• Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Books
    • The Power of Visual Storytelling
    • The Laws of Brand Storytelling
  • Speaking
  • Contact

TOMS Launches A Movement On Instagram With #WithoutShoes

Blog
Posted by jessicagioglio - 0 comments

Don’t just create campaigns—launch movements.

This sentiment rings true in the latest initiative from TOMS. In celebration of the company’s birthday, TOMS is launching #withoutshoes, an Instagram initiative to give away one million shoes to children in need.

While the initiative is impressive, another unique aspect of this campaign is that the company isn’t asking customers to purchase their shoes. Instead, they want fans to post a photo of their bare feet on Instagram with the hashtag #withoutshoes.

To celebrate our birthday, we're making it even simpler for you to give. Post a picture of your bare feet to Instagram, tag it #withoutshoes, and TOMS will give a new pair to a child in need. It's that easy. #🎈 #👣

A video posted by @toms on May 5, 2015 at 7:19am PDT

To participate, one image from each individual counts toward the one million shoe donation and must be posted on Instagram between May 5–21. To encourage participation, TOMS has a dedicated microsite to further explain their passion and purpose for donating one million shoes. The company has also created a 31-page DIY Toolkit PDF with printable signs and stencils for members of their community who want to host parties or simply make their Instagram images more creative.

At press time, just one day after the campaign launched on May 5th, TOMS had already generated close to 56,000 #withoutshoes submissions. If this pace continues, the company will come just short of their one million hashtag goal by May 21st, so raising awareness with and sharing creative fan submissions will be critical in continuing to the momentum. In reviewing the user-generated images, they are all unique, and many speak to the individual’s support of TOMS’ mission raising awareness for children’s health and education. It’s also worth noting that a few famous fans have pitched in to show photos of their feet, including Sesame Street.

These feet look a little different than the rest, but all bare feet count. Have you shared yours yet? Post your #withoutshoes photo and we'll give a pair of new shoes to a child in need — it's that simple.

A photo posted by @toms on May 8, 2015 at 1:35pm PDT

Kudos to TOMS for once again setting the bar on what it means to be a socially responsible company. TOMS is smart to understand that not everyone may be able to spend money with their company, but they can share an image of their feet on Instagram for a worthwhile cause. Plus, by removing purchase from the initiative, the company is generating more awareness and goodwill through word-of-mouth from the most engaged communities out there: their consumer’s social media communities.

While writing this article is part of this author’s mission and support in raising awareness, I also couldn’t resist submitting my own image. After reading this article, I hope you will consider doing the same!

TOMS is donating up to one million pairs of shoes to children in need. All you need to do is instagram a photo of your bare feet with #withoutshoes by May 21st. I highly encourage you to participate!

A photo posted by Jessica Gioglio (@savvybostonian) on May 6, 2015 at 7:09am PDT

This post originally appeared on Convince&Convert.com.

Tags: brand journalism, cause marketing, Community Management, customer experience, Influencer, Instagram, Social Media, UGC, Visual Storytelling

Share with

What a Quirky British Holiday Teaches Us About The Power of Trending Topics Speaking Engagement: M2C in Hamburg, Germany

The Power of Visual Storytelling

Get My Latest Blog Posts!

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Posts

  • The Marketer’s Storybook: Founders, Futurists & Full Meals – 10 Stories Shaping Marketing This Week
  • The Marketer’s Storybook: From Mascots to Media Monopolies – 10 Stories Shaping Marketing This Week
  • The Marketer’s Storybook: Smell This Ad, Steal That Bar, Trust No Cookie
  • How to Scale Your Brand Story: Top Lessons from TubeFest on Video Strategy and Content Creation
  • The Marketer’s Storybook: Monopoly Moves, Grillz for Sauce, and Breakfast That Buzzes

Categories

  • Blog
  • Speaking Engagements

Tags

AI April Fools brand journalism brand storytelling cause marketing celebrity Community Management contest crisis communications customer experience customer service Facebook Fashion Holiday Influencer Instagram I wrote a book! LinkedIn Live Event London Luxury marketing Milestone out of home Pinterest PR stunt Real-Time Marketing SEO Snapchat Social Media speaking engagements sports marketing storytelling tech innovation the marketer's storybook This Week In Marketing TikTok Travel Tumblr Twitter UGC video Vine Visual Storytelling YouTube