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July 28, 2008
Customer evangelism case study: TOMS Shoes
Here's a customer evangelism case study in the making: TOMS Shoes.
TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, a former contestant of "The Amazing Race" who was inspired by the low-cost alpargatas (espadrille-type shoes) during a trip to Argentina.
His idea was to bring alpargatas to the U.S. and give them a fashion makeover.
Blake was also struck by scenes of poverty in Argentina; so he launched TOMS based on the premise of giving away a pair of shoes to shoeless children in third-world countries for each pair he sold.
So far, he's sold 200,000 shoes and given away the same number. He's struck licensing deals with Ralph Lauren and distribution deals with all sorts of department stores and retailers like Whole Foods (where I first saw TOMS last month). Blake has also created an evangelistic following; one restaurant chain in New York outfits all of its servers with TOMS because of the cause.
TOMS Shoes has buzz for a variety of reasons, which include:
- An uncommon product amidst of sea of commonality.
- A simple, yet inspiring story that's easy to tell and therefore spread.
- An accessible and well-spoken leader who'll tell the story to anyone who'll listen.
- A strong culture of participation among employees and customers that's ingrained into the DNA of the company.
JJ Ramberg of MSNBC has an excellent piece on the magic behind TOMS.
Other blogs that reference Customer evangelism case study: TOMS Shoes:
Tom's shoes - I think this is going to be the next great "Accidental Brand!" Thanks for letting me hear about it here, now I'm off to tell others!
Very interesting story - thanks for sharing. It's enough to motivate me to check out the product and see if they are comfortable, well made and worth the price. The cause is nice and might motivate me to buy one pair - but it will be the product quality and experience that motivates me to buy more than one pair.
Ben,
Thanks for helping spread the Tom's story. I wrote about the company last year about this time. http://freshpeel.com/2007/08/toms-shoes-design/
One of my last points was "Be patient. The market will find you." This was in regards to what an original approach and product Toms has, and how they weren't afraid to change the rules. By taking this stance they have become an instant word of mouth success.
I'm glad to see that Toms is receiving more widespread recognition.
Wow this is a great idea - definitely inspiring. More people should build a brand based on this model. Amazing story.
What an awesome story. This guy is really enthusiastic and genuine. We need more of this!
The mantle has passed from Yvon Chouinard, Anita Roddick and Ben and Jerry to Blake Mycoskie at TOM's Shoes. It's great to be at the beginning of this next gen - Gen Y - version of doing well by doing good!
I saw Tom's in an LA Times article last year, when they first lauched, and immediately ordered some for my daughter and I. She became addicted to Tom's and has worn through several pairs. Her friends came to love them, too. They buy plain ones and decorate them with lyrics, jokes, etc. The shoe itself has evolved to become more sturdy and comfortable. We loved the idea of giving and love the shoes.
Thanks for posting about a great company and a great cause. The brand evangelism you speak of is the exact reason why I started a blog following TOMS shoes and their cause. More companies need to focus on creating ways to get their customers to talk about their company, products, and brand the way TOMS has inspired me to. Please check out our TOMS Shoe Fans blog: http://www.tomsshoefans.com
I am so inspired by Toms!
I'm at Causecast and we just did a profile video of them. http://www.causecast.org/videos/2505
For the cause!
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Hi -
CNBC doing a documentary on Tom's Shoes!!
Next Thursday April 2nd at 9p eastern / theentrepreneurs.cnbc.com
