Simon Mainwaring. The We First Blog.

Blake Mycoskie on TOMS new One for One Eyewear: Part 2

I recently had the great pleasure of chatting with Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes about the expansion of his wonderful One for One concept to eyewear that has an equally inspiring and meaningful impact on the lives of others as TOMS shoes. Here’s what he shared about branding, giving and the personal satisfaction that comes from building something that matters. Here’s a link to part 1 of the interview and Part 2 below.

SM:  Blake, do you see your approach, where business helps improve the lives of others, as a necessity or more as a sound business strategy in the social business marketplace, or both?

BM:  I think it’s a little bit of both.  There are certain businesses in the private sector that lend themselves well to incorporate giving into the model. Some of them might not as well.  I think those will largely shake themselves out in the years to come, but yes, I would say both.

SM:  Do you see the private sector as a stand-alone solution, or is your view more one of partnership between the private sector, government and philanthropies?

BM: It has to be a partnership. First off, the government, even with the debt that they have, their budget and their ability to move the needle in many of these very important issues will far outweigh what the private sector can do. As much as I am an advocate for the private sector taking responsibility and doing their part in areas they haven’t in the past, the government is still the strongest, most powerful force in this. I hope that the private sector puts more pressure on the government to use their resources in a more responsible way, but we definitely ignore the impact the government can have.

SM: I couldn’t agree more. One of the challenges I faced with the ‘We First’ vision is that really, nothing will change unless we inspire companies to change. Companies, to date, have often used the excuse that they are only beholden to their shareholders, but we need shareholders to think of themselves as stakeholders in the well being of society as well.  We can only impact shareholders and CEOs if we as consumers impact their bottom line.  You’re one of the few companies that have motivated consumers to spend their dollars with a social conscience as well. Do you see that it is possible to engage consumers about what they care about? To get them over this complacency, this convenience mentality that has run the marketplace for so long?

BM:  I think that the complacency is largely due to the fact that people don’t think that their contributions actually make a difference. I think it’s great that now, we have organizations like Charity: Water, where every single dollar that you donate, you can see exactly the well project it is going to. With TOMS, when you buy a pair of shoes, you know a child is getting a pair of shoes. It’s very clear, it’s very simple. You get rid of the complacency when you give a specific effect for people’s donations or participation. That encourages more community and, from a social media standpoint, more sharing of the experience they had.

SM: It’s so true. I think that this transparency and accountability is what people are crying out for more, especially in the spirit of distrust that’s been out there since 2008, so it’s often in a company’s advantage not just to do good, but to be clear about how it’s having a positive impact. So, Blake, if you were to have your wish for the future, what is your hope not only just for TOMS, but how would you like to see the private sector?

BM: I would love that every company looks at a triple bottom line. I want to see that become standard practice both in private and public companies, that we aren’t just responsible for generating profits, but for our impact in society and community. I would like to see that be a way in which companies are measured and a way for how consumers decide who they will support. That is my dream, how that gets monitored and regulated.  I would love to see that all companies are held accountable to that triple bottom line.

SM:  That is an inspiring vision. I think we all recognize that this technology is in its infancy in that we have Good Guide, a mobile app that can be a barcode scanner in the shopping aisle, we’ve got BrandKarma.com, we’ve got new GPS technology being used by companies like Charity: Water to show exactly the impact on the ground. But it will take some time and we do need to encourage the development and integration of that technology. But getting back to your personal story: at the end of the day, I think a lot of people in business spend their entire lives chasing some idea of success and often, in the end, what eludes them is fulfillment. Would you be able to speak something to the personal fulfillment, the intangible benefits to taking this approach to business? What have you discovered for yourself and what would you encourage others to do?

BM: The intangible aspect is just that having the opportunity to wake up every day and come to work knowing that I’m not just working to make money for myself and my employees, but to truly serve others and help other people have a better life. You can’t put a price tag on that benefit because the truth is that it permeates all aspects of my being and all experiences of my life because I have that day in, day out experience of serving others and being able to do it through my daily work. It’s invaluable and now, having experienced it, I could never work at another company or start another company unless that was part of it because it’s part of the way I go about my day.

