Joyce Li's Blog

TOMS shoes are extremely popular nowadays, especially among youths and also among adult women too. TOMS’ promise to its customers is that when you buy a pair of shoes, TOMS will donate another pair to a child in need, or as their slogan says, “One for One”. On the company website, the founder, Blake Mycoskie, tells of his travels in Argentina in which he witnessed countless children running around barefoot. This experience really touched him and inspired him to do something about this problem, and that’s how TOMS was founded; on an unfamiliar, but benevolent business model that turned out to be very successful.

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Skechers BOBS copied TOMS’ entire concept. The same business model, the same shoe design, even the name is very similar. Skechers did not make any effort to be creative or genuine. Consumers will not respond positively to such obvious, self-serving motives. The authenticity is just not there.

Besides the lack of authenticity, a big reason why Skechers “BOBS” will not be successful is because many teenagers and young adults buy TOMS simply for the brand. They will view BOBS as a copy of TOMS; not as “the real thing”.

Do you think that BOBS was a bad idea for Skechers? Or do you think that anyone has a right to use TOMS’ concept?

Read original article here.