Environmental Scan- Project #1
TOMS Shoes: The One for One Project
Kimberly L. Barron
Marketing 314
September 17, 2012
“I was so overwhelmed by the spirit of the South American people, especially those who had so little. And I was instantly stuck with the desire- the responsibility- to do more.” (TOMS Shoes. 2012) These are the words of Blake Mycoskie, founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS Shoes on his inspiration for a business that has taken consumers from all different parts of the world by storm and brought them together to help shape the future of an uncountable amount of children. The One for One Project was established to give every consumer the opportunity to help some of our most poverty-stricken communities throughout
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2011).
Social Environment
TOMS Shoes main commitment is “to create the biggest impact possible with the shoes [they] give- improving children’s health and access to education - for the long-term.” (TOMS Shoes. 2012). This company modeled their business plan and product line around three key interest that combine health and education to provide children in need with hope for a better tomorrow: 1.) unpaved roads and other hazards cause injury to children walking barefoot in the unsafe terrains of these impoverished countries, 2.) a range of soil-transmitted diseases, such as Helminthiasis, can be prevented simply by wearing shoes, 3.) many nations require that all children wear shoes in order to be able to attend school. TOMS Shoes has made it their mission to provide these children with a pair of shoes to ensure that they are not only healthy but also given the chance to achieve a better education, in hopes that they will then be able to, in return, help their communities (Spaulding, Fernandez, and Sawayda. 2011). As much as TOMS Shoes has done for children all over the world, it would all be impossible without the help of their Giving Partners and the company’s non-profit subsidiary, Friends of TOMS. TOMS Shoes establishes “shoe-giving partnerships with humanitarian organizations worldwide that have a deep experience and long-term presence in the countries and communities
Since 2006, Soles4Souls has been working to get the less fortunate shoes. Shoes is a very important thing, a mile walk to the well to get water without shoes could be a back breaking journey but with shoes it seems to be just another one of the days small tasks. Soles4Souls has also teamed up with Macy’s, they both decided on a goal of giving out 50,000 coats in the year of 2013. They did it and since then Soles4Souls and Macy’s has kept their partnership and have gave out a total of around 130,000 coats nationwide (Home-Soles4Souls). Their organization is located in Nashville, Tennessee where they are ranked 40th out of the top 100 highest populated metro areas according to the National Alliance to End
Zumiez Inc. history started off with the owner of the business wanting to do anything he could do to give back to his community. When Zumiez was first created their target market was in action sports retailing, when they really started making more money they started giving back in an even bigger way to 13 charity organizations in Snohomish County, Washington by purchasing jackets, flannels shirts and blankets to give away to those who couldn’t afford it. Up until that point Zumiez was a private company until their launch in the spring of 2005. By the time we hit 2012 Zumiez had already donated over 180,000 items to over 180 organizations in 21 states helping more than 60,000 men, women, and children. Tom’s philosophy of business and life has been there motto since day one. “We help our employees to become successful, which makes the company successful. This in turn allows us to use that success to help others and to develop our employees into community leaders on issues that matter to them”. As Tom always says, “it’s about the leverage- creating it and using it for the benefit of others, and in the process, of ourselves”
This just goes to show how much of a profiting company Toms really is, they make all that extra money and then just keep it for themselves when they could be helping so much more by donating it all to Africa instead of just a cheap pair of canvas shoes which doesn’t help very much in the first place. There are many diseases that are easily catchable and Toms do not provide enough protection.
This just goes to show how much of a profiting company Toms really is, they make all that extra money and then just keep it for themselves when they could be helping so much more by donating it all to Africa instead of just a cheap pair of canvas shoes which doesn’t help very much in the first place. There are many diseases that can be caught easily and Toms do not provide enough protection.
The co-founder of Toms travels to many different colleges to reach out to peers because he wants the new generations to be concerned and aware with different things. and helping others is one that everyone can do if they cant help by buying a pair they can help by not wearing shoes for 24 hours and that event that is called One Day Without Shoes, is targeted mostly to students because they are the ones with time and its a free advertising by
Social responsibility as well as social responsible clothing such as Toms, One for One support socially worthy causes that impact the trend of social responsibility. This brand validates social causes and those who lack physical goods and financial donations such as the one for one movement. TOMS shoes come in a variety of styles and color, and promises customers that every pair of shoes they purchase, a pair would go to someone in need. According to Joanne Fritz, “Mycoskie's idea took off to such an extent that TOMS has now expanded into sunglasses, using the same giveback formula, coffee, the purchase of which provides water where it's needed, and TOMS invests in other social entrepreneurial enterprises. in fact, the TOMS giving universe keeps on expanding and now includes nutrition, healthcare, and education.” (Joanne Fritz, 2016)
TenTree has created a product with the positioning to give customers clothing options that are environmentally and socially responsible. They promise to plant ten trees for every item purchased and only use factories that are approved by WRAP. (TenTree, n.d.) They also have a large selection of t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, tanks, hats, and toques, in a variety of different colours and sizes. (TenTree, n.d.) Satisfying the customer wants for a wide variety of socially and environmentally responsible clothing has created functional-instrumental value for their customers.
