One for One: My TOMS story

Cute shoes. Creative brand. Heart-moving mission. Anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes talking to me understands that these three phrases describe my favorite brand, product, and overall organization: TOMS. A quirky, fun shoe company based out of Santa Monica, the mission of TOMS is as simple as it gets: with every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. I’m part of the TOMS club on the ONU campus, and this past week was huge for our organization as we helped TOMS celebrate their One Day Without Shoes.

There are about a million things that TOMS does exceptionally well that we could talk about (creative shoe designs, community photo wall, active social media presence…do not get me started). However, there is a public relations aspect of TOMS that I believe every business organization should take a lesson from: the power of a story. Ask any person how they heard about TOMS, and I bet four out of five people would tell you they heard the story by word of mouth from a friend or family member. That is how it started for me. I heard about the organization through a friend. After months of telling everyone I knew how much I liked the shoes, I finally got my best friend to take the bait. A spontaneous road trip and too many design debates later, not only was I the proud owner of TOMS; I was a brand activist. The TOMS mission has heart and is rooted in the ideals of giving, caring, and making an impact on the world. How could you not want to share that?

You will even find that many of TOMS promotional tactics to spread their message are rooted in a story. A recent free giveaway sent thousands of blue and white string bracelets to individuals across the county. Every time someone asks me what my bracelet means, the TOMS story is told. The community photo wall encourages TOMS addicts to share where they wear their TOMS. Heck, TOMS biggest awareness event, One Day Without Shoes, seems to function as one big story itself. TOMS supporters go an entire day without wearing shoes to raise awareness. This diagram says it all:

Ultimately, TOMS has found a PR strategy for success: tell a story. A good one will spread like wildfire. Below is a recent video from their 2011 One Day Without Shoes campaign. Watch the video, be moved by the mission, and start spreading the story.