SM: I characterize this shift both personally and at large, as a shift from ‘me first’ to ‘we first’ thinking, and that was really based on the fact that we now live in an intimately connected global community and through all your travels with this and all your plans to expand this business model, what would you say to this awareness that we are all connected now?

BM: That transformation has really happened in looking at the environment and global warming. There is no better example of the necessity of ‘we thinking’ instead of ‘me thinking’ than our environment because what we do here effects people in China and what people in China do effects people here or in Africa. We must think as a global community in order to attack these environmental issues, which is critical to future generations.

SM: Moving back to your greater announcement last week, what should people do if they want to have a look at the new TOMS eyewear? Tell us about that so we can do some homework for ourselves.

BM: Just go to TOMS.com and we have our shoes and eyewear there. On the eyewear section of the website we have some great videos and pictures (above) from a giving trip in Nepal, as well as explanations of exactly how we are helping to save and restore sight for people all over the world. The cool thing is that we also have a virtual try-on, where you can upload a picture of yourself and test out what the glasses look like on your face.  You can even upload it to facebook and have your friends tell you what they like you in more. We’ve tried to make the shopping experience for our eyewear interactive and, because we have limited retailers at this time, make it open to everyone who wants to participate.

SM: Congratulations on the launch last week. It was both an enormous success and truly inspiring. You continue to motivate the private sector to shift its thinking and behavior.  Congratulations to everyone at the company, it truly is amazing work.

Please support TOMS wonderful work by buying the glasses you need to restore the sight of someone else.

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Blake Mycoskie on TOMS new One for One Eyewear: Part 1

I recently had the great pleasure of chatting with Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes about the expansion of his wonderful One for One concept to eyewear that has an equally inspiring and meaningful impact on the lives of others as TOMS shoes. Here’s what he shared about branding, giving and the personal satisfaction that comes from building something that matters.

SM: I’m here with Blake Mycoskie, who is the founder of TOMS Shoes, a wonderful business that made a name for itself by creating the ‘One for One’ pair of shoes to a child in need program and has now but has now expanded that program to eyewear. Blake, what keeps inspiring you to take this approach to business? Is it the effect you’re seeing on the ground, or is it the prospect of encouraging other companies to do the same?

BM: I think it’s actually both of those things. I get the good fortune of spending time on the ground with our partners and giving shoes to children in need, or now most recently with our sight partners, seeing people get their sight back. These are amazing, intimate experiences that really touch you. It’s not like they touch you once, it’s over and over again. Every trip is different, every encounter is different and that encourages me to keep moving because I actually see that the work we’re doing is having an impact. It’s not that we’re just giving shoes or restoring sight, it’s the impact on those lives after we have been with them. Also, seeing a lot of businesses that are taking notice and changing their ways and the way they incorporate giving into their models. And there are new companies starting all the time, inspired by TOMS.  So all that keeps me going.

SM: You mentioned briefly the exciting launch last week. To those who haven’t heard the news, you’ve expanded TOMS business model to include eyewear.

BM: We took the one-for-one model and asked ourselves how we could have an even greater impact in the world besides just shoes. One of the social injustices, and actually the seventh largest health-issue out there is people either losing their sight or who are already blind. The amazing thing about this is that you can either save or restore someone’s sight relatively simply. There are three ways that we are working with. One of them is medical treatment, one is prescription glasses and the third is with eye surgery.  We are doing all this through a non-profit partner that has over 30 years of experience in this area. The way that we took this relatively complex thing and turned it into a one-form model is that when one person purchases a pair of TOMS eyewear, one person is helped. It doesn’t matter if they need surgery, prescription glasses or medical treatment.  Our guarantee to the customer is that if you buy a pair of TOMS eyewear, you will help give someone sight. We launched this week and most of the glasses are already sold out.  We’re super excited that people are ready to take this next step with us.

