What is a “social good” company? This is a relatively new term that is influenced by today’s rapidly changing ideals and values. a social good company can be either for profit or non-profit and it has emphasis on social responsibility and sustainability which it showcases in it’s products. A prime example of a social good company is Toms Shoes, seen in Diou Cao’s blog posting “Helping kids in need – One pair at a time“. Toms has gained phenomenon publicity through it’s “one for one” campaign as Diou mentions and this has raised awareness for other social good companies.
To add on to her comments regarding Toms I would like to discuss how Toms’ success as a social good company has created a detectable trend in consumerism and has influenced and bolstered the recognition and awareness of other firms like it such as Warby Parker’s one for one strategy with regards to glasses. Warby Parker launched in 2010 and grew 500% in the first year as well as beat it’s yearly sales projections in a mere 3 weeks. With this type of overnight success as well as Toms continued growth, one cannot simply say that Toms was a fad and that it’s backstory while novel is not a major selling point.
I believe that peoples’ values and view of ethics are changing and that their desires have translated into measurable trends. While Toms and Warby Parker’s hit products may have started as a novel interest socially good products are here to stay and given the environmental changes and sustainability awareness prevalent in society I assume they will only grow in number.
It’s so interesting how successful some companies are using social responsibility as a selling point!