In the commercial, it talks about “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.” I think every pairs of shoe they gave out to with the help of the organization they were able to distribute to the children that live in different part of the world. The founder of TOM’s shoe, Blake Mycoskie, travels to Argentina, he helps out children by gave them a pair of individual shoes like myself as a viewer was in touch by the fact that there’s people out there actually care about the conditions they live in running low with food and water. Ho uses a different approach to reach out to the viewer who gave him love and support. He wants the customers to get involved and be part of the TOMs program. The kids seem happy;
While the knowledge that many amenities that are expected in America are not remotely available in some regions of Africa is common, shoes usually do not top that list. While many American cities institute laws requiring those in public to wear shoes, some African villages find the concept of footwear foreign. The problem of shoelessness extends beyond just comfort, as foot injuries spread disease, create life long disabilities, and reduce the quality of living for many children. Giving shoes to these children, then, seems like a fitting answer to a desperate situation. Companies built upon that answer such as TOMS shoes, however, end up contributing to impoverished conditions that drive shoelessness rather than reducing it in the long run.
TOMS Shoes is a most humanitarian organization; they are a for – benefit business with a major heart. The organization was established by Blake Mycoskie in 2006. Mycoskie set up the organization after he saw outrageous destitution in a few nations including Argentina as a hopeful of the "Astonishing Race Contest" on CBS Television. Amid this occasion he saw villagers youthful and old who couldn 't bear the cost of a solitary match of shoes. In mid 2002 he found the agreeable and one of a kind ranch shoe worn by local people known as the "Aspartate". (TOMS.com) Mycoskie formed a shoe after this style, one that was adaptable, strong yet great and comfortable and had them fabricated in Argentina. At that point Mycoskie came back to the United States equipped with the shoes and a commendable mission. His central goal and one of a kind business proposition included approaching retail locations to offer his TOMS shoes, then for each match of TOMS sold he would give a couple of TOMS to a youngster in need. A Los Angeles boutique, American Rag, had confidence in the story behind the shoe and turned into Mycoskie 's first retail client. "Amazingly, that end of the week gathered him $88,000 in requests. Two years after authoritatively building up TOMS Shoes, the business had "$9.6 million in income." (TOMS.com)
Everyday, billions of people look down at their feet and squeeze them into a pair of shoes. For probably most of those people in America, when they look down at their feet, they see a shoe with a swoosh on it. This swoosh belongs to no other than one of the most popular sneaker companies, Nike. I decided to look further into this popular shoe company's success. It turns out Nike isn't even one of the oldest shoe companies, but it is less than 60 years old. Nike had to figure out how to become better than just an ordinary sneaker company.
The primary target market of TOMS is males and females between the age of 19-24 that want to combine the creativity of being a trend-setter with the satisfaction of being socially responsible. This age range is a part of what is known as Generation Y, or the Millennials. Generation Y has brought a trend of social awareness and activity. From 2002 to 2005 the number of people volunteering went up 25%. This generation is all about giving back to the people, so Toms allows this group to give back by purchasing their shoes. TOMS has also done its homework on this group as well. Utilizing social media, TOMS reaches out to over 488,000 twitter followers, 280,000 Facebook fans, and several thousands of YouTube users. TOMS understands that generation Y prefers hands on involvement. In order to make that happen, TOMS fans are allowed to take part in a yearly One Day Without Shoes movement to understand what it is like to be shoe-less. In addition to the giving back and the social movements, TOMS shoes let young adults be expressive in their style. The plain shoe design makes way for creative minds to manipulate the shoe as anyone may please. TOMS is mainly focused in the U.S., but the shoes are available in over 30 countries globally
Start Something That Matters, written by Blake Mycoskie is noted as being “A creative and open-hearted business model for our times.” This quote from the Wall Street Journal perfectly describes this book and what it is all about. Blake Mycoskie, a young entrepreneur that had started prior businesses such as delivering laundry to college students, starting an all-reality cable-TV channel, and also teaching driver education online. Blake was not done there, he wanted something more. He wanted to find his meaning. In 2006, Blake took a trip to Argentina, a country he had previously been to as a participant on The Amazing Race. This trip to Argentina was where he began to fall in love with the alpargata, a soft, casual canvas shoe that was worn by nearly everyone. This shoe would form Blake’s life, whether he knew it or not. Many kids lacked shoes in Argentina and were practically dependent on donations. While donations are great, they were not fulfilling everyone’s need. Some kids would go without shoes even after the drop-offs occurred. When Blake saw this he was instantly
One of the most heavily discussed topics, in this last decade, is the environmental decay of our planet. Diverse concepts have materialized in order to find solutions for the problem. Ecology and sustainable growth have been confirmed to be the main solutions currently. Innovations for sustainable growth include: creation of hybrid cars, recycling and minor discharge of carbon dioxide in factories among others (Christ 23). Environmental awareness was also introduced to the world of fashion, unfortunately, it wasn’t very successful; lately there has been a change of situation and that is what we are going to attempt to understand.
Since 2006, when the TOMS Shoes was founded, their ‘one for one’ business model has been widely embraced or criticized by different companies and the consumers. While, Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Company, was on trip to Argentina in 2006, he witnessed the extreme poverty and poor health conditions. After countersigning children walking barefoot, it dramatically heightened Blake’s awareness. Consequently, after witnessing those events, Mycoskie came up with a simple and innovating plan to create a for-profit business with a philanthropic component. Consequently, Blake created TOMS company with a unique principal and business model referred to ‘One for One’. TOMS ‘One for One’ is a unique business model, where for every pair of shoes purchased TOMS donates a pair of shoes to children in need in developing or underdeveloped countries. The company’s name ‘TOMS’ generated from the word ‘TOMORROW’, which was the original concept of the company, ‘shoes for tomorrow’.