TOMS Launches Marketplace, Roasting Co.; Continues To Build on Social Good Promise
TOMS Launches Marketplace, Roasting Co.; Continues To Build on Social Good Promise
10 million pairs of shoes to children in need.
150,000 people have had their sight restored.
And now?
One of TOMS’ latest ventures, Marketplace, brings 30 socially conscious brands together via a platform to help them succeed. Committed to give back to their communities, each brand is working to make a difference to use business to improve people’s lives. With over hundreds of items to choose from, TOMS offers its community the innovative opportunity to shop by cause or even the region they wish to help.
But that wasn’t enough… Earlier this month, the company launched TOMS Roasting Co. Remaining committed to its One for One® mantra and in partnership with Water for People, for every bag of coffee TOMS sells, a person in need will receive a week of clean water. Let that sink in for a second… An estimated 1.8 billion people are drinking unsafe water. When you buy a $12.99 bag of coffee, someone will get something we take for granted every.single.day.
It’s remarkable, really, to see a company able to thrive by making an impact on communities worldwide. Not only thrive, but build a brand for itself that other companies strive to emulate. With so much focus on shopping local and doing good, this is a branding trend I’m happy to follow, and personally, I can’t wait to see what TOMS comes up with next.
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Source
“One for One,” TOMS.com, http://www.toms.com/our-movement/l
Humanitarian, Do-gooder Brands
I started writing today’s post about the recent controversy surrounding Abercrombie & Fitch and the effect on its brand, but I discovered I couldn’t be happier that I’m not a reporter – no matter how I approached it, I couldn’t be objective. A few links surrounding the story are below this post; feel free to make your own conclusions.
So, I decided to turn a negative story into a positive blog post and focus on humanitarian brands – brands that do good, and look good doing it. The following are a few brands I admire for how they represent themselves and what they do.
In January 2011, two young entrepreneurs Dale Partridge and Aaron Chavez got together with the mission of leading a generation toward generosity. With a belief that people mattered, they began a journey to change the world. On June 13, 2011, Sevenly was born. By creating weekly cause campaigns where customers could purchase products that gave $7 to a weekly charity, Sevenly successfully unlocked not only a way to crowd-fund for causes, but to drive massive social awareness as well.
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. There are 800 million people on the planet who don't have clean water. It's hard to imagine what 800 million people looks like really, but one in nine might be easier. One in nine people in our world doesn't have access to the most basic of human needs. Something we can't imagine going 12 hours without.
We're not offering grand solutions and billion dollar schemes, but instead, simple things that work. Things like freshwater wells, rainwater catchments and sand filters. For about $20 a person, we know how to help millions.
To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also invest directly into treatment and recovery.
As the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents a force of more than 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide – all committed to making HRC's vision a reality.
Founded in 1980, HRC advocates on behalf of LGBT Americans, mobilizes grassroots actions in diverse communities, invests strategically to elect fair-minded individuals to office and educates the public about LGBT issues.
Finally, I stumbled across this last week and I find it a beautiful, philanthropic gesture from Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett – what’s even more incredible are those who have joined their pledge and the stories they tell.
The Giving Pledge is an effort to help address society’s most pressing problems by inviting the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or after their death.
I know there are hundreds more benevolent brands and organizations out there- and personally, I can’t wait to spend my time learning about them. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments!
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As promised, here are the Abercrombie & Fitch story links
- The original interview (from 1/24/06): “The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch,” Salon.com, http://goo.gl/1mBZG
- Greg Karber’s video: “Abercrombie & Fitch Gets a Brand Readjustment #FitchTheHomeless,” YouTube.com, http://goo.gl/Bq6yu
- The story Karber’s video references: “Abercrombie Says It Would Rather Burn Clothes Than Give Them To Poor People,” EliteDaily.com, http://goo.gl/yrp27
- Well-rounded story (IMO): “Half-Naked, All-American Models Won't Be Enough To Keep Abercrombie Afloat,” Business Insider, http://goo.gl/LI0a8
- Finally, just because she’s awesome, here’s Ellen’s take: http://goo.gl/sw0Le
Birchbox Delivers Brand Satisfaction
They say good things come in small packages. With products ranging from Luna bars, perfume, earbuds, green tea and mascara, brands are seizing the opportunity to distribute product samples in a little package called, Birchbox.
