ELIZABETH KEENAN: Its a funny story. As Heath toldGlamour,When we first started, I stopped to hand a man on the street a pair of socks, and he proceeded to take off his shoes and show me the make-shift socks he was wearing made out of plastic shopping bags and to tell me how crucial a fresh pair of socks were to him. So Im looking at the pro-social consumer, but also now pro-social companies and the actions they take to attract those consumers. For every pair sold, the company gives a pair . We've significantly built out our internal team - specifically, the actual channel management and creative teams because we ideate and produce the majority of our creative assets in-house. My name is Brian Kenny, and youre listening to Cold Call on the HBR Presents Network. I think its going to be one of the approaches that an organization can take. Los lectores que deseen comprender las diferentes perspectivas . Their slogan is Bee Better, and that is exactly what Bombas is striving to do. Interestingly, the socks Bombas sells to the general public, are not the same ones they donate. Were now at more than 25M pairs donated and this video is still one of our best-performing pieces of creative. I cant let you go without asking one last question. They fostered a company culture of shared values and found ways to build the mission of giving back into everything they did. 1. Now I get it, thank you. Siminoff and Bezos discovered they both put their email addresses on every product . And I dont say that in a pejorative way, I just say its a different approach. And a number of the students in the class that I had learned about this aspect of their business, because they read the case though, they had also already owned Bombas socks. How can you find and connect with your brands True Believers, even during volatile times? Bombas: the preferred socks of True Believers. I had to focus on refining the product, the brand, the story and the mission, Heath recalls. Max Rice is Jilt's co-founder and CEO at Jilt. But also I think its so timely given what I sort of teased in the introduction there about the importance of purpose in organizations today and Bombas is all based around that idea. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Recently, Bombas added pima cotton T-shirts that they describe as, the first shirt that you want to wear out of the wash. Next on the list is underwear, which is the second most requested item at homeless shelters; T-shirts are third, Heath shares. The most underutilized channel is Social. "We were really set up to weirdly take advantage of everything that we've done to react to the pandemic," says Heath. Bombas built a successful eCommerce company selling a single type of product. Bombas 4 Ps marketing strategy : - Production Strategy : Bombas offered the most comfortable socks for customers . They did that by taking socks, a clothing item thats an afterthought for many people, and elevating them into something that customers would talk about with friends by attaching a social mission. The concept for the company came about after the founders learned that socks are the most requested item in homeless shelters. Im wondering why that is. Within the first day, theyd secured $30,000. While Brand Culture can be achieved by any number of organizations, at any stage of their history, Bombas' purpose-driven model and mission shows the power of Brand Culture in even the most challenging times.". And just the reaction alone of somebody looking at him and saying, how did you know, how did you know this is exactly what I needed, convinced him that this was an important space. A successful crowdfunding campaign and media coverage fromShark Tankhelped amplify their message of social impact through one-for-one donation. However, the cohort data for the customers who received that refund had almost two times higher lifetime value than the cohort who had a normal experience in Q4 that year. The lesson here is that crises provide an opportunity to double down on consumer relationships. "It is especially so during times of rapid change in the world whichrequires employees and leaders within an organization to adapt and contribute in meaningful wayswhile still remaining true to who they are as a brand. Shop them at http://t.co/gN8aHSTz9l pic.twitter.com/9z0bGPI4Rx, At the same time, its utilizing less in-your-face brand marketing through the sharing of other brands content. ELIZABETH KEENAN: So, socks, generally, the commoditized socks that we think of that we buy multi-packs at times, theyre going for about a dollar to $2 a pair. Huyett:We've focused as we talked about earlier on both product and mission. And I asked that of several students. We buy limited edition new cars, expensive dresses from big brands, we work and give back just to fulfill those emotional desires and get that amazing feeling about ourselves. Simple, concise and clear. And one thing that was really interesting that they said when we were talking was that it wasnt like they were trying to dramatically increase the cost of a car, this is something thats closer to the cost of a cup of coffee or lower. They dont thump their chest about it. There is the performance sock market, which involves athletes, runners hikers, and