TOMS Expands

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I recently held my last graduate level class at NYU for the Spring Semester, and the students presented their final project.  It required them to take every principle that we had covered in class, and apply it to one of their favorite brands.  They basically had to pick a brand and dissect its marketing plan and brand experience.



The team picked TOMS … good choice.  For the TOMS brand, the team had to decipher the:
        - Brand definition
-           - Functional and emotional benefits
-           - SWOT analysis of the business
-           - Perceptual map to get at positioning
-           - Concentric circles to understand the competition at various levels
-           - Distribution plan
-           - Pricing strategy
-           - Touchpoint map
-           - Ownable aesthetics

It’s a lot for a project and the team did an amazing job.  I was quite impressed.  But as usual when it comes to my students, I learned a lot in the process.

TOMS has been expanding, and quite logically actually.  The brand’s “Buy One Give One” positioning has allowed it to:
-           - Break into distribution outlets never before seen in footwear, like Whole Foods
-           - Leverage price points and product lines to expand original launch (wedges, sparkles, fabrics)
-           - Open new lines of products like sunglasses, eyewear, and apparel
-           - Create an exclusive shopping experience with company-owned brick & mortar and online stores

I am a big fan of the brand but I hadn’t realized how much it had expanded.  I did know that TOMS had set the standard for being a “brand with a purpose” … a purpose so clear, simple, and well defined that it drove all of its actions.  Just didn’t realize how much those actions had grown.

Success breeding success!  Thanks to my students for once again teaching me something new.

What’s your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
-           - President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
-           - Author, The Experience Effect series
-           - Professor, NYU
-           - Contributor, Entrepreneur