collection and more and more as an independent brand. We noticed this, for instance, among our dealers, who started buying the two brands separately.

There was a special moment in 2008 is when I received an e-mail from Pearson publishers. They publish Philip Kotler's book ‘Principles of Marketing’ in the Netherlands. That book is one of the leading marketing works worldwide. I used it a lot during my student years. For the Dutch edition, they wanted to use Schoenfabriek van Bommel and the rise of the Floris van Bommel brand as a case study for the ‘Product and Brand Strategy’ chapter. I very much enjoyed having had a cup of coffee with the editor a little later. Once the book was sitting on my bookshelf, I sometimes daydreamed about a little time travel. Let me bring up my marketing teacher real quick, who always thought I was too slumped in my chair. In my daydream, I put the book in front of his nose, flicked to the right page without saying a word, tapped it a few times with my index finger and walked back to my chair where I’d sit down again all slouched.”

(Image above: ‘Principles of marketing’ by Philip Kotler 2008. The pages with the case study about Schoenfabriek van Bommel.)