On a recent trip to San Francisco, I accompanied a few of my friends as they spent the day shopping. We stopped in a shoe store because the girls wanted to look at the different types of shoes offered by TOMS. I had heard of TOMS before, but had never really paid much attention. However, what I saw in the store definitely caught my eye: As I sat there waiting, I saw girl after girl after girl grab pairs of TOMS from the shelves and try them on, and the store associates were almost constantly running back to see what was in stock. (Clearly they could have used the prototype shoe shopping application debuted by the GREC Mobile Retail Experience at CTIA last October...)And, invariably, the answer was always, "Sorry, we're out of that size." Unfortunately, the store could not keep up with the demand, and my friends were forced to resort to the internet to find the shoes they desired.
So what's the big deal about these shoes? Well, TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, with a simple idea: For every pair of shoes you purchase, another pair will be donated to a child in need somewhere in the world. To date, TOMS reports they have donated over 600,000 pairs of shoes (which means they have also sold over 600,000 pairs). And the company is only getting hotter. They've partnered with some huge retailers, such as Ralph Lauren, which offers specially branded Polo Rugby TOMS, or Element Skateboards, which offers limited edition TOMS + Element shoes as well as matching skateboards.
But why are these shoes so successful, particularly with Millennials? Quite simply, they offer the ability to not only show off your unique style (TOMS come in a wide variety of patterns and colors), but most importantly they allow the shopper to feel good about her purchase and the effect it has on the world. According to the 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study, a staggering 83% of Millennials say they will trust a company more if it is socially or environmentally responsible, and 89% are "likely or very likely" to switch from one brand to another if the second brand is associated with a good cause! Keep in mind, Millennials represent $350 billion in retail buying power in the US... that's more than baby boomers! Without a doubt, retailers should realize that it is of the utmost importance to tie their brands to social causes, unless they're prepared to watch their sales go to the competition.
For retailers that do make the changes, the results are almost always positive. Gap, Inc. is one of the best recent examples. Suffering from reports of human-rights abuse related to their use of sweatshops, Gap finally stopped using sweatshops in 2004, and in 2006 partnered with Product Red, a brand focused on raising money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Gap has remained committed to many additional causes; Recently, they offered a 30% discount on a new pair of jeans to anyone who brought in an old pair. With the 270,000 pairs of old jeans Gap received, they plan on creating insulation for homes in "underserved communities." For practices such as this, Gap has been the top-rated retailer in The Corporate Responsibility Magazine's list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens for the past two years in a row. And Gap's profit margins are also benefitting from this renewed brand image: In March 2010, sales were 12% higher than sales in March 2009, and all of Gap's brands (Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy) have similarly grown.
Tying your brand to social causes will not only create loyalty with Millennial shoppers, but it will also create loyalty with your Millennial employees. Here's a question: Do you know which employer received applications from 11% of all graduating Ivy League seniors of the class of 2009? (Hint: It wasn't anywhere on Wall Street.) It was Teach For America. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 21% of Millennials say "helping others in need," is one of the most important things in their lives - more important than owning a home, having lots of free time, or having a high-paying career. What this means is that if a company is not socially conscious, not only will we not shop there, but we won't work there either (56% of Millennials say they would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation). And don't think you can fool us with "greenwashing" or a faux-sense of social responsibility: we're cynical and connected too, and if it turns out your "living wage" garments are actually made in sweatshops, that news will spread through Facebook and the blogosphere faster than you can imagine.
Clearly, Millennials like to feel like they are making a difference, and this matters to retailers to keep both their customers AND employees happy. With such a staggeringly high percentage of Millennials saying they would switch to another brand that is more socially conscious -- and with our ability and willingness to easily compare similar products via our computers or mobile devices -- retailers can't afford to be selfish. The fact that products like TOMS shoes continued to fly off the shelves even in a recession shows that if a retailer is willing to open up to the world, we're more than happy to open up our wallets.
But why are these shoes so successful, particularly with Millennials? Quite simply, they offer the ability to not only show off your unique style (TOMS come in a wide variety of patterns and colors), but most importantly they allow the shopper to feel good about her purchase and the effect it has on the world. According to the 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study, a staggering 83% of Millennials say they will trust a company more if it is socially or environmentally responsible, and 89% are "likely or very likely" to switch from one brand to another if the second brand is associated with a good cause! Keep in mind, Millennials represent $350 billion in retail buying power in the US... that's more than baby boomers! Without a doubt, retailers should realize that it is of the utmost importance to tie their brands to social causes, unless they're prepared to watch their sales go to the competition.
For retailers that do make the changes, the results are almost always positive. Gap, Inc. is one of the best recent examples. Suffering from reports of human-rights abuse related to their use of sweatshops, Gap finally stopped using sweatshops in 2004, and in 2006 partnered with Product Red, a brand focused on raising money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Gap has remained committed to many additional causes; Recently, they offered a 30% discount on a new pair of jeans to anyone who brought in an old pair. With the 270,000 pairs of old jeans Gap received, they plan on creating insulation for homes in "underserved communities." For practices such as this, Gap has been the top-rated retailer in The Corporate Responsibility Magazine's list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens for the past two years in a row. And Gap's profit margins are also benefitting from this renewed brand image: In March 2010, sales were 12% higher than sales in March 2009, and all of Gap's brands (Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy) have similarly grown.
Tying your brand to social causes will not only create loyalty with Millennial shoppers, but it will also create loyalty with your Millennial employees. Here's a question: Do you know which employer received applications from 11% of all graduating Ivy League seniors of the class of 2009? (Hint: It wasn't anywhere on Wall Street.) It was Teach For America. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 21% of Millennials say "helping others in need," is one of the most important things in their lives - more important than owning a home, having lots of free time, or having a high-paying career. What this means is that if a company is not socially conscious, not only will we not shop there, but we won't work there either (56% of Millennials say they would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation). And don't think you can fool us with "greenwashing" or a faux-sense of social responsibility: we're cynical and connected too, and if it turns out your "living wage" garments are actually made in sweatshops, that news will spread through Facebook and the blogosphere faster than you can imagine.
Clearly, Millennials like to feel like they are making a difference, and this matters to retailers to keep both their customers AND employees happy. With such a staggeringly high percentage of Millennials saying they would switch to another brand that is more socially conscious -- and with our ability and willingness to easily compare similar products via our computers or mobile devices -- retailers can't afford to be selfish. The fact that products like TOMS shoes continued to fly off the shelves even in a recession shows that if a retailer is willing to open up to the world, we're more than happy to open up our wallets.
