TOMS: Shoes for Tomorrow

When people buy TOMS shoes, they aren’t just buying shoes; they are donating to a cause. TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie (Conrad-Williams). It all started when Mycoskie was in Argentina for the filming of The Amazing Race. He was disturbed at how many people were too poor to afford shoes. Often, children who cannot afford shoes are not allowed to go to school, so this affects both their education and health. Later, Bycoskie traveled back to Argentina to observe the poverty and that is when he decided to start a shoe business. Therefore, for every shoe that was sold, another shoe would be donated to a child in need (TV Montague). Giving a child shoes supports many things. It keeps their feet safe from cuts, infection, and diseases. When kids are healthy, they can go to school. Also, shoes are required for attending schools in most countries. So providing shoes to children will not only help their health, but also their education and their futures. Studies show that providing uniforms and including shoes increases school attendance by 62% (TOMS One for One). Giving children shoes also increases their confidence and happiness.
The “One for One” marketing plan was created in 2007. When a pair of shoes is purchased, another pair is donated to someone in need; this is where the name “One for One” came from. At first, Mycoskie wanted to call them “Tomorrow” shoes, but he then decided on TOMS because it is catchy and a shorter version of “Tomorrow” (Helgeson). Every time a person buys a pair of TOMS from the store, a new pair of TOMS shoes are given to a child in need through one of the 100+ Shoe giving partners of TOMS. These partners support other things such as health, education and community along with giving shoes. (TOMS One for One)
TOMS shoes are priced anywhere from $40-$110. They are around double the price they are worth so an additional pair of shoes can be donated to a child in need. This is TOMS’s pricing strategy; the company’s main goal is to make the consumer aware of world issues such as people who are in need for shoes. Mycoskie realized his impact would last longer through a business rather than through a charity (Conrad-Williams).
Mycoskie’s blog states, “TOMS is much more than placing shoes on kids’ feet. TOMS is a mindset, a gateway into a new type of thinking, and as my friends from AT&T say, it’s the opportunity to ‘rethink possible’- which is what I hope my words and observations inspire you to do”.
TOMS’s goal is to maintain or increase sales so the company is profiting children in need. It’s objectives consist of three main areas: knowledge, predisposition, and behavior. TOMS wants customers to recognize when they are purchasing a pair of shoes they are also helping someone in need. Its predisposition is to identify communities that are in need of these shoes, and its behavior is to maintain current upward sales movement so the company can keep providing shoes to people in need year after year. TOMS target audience is men and women between the ages of 18 and 25. TOMS slogan is, “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give you a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for one” (Conrad-Williams).
TOMS distributes three types of shoes to these kids. Sports shoes, waterproof, fleece-lined Winter Boots, and Canvas Unisex Slip Ons (Karr). Also, in places such as Argentina, India, Kenya and Ethiopia, shoes are manufactured locally to help support and create jobs (TOMS One for One). In 2011, TOMS partnered up with the Seva Foundation to go one step further from shoes and help provide sight saving surgery, prescription glasses, and medical treatment to people in need. Their Giving Sight program runs in 13 different countries and have helped 200,000 people restore their sights. TOMS’s newest way to help is by selling coffee. TOMS Roasting company now sells coffee and for every bag that is sold, water will be provided to a community in need (TOMS One for One).
During the first year of business, TOMS sold 10,000 pairs of shoes. Consequently, Mycoskie returned to Argentina later that year to give back to the kids who originally inspired him (Conrad-Williams). Currently, TOMS gives shoes to children in over 60 different countries and has given over 10 million pairs of shoes away (TOMS One for One).
“Generation Y is a socially conscious bunch. Socially conscious brands have seen a steady growth over the last decade, as Generation Y graduates from allowance to income” (Conrad-Williams). TOMS has 894,560 twitter followers and 1,124,202 fans on Facebook. In addition to the 24/7 social media interaction, fans get to participate in the One Day Without Shoes movement, which is an annual shoe-commando day. Last year, it was estimated that 250,000 endured the day barefoot. This allows people to experience what children in poverty are going through. College students helped start One Day Without Shoes in 2008. However, now it is a global event; in 2010, over 1,600 barefoot events took place globally. IUPUI was the top supporter for the campaign, where more than 10,000 university students, employees, and other members connected to the university pledged to support the even, walking through campus barefoot (Conrad-Williams).
TOMS tactics involves three of the following programs: “Shoe Drops”, TOMS Campus Clubs, and the Vagabond Tour. “Shoe Drops” is a program where volunteers and members of the TOMS family go to another country for a week where their Giving Partners are giving their shoes. There, participants get the experience of hand-placing shoes on children’s feet. TOMS Campus Clubs encourages social entrepreneurship and hybrid enterprise at colleges. This power to change the world is important to TOMS, so the company is promoting leadership. Vagabond Tour, sponsored by the Dave Matthews Band, was launched in 2009. It was aimed at inspiring “compassion in action” on campuses across the nation (Conrad-Williams).

Works Cited
Conrad-Williams, Lauren. “TOMS Case Study.” Scribd. Lauren Conrad-Williams, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 July 2014.
Helgeson, Melanie. “Shoes for Tomorrow.” Shoes for Tomorrow (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 22 July 2014.
Karr, Douglas. “TOMS: A Case Study in Profitable Cause Marketing – Marketing Technology Blog.” Marketing Technology Blog. DK New Media, LLC, n.d. Web. 23 July 2014.
Mycoskie, Blake. “Evolving TOMS Shoe Giving.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 July 2014.
“TOMS : One for One.” TOMS : One for One. TOMS Shoes Inc., n.d. Web. 23 July 2014.
TV Montague. “The Rise Of Storydoing: Inside The Staggering Success Of Toms Shoes.” Fast Company. Fast Company & Inc., n.d. Web. 23 July 2014.