Birchbox.com, is a subscription-based service that delivers a monthly box of beauty samples to your door for a small fee of $10 a month. This NYC centered business was founded by Katia Beauchamp and fellow Harvard alum Haley Barna in 2010. Birchbox chooses products based on a beauty profile you complete when you sign up. From a brand’s perspective, this is a way to upsell existing customers and to acquire new customers by putting the product in front of them that they may not otherwise have been exposed to. A recent box brought me a fun colored nail polish, Kate Spade perfume and a delicious-smelling hand cream. I was so excited to receive my box of goodies, it felt like Christmas as I opened it! In my opinion, Birchbox satisfied me as a customer as it delivered products that I currently use and a few I hadn’t experienced before. I loved the hand cream and bought it on the Birchbox website once my sample size diminished. Bottom line, both Birchbox and the brands benefitted from my purchase that day!
Birchbox has been on the market for two years and has seen rapid growth, both with new female consumers and new business partners, such as major brands like Kiehl’s and NARS. It offers a way for big brands to get their products into the hands of young, e-happy customers with money to spend. Over 200 brands have joined Birchbox because they see the benefit of pushing their products to female consumers each month. Brands such as Elizabeth Arden are scrambling to give away samples to Birchbox’s more than 100,000 subscribers as they see the value in distributing their products to females who love a new beauty item to brag about.
The startup has been so successful gaining female consumers that Birchbox Man launched in April 2012. Now, guys can sign up and, for $20 a month, get their own “Birchboxes.” Products shipped in the boxes will include shaving cream, cologne, headphones and watches, with more lifestyle and tech items planned for the future.
Birchbox is a place where brands can find new customers and engage with them in a very intimate environment-their homes. This subscription-based system introduces customers to small and large brands, helps smaller companies start to find their consumer base, and larger companies find new audiences.
For a small fee and new products shipped to your door each month, would you sign up for Birchbox?
Brands Take to the Sky for Higher Reach
Airport security checkpoints create lines, pat-downs and frequent headaches for travelers. There are also the dull colored table trays on airplanes that make your snack and beverage look, well dull. Airlines have long wanted to engage travelers through these mediums so it was naturally when they invited companies to place advertisements on security checkpoint bins and on table trays to make it a more positive experience for travelers. Does this form of advertising work? Brands think so and are taking advantage of this advertising avenue.
Security Point Media, the leader in airport passenger security checkpoint advertising and the innovator of the Secure Tray System worked up a plan to provide free bins to airports in exchange for the right to sell advertisements on the bins. During a recent trip from New York to Boston, I noticed the ads at JFK airport. As I placed my shoes and other items in the bin, I saw an ad for Zappos that said “Place shoes here, buy shoes here.” I thought it was clever and made me remember that Zappos is a great store for shoe lovers and it distracted me for a few minutes as I made my way through the line. In my opinion, the ad worked as it was colorful, simple and reminded me how much I liked the brand and the products they offer. Brand recognition and recall are much more likely when advertising serves a practical purpose and is helpful to consumers.
Los Angeles International Airport, one of the program’s first test sites, was able to purchase long tables, seating, floor mats and other equipment from the ad revenue they have generated since the start of the bin advertising program. Airports like the program because it gives them a little bit of extra money and helps improve the checkpoint experience for passengers. Brands like Zappos are also helping absorb the cost that TSA would normally have to spend buying the equipment needed for security checkpoint. Sounds like a win win to me!
Another way to reach frequent travelers is by smacking an ad on a table tray while they’re on the airplane. On a recent flight, I saw an ad for Visitrichmond.com that did a great job of showcasing their cities history by having an ad that said “History. Rated “Gee!” From chilling ghost stories to thrilling roller coaster rides, history is for kids of all ages.” The ad featured a group of people enjoying a roller coaster ride. Whether it’s an ad for a hotel, cell phone or a tourism push for visitors, brands are gaining maximum exposure as the advertising images cannot be avoided.
