São Paulo – Brazilian sandal manufacturer Havaianas wants to communicate better with its foreign consumers. Last month, the company that owns Havaianas, Alpargatas, launched a global portal, with links to sites for the brand in the countries to which the company exports, among them Egypt and Morocco. They bring information, for instance, about the most sold products in the country and its points of sales. According to information supplied by Havaianas, over the course of the year, local sites will be reformulated so as to have one single visual standard.
For the time being, the new Havaianas portal leads to sites that were locally developed by the brand or its distributors. The Egyptian site features a background print that emulates the texture of the sandals, shows the different models of footwear sold in the country, and provides the addresses to more than 60 stores that sell them in the cities of Cairo and Giza. The homepage shows images of faces, in shades of green and blue, painted in henna, and is written in the English language.
The Moroccan Havaianas site also has a background emulating the texture of the sandal, and the homepage shows flowers and arch doors, in the Moroccan style, and is very colourful. The site, in French, brings an overview of the story of the brand, models of the current collection, points of sales, as well as information for the press and other sections. Havaianas has Websites in 16 countries to which it sells its products. Apart from the Arab nations, the group also has sites in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
According to information supplied by the Havaianas press office, the sites that are now being designed will be in local languages and feature customised content, according to the needs of each country. As the new sites are developed, they will replace the current ones in the Havaianas portal. And the countries to which the company exports and which have no local site are going to launch their sites under the new standard. The new Havaianas portal was designed by the Alma BBDO agency. With the texture of the sandal as its background, the site includes a colourful world map with links to each of the countries in which the product is sold.
Havaianas sandals started being manufactured in the 1960s, inspired by a Japanese sandal named Zori, which had cloth strips and soles made of rice straw. By the 1980s, 80 million pairs were already sold per year, and around the year 2000, the brand also became famous abroad. Currently, it is exported to over 60 countries. Alpargatas, which owns the brand, was established in Brazil in 1907. Last year, the company posted revenues of 1.7 billion reals (US$ 763.9 million) in Brazil, growth of 14% over 2007.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
