TOMS SHOES: ONE FOR ONE

TOMS SHOES: ONE FOR ONE

By: Molly Luton

TOMS Shoes has virtually taken the shoe industry by storm due to their worthwhile cause and unique public relations effort. The company's seemingly constant PR campaign entitled "One for One," has caused them to gain worldwide attention. The campaign states that, "With every pair you purchase TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need." TOMS Shoes was founded by Blake Mycoskie who created the company after he visited Argentina and found that many of the children there do not have shoes to protect their feet. Within one year of creating the TOMS Shoes company he was able to go back to Argentina bearing 10,000 shoes to give away as a result of people purchasing TOMS and contributing to the greater good.

As of now, TOMS Shoes has given over 10 million pairs of shoes to children in need. TOMS Shoes has created a company that is thriving due to the fact that people genuinely want to help other people, especially children, and TOMS has created a genius way for them to translate this passion by tapping into people's emotions. They utilize creative advertising that emphasizes how purchasing a single pair of shoes can make a huge difference to a child in need. They highlight the reasons why children need shoes, beyond the obvious, in the majority of their efforts. These reasons are that without shoes children can contract diseases through stepping on soil, they can get wounds and cuts that can turn into serious infections and lastly that without proper footwear children are often not allowed to attend school and thus never receive an education.

TOMS' campaign is catching on with other companies as well. Companies like Ralph Lauren created a Polo TOMS shoe and promised to match every pair purchased with the gift of a pair to a child without shoes.

As a part of their ongoing PR campaign that ingeniously benefits their company, as well as children in need of shoes, TOMS successfully created the first annual "One Day Without Shoes." This day challenged people around the globe to not wear shoes and thereby feel what a child without shoes experiences on a daily basis. The day centered around the profound influence that having shoes can make on a child's life. 250,000 people participated in the event in April 2010, and TOMS is once again challenging people to participate in the second annual, "One Day Without Shoes," on April 5, 2011.

As a result of these efforts TOMS is managing to become incredibly successful during a time when many companies around the country are struggling to survive. The combination of their cause and the quality of their shoes will surely allow TOMS to further their mission for many years to come.

Photo taken from the TOMS SHOES Blog.