While media companies believe table tray ads provide up to 3+ hours of guaranteed exposure and attention and a clutter-free environment with zero distractions, I believe frequent travelers would question if the ads make as much of an impact as companies would have liked. In a busy traveling world where people are rushing to get to their gate, do people notice advertisements on check point bins and table trays or are they more concerned with making their flight?
Facebook and Brands: A Match Made in Social Media Heaven
It’s the year 2012, and Facebook has acquired nearly 901 million users worldwide. That means that if Facebook users made their own country, they would be the third largest in the world! According to Search Engine Journal, users upload nearly 250 million photos, click the “Like” button 2.7 billion times, and spend roughly 20 minutes per visit every day on the site. As a brand, there is endless potential to reach current customers and their friends when your content is shared, liked and commented on. With so much user activity, it’s no wonder brands are spending a lot of time and money on their social media efforts. In an age where social media rules, Facebook helps businesses promote their brand more effectively by encouraging interaction with users – something that has become a must. Let’s take a look at a couple of different things Facebook is doing to make the site more brand-friendly.
Page Features
Many brands think that committing to a Facebook page will be too tedious of a task; however Facebook recently announced a few new features that businesses can use to help make managing their profile page easier once you get it set up. One new feature allows you to schedule future posts. Up until now, the only way to schedule a post was through a third-party application. Now you simply just click the clock icon in the status box and you can schedule a post, photo, or video up to six months in advance. Also, businesses can now pay a fee to have a post promoted. This means that the post will be shown in news feeds of the people who “Like” your page as well as anyone they are friends with, even if they haven’t “Liked” your page. Finally, businesses can now assign administrative roles to the people who help manage the page. There are five different roles you can potentially assign: manager, content creator, moderator, advertiser and insights analyst. All of these are added benefits to helping manage your page and maximize your exposure.
Display Advertising
If you’re thinking about advertising online, Facebook has to be one of the first considerations. It is the number one publisher of display advertisements, larger than Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and AOL combined. Also, more than one million different websites are integrated into Facebook, making it the go-to site for consumers seeking ease and accessibility. Display advertising on Facebook can be extremely efficient due to the fact that it lets you specifically select your target audience by customizing important location, demographic and user interest information in order to ensure you reach the right people. Your ad will be shown regardless of what Facebook page they are viewing, which means greater exposure to those who will actually be interested in your brand.
Sum up
In today’s social media obsessed world, the question isn’t why you need Facebook; it’s why in the world aren’t you already on Facebook? Although your brand’s Facebook page is essentially a professional profile page, it should be treated as more of a social tool than if it were simply your regular website. Users and fans alike are able to ask questions, interact with content, see photos from behind-the-scenes, and watch cool videos related to your brand. Show fans a different and more interactive side of your business and Facebook will no doubt be a contributing factor to your success.
Contributed By: Nicole Juliano
Why Marketers are Borrowing Instagrammer's Photos
Everyone has heard the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” at least once or twice, but nowadays don’t be surprised if you hear it more often. It was this old proverb that inspired Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger to launch a free photo sharing program called Instagram in October 2010. Instagram allows users to take photos on their mobile devices, edit them, apply cool filters, and then upload them to a variety of social media networks including Instagram’s own. Shortly after its launch, Instagram was made available in Apple’s app store for download on all Apple products. By December of 2010 Instagram had already acquired one million users and by June 2011 they had grown to five million users. More recently, in April 2012 Instagram was launched on the Android platform had acquired 30 million registered users. That’s a lot of photos!
Now with more than 50 million users, Instagram is not just another advertising strategy for big brands. Since the site is advertisement free, brands must come up with authentic and engaging visuals to convey their message and inspire fans. More so than advertising, brands on Instagram are essentially storytellers trying to show viewers what their brand stands for or what they wish to convey, whatever that might be. That’s one of the greatest parts about Instagram; your pictures are worth a thousand words.