thats the market where theyre selling for upwards of $20 a pair. Once they found their cause, Goldberg and Heath began working to create a product that people felt good about buying. BRIAN KENNY: I have to ask, are you a customer of Bombas? How did they turn an idea into a multimillion dollar social enterprise? . These employees can then take their knowledge of the company culture and back up the values that customers see in the real word. Theyve taken these values and transformed them into a $50 million business. I saw one guy take his shoes off and on one foot he had wrapped a bandana around his foot and on the other, he'd literally wrapped his foot into a plastic bag to stop the boot from rubbing against it.. Getting this buy-in from team members is important for a mission-based company like Bombas because they act as evangelists for the brand. BRIAN KENNY: All right. And the one day when I havent done all of my laundry and theyre not there, I am very sad. So, every time I open my drawer of socks, I look. BRIAN KENNY: And so, going back to gen Z for a minute, that to me just sounds so authentic. Whats one thing youd like them to remember? Its often a challenge for a marketer to weave both mission and product into the messaging. Associate your business with a strong desire that the majority of your audience supports and help them fulfill it. It's prominent to say that, Bombas as a brand is heavily dependent on mission-based marketing strategy. Email us at coldcall@hbs.edu.Thanks again for joining us. Not having access to socks presents health risks for homeless people. And while this is not the traditional substantive opening cold call question, it was really meant to lay the foundation for getting a sense of the average consumers willingness to pay for a pair of socks. The top traffic source to bombas.com is Direct traffic, driving 46.32% of desktop visits last month, and Organic Search is the 2nd with 23.56% of traffic. Valuation: $1B ( Source) Est. Simple, but when you've got different channel managers in their own lane, it's important to have a good feel for how all the channels are working together. According to the Harvard business review, When a company helps its customers to fulfill deep, often unconscious desires, the customers go from being fully satisfied to emotionally connected brand ambassadors. . It was a nightmare. Heath says. Talbot:Your focus on product and mission. As Bombas grows, so does its impact and aspirations. They already had a firm, they were selling a product or a service, and then they adopted a purpose as part of it and many of them have done a great job now providing for that purpose. And that will allow them to both sell their products and earn profits the way they need to be able to then support this mission. For at least three weeks, Bombas did not send out a single product-driven email. Bombas de profundidad Cuota De Mercado, Tamao Y Crecimiento Global En El Prximo Ao. ELIZABETH KEENAN: Absolutely. Bombas Socks are made of Peruvian pima cotton, which helps feet stay warm in winter and cool in summer, and include exclusive features such as a blister tab, a y-stitched heel, honeycomb support system for the arch of the foot, and stay up technology. The Bombas Marketing Team is responsible for bringing in new customers and growing their relationship to the company and its products. Bombas secret towards becoming a 100 million dollar brand As we look at the Bombas business model and branding strategies used by Bombas. I don't believe you can build a successful brand on a mission alone. And, like most companies with a charitable side, Bombas tends to tug atthe heartstrings every once in a while. The best example of that is our first Million Pair video, which told the founding story of Bombas. Once it'd been scaled to a place where it could merit a full-time hire, we'd bring someone on internally. ELIZABETH KEENAN: Thats a really good question. And then for the print and for commercial, they focus on speaking to the mission along with the product. And as the video educated me, that's the number one clothing item that those without homes need. Having a good pair of socks on your feet hopefully translated into you feeling valued and dignified, Heath says. But Ive increasingly become interested in looking at how firms will use pro-social aspects of their companies to attract consumers in. And I think either approach could work, especially when you start with this dual mission. The two that really come to mind beyond Bombas that are pretty well known in this space would be TOMS Shoes Company and Warby Parker. Showing an internal focus on employee well-being supports the idea that Bombas truly cares. Do they also talk about the mission and the purpose of the company, or is that something that they let people discover? In the past year, Bombas donated more than 40 million pairs of socks and shows no sign of slowing down. