(Ch. 10) Product Concepts

TOMS decided to develop its product line and business model around shoes, however after announcing their latest product, TOMS now carry four different types of product; TOMS Eye-wear, Footwear, Apparel & Accessories in many different styles and colors. The brand offers it's products to all different age groups from infants to youth and adults. In terms of style TOMS shoes look better in person then they do on the website. At first glance, you may picture of shoes your grandma would wear. But, once you have the shoes in your hands, it's totally different; TOMS shoes are very stylish, and are available in a variety of colors and styles to fit everyone's needs. They are extremely comfortable, due to their lightweight design and rubber soles TOMS shoes are very comfortable. You can wear TOMS shoes with or without socks and this makes them great for everyday wear, I personally wear them without socks and I love them. Behind all these aspects is one great concept and that's the best part about buying TOMS products; when you slip on your TOMS shoes know that somewhere around the globe is a less fortunate person slipping on theirs. That's what makes TOMS shoes the hottest pair of shoes available on the market today. They're sleek, stylish, and ultimately comfortable.

TOMS YOUTH COLLECTIONS

TOMS BOTAS COLLECTION

   

TOMS APPAREL & ACCESSORIES
COLLECTIONS

TOMS EYEWEAR COLLECTIONS

(Ch. 18) Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Unlike other footwear brands, TOMS consumers do not depend upon sales. With all the great benefits the brand offers with every purchase; stylish, affordable, and practical product that donates to a child in need when they purchase a pair is a great sale, this is what most TOMS buyers acknowledge including myself. I have been purchasing TOMS for the past two years for me, friends and family and I have never bothered to see if they were on sale because they never are. Retail shops that carries TOMS products, it is upon them to have store sales on TOMS products but usually that never occurs. But when purchasing from online, coupons like the ones in the bottom are found at times on coupon websites like ShopaHolickMommy, Dealigg, Savings and many other cupon websites. 

                                   

As I have mentioned before on Ch. 15, since TOMS do not operate their very own retail store, I've experienced personal selling of some TOMS products at Nordstrom in New Jersey and Journey's in Manhattan. Although these shops do not carry most of TOMS products, the sales associates were however well trained by the management team to sell the products. But the shopping experience were quite different from each other. At Journey's many of the sales associates approached to me and other guests asking "what size do you need?" or "do you need a size?", as I picked up a display pair of TOMS I asked the sales associate "what are these things?", "what is the one for one?"; the sales associate gave me somewhat a ok explanation of what does the One for One stand for. As I entered the men's shoe department at Nordstrom and went to the TOMS area, a associate approached to me and asked "would you like to be part of a cause, and help a child with a free pair of shoe along with your purchase?", I continued "please tell me more". 

Advertisement like these are found at times through out web surfing on different sites.

TOMS Affiliate With AT&T & DIGG

Check out: 

AT&T TOMS Shoes Commercial

Check out: 

TOMS + Digg Collaboration

(Ch. 17) Advertising and Public Relations

ADVERTISING
We see many footwear ads on television from companies like Skechers, Converse, Nike, Jordan and many more. All these companies have one thing in common through their ads, to raise brand awareness among customers to gain attention and to increase sales. Although TOMS does not advertise much on TV, the brand stands above typical brand advertising because TOMS tries to convince you to do good and help others.  Below, I posted a TOMS video advertisement which was featured in local TV channels in California and online during the holidays.
  
This holiday footwear advertisement is slightly different from typical brand advertising. There are not any loud ringing bells, nor are there flashy price tags. TOMS has illustrated what the holidays are truly about: giving. The narrator of the video is a child named Ronnie, Ronnie tells you, the parent, friend or family member, how you can make an impact. Humans have a soft spot for children around the holidays, so why not let a child tell the story? The video is very inspiring, the music is playful which builds-up your joy and happiness; making it emotionally powerful. Dancing with the music are small snowflakes to play on the holidays while symbolizing how each person working together can make a difference. Sometimes, video can make things complicated. TOMS, on the other hand, is not complicated. It’s simple, understandable and approachable. The video has two goals, to explain TOMS’s social mission (one-for-one) and how they create impact (prevent foot disease) and to encourage you to get involved.  The spot illustrates how buying one pair of TOMS Shoes can have a chain reaction, preventing foot disease for children around the world.


You now may be wondering, that was a TOMS ad for the holidays; what about throughout the rest of the year? How does TOMS advertise throughout the year? The brand is involved in various ad campaigns as well as public relation campaigns to get the company out to the public. The brand does not want to force into anyone's lifestyle, therefore it does not advertise massively.


PUBLIC RELATIONS 
Campus Clubs: TOMS currently has existing campus clubs on campuses such as New York University, Ohio State, University of Michigan, Fashion Institute Technology and many other campuses. In order to better reach the desired target market, TOMS will reach out to different colleges and universities asking them to start a campus club rather than having students apply to start one. Being involved in campus clubs will allow students to gain experience in promotions, marketing, and event planning. For more info on TOMS campus clubs check out their official TOMS CAMPUS PROGRAMS website.


As I continue to blog on the brand, I'll be posting more updates on TOMS Advertising & Public Relations from videos to pictures and many more.