Instagram’s popularity plays heavily off of the unique and creative way people can share their lives with each other through visuals. And the simple fact is that people love taking pictures and sharing them with their friends. So how can big brands take advantage of this to market their products and services? Not only are big brands hiring active users on Instagram but they are also creating their own Instagram streams for customers to follow. Brands such as Barney’s New York, Volvo, and Delta are just a few who have hired Instagram users with large followings to help them promote their brand. These companies will offer incentives such as cash, trips, or their products to these users in exchange for images of given products or events.
An example of this is when Delta invited six Instagrammers to take pictures of the playoff hockey game between the New York Rangers (which the airline sponsors) and the Ottawa Senators from Madison Square Garden. Not only were the Instagrammers paid but they were also given access to Delta’s Sky360Club while they were at the game. After all was said and done it was estimated that Delta had made more than 5.6 million impressions, the total number of photos broadcast by the Instagrammers multiplied by their total number of followers. This type of marketing with Instagram helps create intimacy with followers of the brands who wouldn’t normally be able to attend these events or see the images in the photos for themselves.
Another way that brands are utilizing the site is by simply creating their own streams on Instagram. Brands such as Red Bull, Starbucks and General Electric have taken to creating their own streams to share their very own photos with their followers. For example, you'll see more than light bulbs on GE’s Instagram account. Its main objective is to show off GE's work in different industries. Fans get to see larger than life images of trains, plane engines and, of course, their employees. Starbucks focuses their stream on highlighting in-store experiences around the world and showing how new coffee flavors are developed and tested at Starbucks headquarters. Red Bull shows fans pictures of extreme sports in action all over the world. Brands with their own streams are able to create and control the content and can paint a picture of the brand that fans haven’t seen before. From behind the scene exclusives to everyday happenings, fans will appreciate the creativity of big brands on Instagram.
Contributed By: Nicole Juliano
Pinterest: A New Way to Market Your Brand
There are many websites out there that help us find the things we are interested in such as Google and Stumble Upon, but recently there has been a growing interest in organizing these likes and interests on one platform. And that’s where Pinterest comes in, and as it grows in popularity more than just its individual users are reaping its rewards. Brands too can benefit from Pinterest, as it has become an innovative way to share information, ideas, and more importantly products, and brands.
According to its’ website, Pinterest “lets you organize all the beautiful things you find on the web.” Pinterest is made up of many different boards, which have an overlying topic such as “Recipes” and “Fashion.” Each user’s board acts as a virtual pin board, where they can pin pictures, articles, or anything of interest from the web or uploaded from their computer. Users are using their boards for everything from redesigning a bedroom, to planning a wedding, to making a collage of favorite fashion designs.
Pinterest has become an innovative way for businesses to get their name and products out there. Because it allows users to share and gain information with ease, it makes the spread of ideas and information easier than ever. If a business has a product pinned on a very popular board, other users are likely to see the pin and click it which will take them to the business’ website. For example, if you see a pair of Nike tennis shoes pinned to a “Shoes” board and want to buy them, all you have to do is click the picture and you will be taken to the website where they can be purchased. Unlike Facebook, Pinterest does not have the option to create a corporate account, which can actually help a brand. With no corporate accounts, brands are not able to pin their own products, so customers must pin them instead. Customers pinning about a brand’s products instead of the brand pinning about its own products may be more effective. Customers tend to listen to and trust fellow customers more than a large brand. If they see a product they like that another user has pinned they will probably be more likely to purchase it because it is being promoted by another person like them, not a large brand. Pinterest is a new branch of social media that brands should take advantage of. Brands can capitalize on Pinterest by encouraging customers to pin products they like, which shares the product with the millions of people on Pinterest and is free marketing. Many brands may discover that they gain a great amount of recognition and business by letting the customers do some of the promoting.
Contributed by Keena Classen
A Fresh Start
Sarah is a Charlotte-area junior who has been a Girl Scout for ten years.
She is now in the final stage of earning her Gold Award.
