Apr 02 2012
TOMS
Everytime I see my bud Sunny Do around Sauder I think TOMS. TOMS shoes in particular. Sunny is a clear brand advocate for the small project that has now become one of the fastest growing shoe companies, and social change initiatives in the world. TOMS came to the table with a different sort of marketing persona and is something I decided I’d like to blog about.
So for my final post I decided to go to Sunny’s blog and see if she had mentioned Toms, lo and behold, there it was, her ‘shoes for tomorrow’ expression, which I will reference in this post.
I need a new pair of shoes, and I think I’m going to buy TOMS, here’s why. TOMS is a for-profit company that drafted their shoes based on the unique and quirky Argentine Alpargata design. But people aren’t just paying for a lightweight slip on, they are supporting TOMS’ not-for-profit subsidiary – and they know it.
For each pair of TOMS sold, the company will donate a pair to a person in need. Wow that’s great! How can this company possibly afford that? One might ask. TOMS has supplied over a million pairs to children in over 20 countries under the One for One program since the company launched in 2006. And they are continuing to thrive and give back through multiple projects and initiatives.
TOMS has been able to swoon its customers by not only including them in their goals for change but empowering them to make a difference. And what began as an attempt at development has become a very powerful marketing tool. TOMS has a very specific and unique organizational culture, brand persona, and value proposition. And the fact that people want to align themselves with that persona drives awareness for the highlighted issues, and the company’s bottom line.