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. It never ceases to amaze me the big difference we can make, with just a pair of socks.. And then at that point they started to grow more and more. This was great. ELIZABETH KEENAN: Indeed, I am absolutely a customer. The first was to create superior socks, and the second was to support the homeless community. They have a top-notch customer support team to ensure all customer queries are resolved immediately.They have an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. About half of the brands revenue comes during the end of year holiday season. The drive to solve those problems in real time motivated me., Before he started Bombas, Heath was, blindly focused on trying to make as much money as possible. Bombas does a really good job of promoting their brand mission to customers, and this is supported further by extending their values to employees. Everything looks simple and easy to analyze. And then now that they are settled into a strategy, they focus primarily product type advertising for their social media. I actually hadnt heard that term until I read the case. If that doesn't align with you, then we're going to have to walk away.. First, I was drawn in by their mission: for each pair of socks that Bombas sells, the brand donates a pair to the homeless. Eight years later, Bombas had established itself mostly through online marketing as a preeminent . How does it relate to the things that you think about as a scholar? Socks are a valuable offering for homeless people, yet, are they really changing lives? They turned to crowdfunding to find out. After confirming that they had the community to support their cause, Bombas doubled down on their efforts. Heath had the idea in February, 2011 but Bombas didnt open publicly until August, 2013. That approach allowed us to onboard new team members to keep the team lean, and not hire a bunch of people for channels that weren't yet proven out. In other cases, they donate other items that arent exactly comparable. Well, there are a large majority of customers whod rather not donate or keep both pairs of socks to themselves. // ]]> Posted by Bombas onTuesday, September 8, 2015. In order to make an impact, Goldberg and Heath knew theyd have to donate a lot of socks. How does this influence your marketing? At. Bywalking the walk, so to speak, theyre proving to customers that they truly believe in their social mission beyond just its marketing value. Consider Bombas, a company that donates a pair of (well-designed, somewhat pricey) socks to homeless shelters with every pair sold. The company is fairly young (2013), but it encapsulates so well. News Jul 24, 2019 Bombas was started in 2013 with a dual mission: to deliver quality socks and donate much-needed footwear to people living in shelters. A Mission that Just So Happens to be a Brilliant Brand Strategy Here's why. ELIZABETH KEENAN: It is, it is a different approach. I have three pairs and Im constantly washing them because I want them available. We spent over two years on research and development, to improve upon everything about the commoditized productfrom the toe seam and the materials used, to arch support and the way the sock wore and washed, cofounder and CEO, Heath toldForbes. Once customers find an emotional attachment to your brand, theyre likely to buy more, care less about price, recommend you to everyone and most importantly, make you millions. I'd say our very best marketing, from both a creative and performance standpoint, is where we are truly able to marry both mission and product. Basing your business model on philanthropy is a great way to garner attention from people who actively seek out opportunities to support a cause through mindful commerce. Read insights from 1,218 consumers around the world to learn what subscribers really want from an SMS experience. Is there a process that supports and strengthens this, or does it happen as a result of something else? You have to have a good product., After extensive research, David found a gap in the market. Today on Cold Call, weve invited Professor Elizabeth Keenan to discuss her case entitled, Bee-ing Better at Bombas. From the beginning, Bombas' business model included a giving component. Theyve built aculture of volunteering and giving backto the community into their internal company values. That means their customers can purchase a pair of socks, knowing that it will have an effect locally no matter where they live. This business showed me that the true gift and purpose in life is to give back. Daymond John, one of the sharks, ended up investing in them. And so, the case, what it does is it centers around the companys success so far and the pace of growth that would best allow them to continue to effectively deliver on the two missions that they have moving forward. How do they do it? When you know you have a product that fits the markets needs, its important to stick with it. Talbot:What best practices for scaling the marketing has your team learned and implemented? Their one-for-one model is only as successful as it has been for Bombas because their customers continue to spread the message to their networks. The mission, they figured, wont matter if the product is crap. Nick Westergaard is a strategist, speaker, educator, and author of Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World and Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. And you could see this controlled growth, both in their advertising and marketing, as well as in terms of product line expansions and extensions. Sign