Cause Marketing = TOM's Shoes

I'm sure the company TOMS needs no introduction but just for the sake of being consistent I will give a little background on the company. Blake Mycoskie visited Argentina back in 2006, bonded with children he met there and realized that they had no shoes to protect their feet. In an effort to change this, Blake got the idea of creating shoes that, when bought, would also provide a pair for a child: One for One. 

Blake chose shoes for a few reasons:

1. Many diseases are absorbed into the skin in developing nations, and can eventually cause serious harm.

2. Bare feet leave children vulnerable to cuts, and sores that can get infected and have serious health problems.

3. Children without shoes to wear with uniforms cannot attend school. Without school, these children are unable to fully explore their intellectual potential.

This idea has been insanely successful. I cannot tell you how many people I see in NYC wearing these shoes. I have three pairs, plan to get more and I have to say that they are QUITE comfortable.

More recently, TOMS has also started the Giving Sight program. Here is how it works (straight from TOMS website):

What a great idea! Giving Sight is taking place now in Nepal, Cambodia and Tibet. 

One concept that I've been encouraged to look into with my goal of making passive pro-choicers active pro-choicers is cause marketing. I've tried looking into examples of how ideas can be shared, people will make contributions and what would cause them to do so.

I've talked to some people, and one opinion I've received is that people will take action when they feel empowered, and feel as if their action is actually making a difference. If they feel there's not point or "I'm one person" it's not so motivating. However, if they can see the difference, especially quickly, they are more motivated. 

The work of TOMS has been instrumental in helping these children and now adults too. I'm trying to take this inspiration to see if I can also somehow find a way to incorporate this idea into my design solution.


For my first blog entry which describes the purpose of my blog, please click here.