TOMS makes its do-gooder message viral

Olivia bought a pair of shoes from TOMS because she’s a do-gooder. She loves that every time someone buys a pair of shoes from them, TOMS gives away a pair to a person who can’t afford shoes.

After she finished her order, the Web site asked Olivia to dedicate the given pair. She dedicated the pair to her best friend. Her best friend got an email about the shoes and TOMS do-gooder message went viral.

toms goes viral

Takeaway: You are not referring a friend but “dedicating” your shoe to people who now have the opportunity to buy that shoe and again dedicate there shoes…and the spreading goes on.

This post was written by Andrew Warner of Mixergy.

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7 Responses to “TOMS makes its do-gooder message viral”

  • Olivia
    May 22nd, 2008
    1:19 pm

    I’ve been consistently impressed by the way TOMS does things and I thought the option to ‘dedicate’ the give-away shoe was genius. It made me feel good, I got to pass the product, and when I see my friend for dinner tonight, she won’t be surprise that I’m showing up wearing TOMS.

    I know TOMS is very interested in creating an authentic brand, so it’s interesting to see what methods they use to accomplish this.

  • Neelu
    May 22nd, 2008
    2:08 pm

    great way of sharing “good energy” with others

    and also great viral marketing tool

    almost like buy one, get one free for your friend — relating to good vibes–you get good vibes and so does your friend

    more good feelings spread around the globe (and brand recognition and awareness)

    way to go, TOMS!!

  • Efren Toscano
    May 22nd, 2008
    2:14 pm

    This is Awesome! I Love TOM’s shoes :)

  • Cass
    May 22nd, 2008
    3:14 pm

    Funnily enough, as the “dedicatee” of the TOMS shoes, I didn’t realize until reading this post that the shoes had been dedicated in my name! I received the TOMS email, understood that Olivia had bought a pair and therefore provided a child with a free pair, but I didn’t catch the personal-to-me aspect of the whole exchange. As someone who gets a lot of email from various websites and commercial outlets, I don’t normally read these line for line, but rather give them the “ol’ Eyeball.” Granted, I am clearly an oblivious moron, but I do wonder if this compelling aspect of a TOMS shoes purchase could be strengthened/emphasized by typographically “calling out” the dedication angle in addition to the purchaser’s name and company name. And a sorely belated thank you for the dedication, Oliv!

  • emad
    May 22nd, 2008
    7:48 pm

    I like the idea. What a great way to have an impact and market yourself to other prospective buyers.

  • David Adewumi
    May 23rd, 2008
    5:43 pm

    Noah,

    Have you ever heard of BBSL (http://www.buyshoessavelives.com)

    The first and only time I’ve ever spent $100 on a pair of shoes!

    Solid, hand-made and pretty comfy.

  • Eva White
    June 16th, 2008
    12:48 am

    What a beautiful way to combine materialism with charity. This way you never feel guilty when you buy something for yourself, as you know you have contributed to someone else in a small way. I wish we could do this with clothes and books as well.

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