SM: That’s such an exciting extension of your business model. When you consider how you inspire other companies to get involved, they’re necessarily concerned about the bottom-line benefits to themselves. So putting aside the wonderful social impact, can you describe the impact on your customer community and how it inspires them to talk about your brand.

BM: The thing is that giving really has proven to be good for business, and a lot of people only look at the social impact aspect, but the truth is that when you incorporate giving into your model, your customers become your marketers, your employees give better retention, greater moral, the people in your office work harder because they’re a part of something. What we’ve proven with TOMS is that giving doesn’t only feel good, it’s great for business in a lot of traditional ways.

SM:  In your wildest dreams, how far do you think this approach can scale in terms of the entire private sector waking up to the bottom line and social benefits of giving as part of their for-profit models?

BM: Transforming it may take decades, if not centuries. However, I do think that certain areas of business are more likely to be transformed like this. Fashion is a great example.  A lot of consumer goods, whether it be cleaning soap for your house and being transformed by the chemicals used being more environmentally friendly, or other businesses where the customer has a choice. It really works well for business that are competing for the loyalty of the customer, and by giving the customer an opportunity to choose their brand and make a difference is a really powerful thing and can transform a lot of sectors of business.

SM: I couldn’t agree more.  But as you know, I launched my book ‘We First’ last week, which is all about taking a look at those companies and non-profits that are making a contribution beyond their own self-interest, but I have encountered variations of cynicism or disbelief. As one of the rare people who have had direct experience with embracing this strategy and taking it to market, what would you say to the naysayers out there?

BM: I think you have to look at the facts of what makes a business successful. You need to have a differentiating aspect of your product, you need customer loyalty, you need employees that feel more attracted to their job than just getting a paycheck, you need a story that will spread with social media, and all of these things are impacted very positively when a company incorporates giving into their model. I think that the cynics really don’t understand the power and impact in the traditional business sense. They’re just looking at the ‘feel good’ aspect (which is an important reason for doing it as well) but when you really look at the nuts and bolts of it, it proves that it really is good business.

Do you agree that doing good is important to customers now and good for business? Do you think we’ll see a shift across the entire private sector?

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Top ten ways CEO’s must change to lead in the social business marketplace

Image: 3forward

The advent of the social business marketplace represents a startling opportunity for CEOs, both in turns of the upside for their corporations and shareholders, and for the positive impact that brands can have on their customer community and the world at large. But to get there CEOs must make several critical changes that are each very challenging in their own right. These challenges include new ways of thinking at the board level, new organizational structures, a new approach to customer service and new demands placed on all employees, including their supply chain. In execution, there are several changes a CEO must oversee. Here are a few of them:

1.    CEOs must embrace the role of serving as the public face of the company to their customer community and the marketplace at large.

2.    They must reposition their brand as the chief celebrant of their customer community, rather than its celebrity.

3.    They must shift the emphasis from a broadcast and self-focus mentality to one of listening and community service.

4.    They must shift their focus from short term profits to meet analyst projections to long-term investments in customer relationships.

5.    They must empower their customer community to become co-authors for the brand’s narrative in their marketing and communications.

6.    They must clearly define the brand’s core values and align their communications around those in order to attract a like-minded community of brand advocates.

7.    They must encourage a culture of risk, rather than guaranteed return, in order to continue to evolve and prosper in a fast-changing marketplace.

8.    They must overcome the inertia that any institution brings and replace it with a fascination with emerging technology.

9.    They must expand the focus of their business strategies and marketing to build social capital as well as financial capital.

10. They must understand and recognize the metrics specific to the social business marketplace and reframe how they measure Return on Investment (ROI).

Only when CEOs make these adjustments can they hope to not only inspire a community of loyal customers, but also serve as a leader brand within their category and for the community at large. Such changes are not easy to institute, but are absolutely critical.

We First lays on the specific steps a brand can take to shift from the outdates dynamics of push marketing and a broadcast mentality, to pull marketing and a listening posture that ensures that social media works for a brand rather than against it. To order your copy of We First, click here and start building the company you want for your shareholders, customers and your community today.

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