(Published on page B3 of the December 18, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

In a field where international brands dominate the rubber and casual shoes market, one brand stands proud and continues to carve a niche long after it was launched 20 years ago. In a country where the people are 'imported'-conscious, World Balance continues to have a huge following.



"Pinoys are generally drawn to brands," says Armando Chong, director for Whisky Bravo Marketing Corp., the company behind the World Balance shoe line.

"They always associate brands with quality. If you have a brand that is local sounding, chances are, it will have a weak following even if you have good quality products. Still, if you have a foreign-sounding brand but with low quality, Pinoys will not patronize your products," he explains.

"So we came out with a foreign-sounding label with very good quality so people will still come back and buy our products," he added. This, according to Chong, is the strategic edge of their brand. True enough, World Balance became a big hit among Pinoys. The brand became a huge success that almost every Pinoy knows the brand and patronizes the products.

But how did they arrive at the brand name, which, for more than two decades now, has been a familiar name in Filipino footwear industry?

"I thought of using the word 'world' because it is encompassing, it also connotes the 'world of shoes' where we dominate. I then paired it up with 'balance' to describe our company's eye for quality. After all, shoes, to have a better fit, should be made with the element of balance," narrates Chong.

The first products were basketball shoes. But World Balance became a byword when they introduced their flagship line—the boat shoes (topsiders)—in the 80s.

Aside from the basketball shoes and the boat shoes, World Balance features a variety of footwear to provide Filipino men and women with more options. Equally world-class in quality at affordable tags are the sandals, slippers, hiker shoes, casual shoes, and styles for running and other sport activities.

But the company was not spared by the economic crisis in the early and mid 90s. "We were suffering from low exports and high cost of imported materials. We had to lower our production."

However, the company continued on producing low-cost items like slippers and sandals. "Even if the market was suffering, we had to make sure that the brand is still alive."

And alive, it still is. World Balance continues to be the trusted brand of the practical Pinoys who are looking for reasonably-priced high-quality footwear that they can proudly wear at work and during recreation.

"Consumers are getting wiser. They look for a pair that is both aesthetically appealing and very comfortable to wear. Unfortunately, these are almost always associated with imported brands which are also very expensive. With World Balance, however, you get the same aesthetics and comfort at a cost around 60 percent lower," Chong asserts. In a world where everything is going global, World Balance is ready to face the challenges head on. "We will continue to develop our line to produce high quality shoes at a much lower price," Chong ends while giving a hint of what the market can look forward to this coming season of celebrations: a new collection of premium Italian-quality leather shoes for men.