BARE YOUR SOLE…
By
Earlier in the semester I introduced TOMs shoes to AdVirtues, a shoe company with a mission, to provide shoes to people all over the world. For every pair of TOMs shoes you buy they donate one pair to a person in need in a third world country. While most may not 
think that providing someone with shoes is that important, think again. Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infections, allow entry points for parasites living on the ground and even cause diseases that cripple you, all of which are preventable by wearing shoes. Because of this, people all over the world in developing nations are dying daily because of a parasite that entered through the soles of your feet. In order to raise awareness, TOMs declared today, “bare your sole”
day in which they called people all over the nation to leave their shoes at home. Walking on the SMU campus barefoot was a new experience and gave me a glimpse into the lives of those less fortunate. It hurts and little pebbles seem to find a way to lodge themselves into your soles. It taught me a great deal of what life might be like in places like these and taught me the value of shoes so go outside, walk around and
BARE YOUR SOLES
and together we can change the fate of people halfway around the globe.
12 Comments
April 16th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
This is such a great campaign! I must admit I forgot to not wear shoes today, but I did see tons of people walking barefoot around campus! Obviously, it was a total word of mouth piece. Or “social marketing” if you will. Yes, there were flyers and the occasional guerilla marketing (tennis shoes with notes attached to them placed outside Dallas Hall), but everything was through word of mouth. I only saw the flyers if someone had one in their hand. I never actually saw them posted. For me, it just shows that people need some sort of incentive or social interaction to spark a change. There’s incentive if your friend asks you to do it. Or if you see others doing the same thing. It was an “underground” type of event, but seemingly tons of students heard about it somehow! All you have to do is talk about it and ask others to participate. And there’s the power of social marketing.
April 16th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
You make an excellent point about it being a word of mouth campaign. I wonder if they took it and added more actual advertising if this would decrease or add to the brand. They are not the typical brand but it could help to at least get their name out there a little more. Do you think that they should continue on their path of only word of mouth or add in a little advertising?
April 17th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Alissa, I think the way they currently ran this event was perfect. There was a little ‘non-traditional’ advertising with the shoes with the flyers attached spread all over campus and the few people I saw walking around with t-shirts that said BARE YOUR SOLES. Do you think this event is going to be effective if it is continually repeated? I know there was talk about it being a reoccuring event, just curious to hear your thoughts.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I am so glad you posted this. Like everyone said it was a good balance between word of mouth and social media. I did receive a few facebook messages (social media) regarding this event as well as numerous reminders from friends about the day (word of mouth). How cool is it that this cause related campaign has come so far! The way in which this campaign was done offered a level of exclusivity therefore making each “carrier of the message” feel important. Toms have become a trend here at SMU but the cause behind it has become something so much greater. Toms is a true company with a meaning!
April 18th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Kat, I don’t know how effective it will be if it continues the way that it is going. All I do know is that since the very beginning of their campaign a few years ago they have spread only by word of mouth. I actually heard about them from a person in turkey and that is what got me interested. I believe that if it is still working right now after all this time it is probably a pretty effective outlet for TOMs. I also think that this particular event if done once a year could actually gain steam. This year a few people actually carried it out but maybe a few years down the road the awareness will have grown so signficantly that everyone is getting involved. Why do you think? Do you believe it will gain steam or grow old?
April 18th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I completely agree with you Brittany. I was one of those people who got the emails, the Facebook messages, everything and I felt so special because it felt like I knew something no one else did. Because of the way they went about their social media I actually announced this to some of my classes because I was so excited that they regarded me as a talker and I talked. I They definitely understood how to contact those that are their talkers and they gave us something worthwhile to talk about. How might you improve on their methods in the future if you were working for TOMs?
April 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Guess who’s in the latest AT&T commercial? Toms Shoes! Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU2BFTqHFz4
April 18th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Ashley, I actually saw this commercial a few days ago right around the time of the BARE YOUR SOLES day. Do you think that the event done by TOMs and the commercial have any correlation in timing? Also, do you think that AT&T paid for this commercial or TOMs? I think it would make a big difference based on who is paying for the commercial because I believe that TOMs doing TV ads could be a bit odd for their product. Maybe it is because I have come to know them as word of mouth marketers. Regardless, it was a very good commercial and probably brought awareness to people in cities that haven’t gotten the word of TOMs shoes yet.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Alissa, I am sure the coinciding of the commercial and event was not coincidence.
My guess would be that AT&T paid fully for the media time, as the commercial is essentially for their product. TOMs here seems to be more of a spokesperson for AT&T, in the sense that they are helping to endorse AT&T’s services.
This commercial was a great way for me to learn more about TOMs, and it made me like AT&T even more for helping them get the word out, which I am sure was the intended consequence.
All in all, I think it is a great example of a large commercial company and a smaller commercial/philanthropic company teaming up to help both causes. At the end of the day, AT&T gets associated with social responsibility and TOMs gets more awareness.
This might be the new face of cause-related marketing. And, honestly, I found this much more effective than the typical “we donate x amount of dollars a year to x charity.”
April 18th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I had never even thought about it in that sense that AT&T was partnering with a charity. I really like the way they did it because it does appear much better than just donating money to an organization and calling it a day. I love that they are actively involved and giving promotion efforts to it as well. Great inside Ashley.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I agree that AT&T teaming up with a cause is much more effective than simply announcing who they are giving money to or what cause they are supporting. Smaller companies like TOMS shoes can really benefit from teaming up with larger companies such as AT&T that can afford to get the message out there for TOMS Shoes. I know there have been instances in which causes do not necessarily want to team up with bigger corporations because they feel it can mess up their image. There are many people who view big corporations as being corrupt and money hungry but they can be really beneficial in helping a great cause get the word out so I think it is smart for both parties to work together. While word of mouth is very effective as we have witnessed with this campaign sometimes you have to mix in some traditional marketing techniques to get a larger reach and have your traditional and non-traditional marketing work together to make your campaign a success. While the commercial did not specifically talk about the Bare your soles campaign it got the word out about the company and hopefully sparked interest which led people to search for TOMS Shoes on the internet and find out about BARE YOUR SOLES DAY.
April 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I agree with Kirby. AT&T did it very well, especially since many large corporations out there could give companies such as TOMs a really bad name. One thing I just thought about when reading your comment was, AT&T made their product relevant to TOMs shoes. At first thought it may not be an obvious connection, but a phone is really what allows for TOMs to work so effectively. Many times we see big corporations grouping themselves with causes that make no sense but I believe the delicate balance of difference works very well for TOMs. I enjoy as to what is up ahead for TOMs!