Much like the Eagle Award is to the Boy Scouts of America, the Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA. Only about 5% of eligible Scouts successfully earn the prestigious award. The Scout must complete 30 hours of leadership work, 40 hours of career exploration, and the 4Bs Challenge during which the scout identifies key needs in her community. After those steps have been taken, she must complete a service project. This service project must extend beyond GSUSA and provide a lasting benefit. It requires a minimum of 65 hours of work.
Sarah says that the homelessness crisis in Charlotte has been a passion of hers for many years, primarily due to her mother’s involvement with the Urban Ministry Center for almost half of Sarah’s life. Because of this, it was an easy decision for Sarah to determine her Gold Award project, as she has grown up working with homeless people.
For her project, called “A Fresh Start,” she is compiling 85 laundry baskets full of basic household items, including dish detergent, washcloths, hangers and sponges, to be donated to the upcoming residents of Charlotte’s newly constructed Moore Place, a housing facility built by the Urban Ministry Center. Moore Place will be Charlotte’s first permanent supportive home built to give a roof to chronically homeless men and women. Sarah’s aim is to provide these baskets as a house warming gift and starter pack.
As a Helping Hands event for November, Addison Whitney collected enough goods to fill two laundry baskets with the household items. These items will benefit two new residents of Moore Place and will make a dramatic impact in getting these new residents settled in their new homes.
Sarah plans to help the residents move in and hopes to continue working with them long after their first bottle of laundry detergent runs out.
If you’d like to put together a basket for Sarah’s project, please visit her website.
You can read more about Moore Place here.
Paint Scheming
My latest obsession: virtually painting my fingernails on OPI using their vast palette of audacious hues.
Why don plain old red when you could rock Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It? You could scrap a shade of red altogether and try Who the Shrek are you? Or, you could really splurge with Extravagance. Hard Candy makes seductive shades like Mr. Right, Mr. Wrong, Hypnotic and Frenzy.
On my own personal fascination scale, that activity is followed closely by this game.
Why paint your walls a basic blue when you could coat them with a Fragrant Cloud or take an Aegean Cruise or dip into an Inky Pool? Why brown when Labrador Sands is an option? Or, how about Enigma from Sherwin-Williams? Valspar’s Ancestral Haze?
The verbal branding of these types of products is challenging (seriously, how does one delineate between I Think Pink and Pink-a-Doodle?), but it is clearly a powerful tool. Color naming takes advantage of the subjectivity and emotional responses of customers. These names help to paint a picture (no pun intended, I promise) for the consumer; they are buying not just a can of paint, not just a bottle of nail polish, but an entire experience created from a single shade. These special names make the customer part of a secret, a little wink-wink in an up close and personal world.
Perhaps you would like more than just warmth for your family room; try Buttered Toffee. If you wanted, you could turn your cabin den into a rustic getaway with help from Wild Frontier. Maybe your sunroom could be accented by Pool Party.
Did I recently have Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ brushed on my toes? Why, yes. Yes, I did. Because for me, summertime isn’t just about the vibrancy and heat, it’s about family gatherings and pulled pork sandwiches. And, I had thought about moonlighting at a nearby diner for the summer, but I’m Not Really a Waitress.
The Many Faces of Google
I don't know about you, but for some reason it always makes my day when Google features one of their custom logos. For those of you that have managed to miss this occurrence, don't worry. You're bound to catch one eventually. While usually these alternative logos are in celebration of holidays and historic events, Google also commemorates birthdays of famous artists and scientists. A special colorless logo has appeared in recognition of major tragedies, and on Earth Hour the site switched its background to black symbolize "turning out the lights". Google Custom Search even hosts a landing page called Blackle, that serves as encouragement to users to save energy. It displays a black background and uses grayish-white font color for search results. Considering the popularity of the search engine, these colors supposedly consume less energy. But, more importantly, the site is a reminder for people to take small steps in their everyday lives to save energy.
Among one of the most fun Google logo alternatives was the recent observance of the 30th birthday of Pac-Man. This interactive logo contained an accurate recreation of the Pac-Man game that could be played in a browser. Google later released a permanent Google Pac-Man site. Another geeky way to have fun with Google is by designing your own home page at Google My Way. Give it a try. I promise you won't be disappointed!