Blake Mycoksie, Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS Shoes, is making new waves in Business and Social Responsibility. If you don’t know about TOMS, which stands for “Shoes for Tomorrow,” the general premise is that for every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need of them. They were designed in likeness of a common Argentine shoe, made of light canvas, and predominantly worn by farmers. Now, not only have they become a fashionable item (worn by celebrities and copied by Payless), they have become part of a new business model which relies on giving at its core.
Blake provides three principles that guide the partnerships they work with when giving shoes:
- Enhancing our impact through partnerships. They take care to choose people to help them increase their impact and make sure the shoes are being put to good use. Having local partners helps to educate the community about diseases and the importance of wearing shoes, instead of just handing out shoes.
- Long-term commitment to children. TOMS is sure to go back to the same communities and children year after year so that the children can have shoes as they grow. Instead of just helping for a period of time, partnerships enable them to find the same children and to help them long term.
- “Do no harm”. Many NGOs struggle to be sure that their efforts don’t have a negative impact on the economy. In countries where some local shops sell shoes, TOMS works with their partners to ensure that the children receiving shoes could not afford them on their own, as to reduce the negative impact in the society. Also, TOMS works to make sure the children are not getting a negative reaction from having TOMS. Sometimes, wearing shoes can be a bad thing!
Because it is a for-profit company, Some argue that marketing the child’s need and current misfortune (ONE FOR ONE is the slogan used predominantly in advertisements) is the wrong way to advertise selling shoes. Personally, I think that having a transparent work environment and telling people that it is their purpose, makes it fine to do. Through reading interviews with Blake Mycoksie, his real purpose was to find a way to sustain a charity to give away shoes. Since he didn’t want to ask his family and friends to donate every year, he came up with the business plan of TOMS instead. Since the ONE FOR ONE slogan is at the heart of the business plan and the company is transparent about its goals and profits, I think it is acceptable to market the shoes this way.
Do you think it’s okay to use the promise of donation and helping others as a way to make a profit? Can you think of any other examples that work or don’t work?