up for Nicks ICYMI newsletter and get each episode delivered to your inbox. Socks are typically an inexpensive item of clothing, but the founders needed a price that would allow them enough margin to deliver on their social mission. How They Made Money is a publication thats focused on analyzing how rich individuals exactly generated their income. While Bombas Socks certainly utilizes more traditional product promotion on its social channels , Ultraviolet Ankle socks for women are here. And what we did is we took a look at firms that are both trying to do well and do good at the same time. When Randy Goldberg and David Heath heardthat socks were the number one requested item in homeless shelters, they had an idea: What if they could start a company that brought awareness to this issue and elevated socks from a fashion commodity to a fashion statement with a mission? So yeah so, the buy one, give one model which Bombas refers to as one purchased, one donated is a model in which companies will sell products, and for every product they sell, they donate one of those items to somebody in need or an organization in need. Liz, thanks for joining me today. The reason I love doing that is the local nature of our mission, which is really powerful. Exactly. The other thing they recognized is one of their core competencies was to figure out how to distribute supplies and items to those in need. That said, purpose alone won't make your business successful. Expert on Youth Culture Trends & Sustainability, While other brands were trying to figure out how. We've worked to reach customers across a wide variety of touch points and that's also meant that no single channel constitutes the majority of our spend, which sets us apart from some of our DTC peers. Heath feels that in an odd way, Bombas was "built for" just such a moment as the pandemic. ELIZABETH KEENAN: Thank you for having me. Most people don't know that we've got over 3,000 giving partners across all 50 states, but it resonates when they learn there's a giving partner near them. BRIAN KENNY: Do you think that this idea, this model of buy one, give one is going to become more prominent, particularly in a world where society is expecting a lot more of business? Bombas makes socks. BRIAN KENNY: Elizabeth Keenan, thank you so much for joining me on Cold Call. When we talk to customers, they tell us that while they love the mission and that's a key driver in their purchase, the quality and comfort of our socks, and now other products, is the primary motivator, especially for the first purchase. When Bombas does a campaign about hitting a donation milestone, customers prioritize the giveback. Our guide covers the 4 P's of marketing and gives a breakdown of each step involved. Im your host, Brian Kenny, and youve been listening to Cold Call, an official podcast of Harvard Business School, brought to you by the HBR Presents network. When they first started to explore how to even donate, they did learn that some of the features of socks that would be helpful would be reinforced heel, the moisture wicking properties, antimicrobial features, and things of that sort to address the very specific needs that this population has. This is a huge recruiting tool. Partners dont always seek purpose. He is the Chief Brand Strategist at Brand Driven Digital, an educator at the University of Iowa, and host of the On Brand podcast. Partnering with Cleancult, for example, who had lots of soap and personal care items, but no idea how to get them to those who needed them the most, we were able to leverage our internal team, our network, our distribution partners, to be able to get soap and personal care items out to a fair number of our giving partners.". A great example of a time when purpose was more significant than product was when COVID-19 first hit. Be sure to rate and review us on any podcast platform where you listen. Due to the unexpected surge in orders, their warehouse was around a week behind. bombas.com Top Marketing Channels. Buy one, donate one that was their motto. You and your peers hold the keys to 29 billion in purchase power and 333 billion in influence. Therefore, their customers arent just fully satisfied with the brand, they are emotionally connected. And so, what will become important is not so much the differentiation or the claim to this kind of a model, but instead the care with which you execute that model and the authenticity with which you approach it. The hashtag can also be used to show the product in action, which builds a running social media stream of customers who are promoting their accomplishments while promoting the Bombas brand and mission at the same time. As the buy-one-give-one socks company evolves, it must find the right pace of growth for its business and its social mission. The Bombas donation sock has features like ananti-microbial treatment and reinforced seams, designed in partnership with their giving partners. In fact, some companies reached out to Bombas about co-branding products and asked if they could get a discount if they didnt donate a pair with every one sold. This simple fact was the inspiration behind Bombas Socks, a startup that equips the buy-one-donate-one business model and pairs it with the perfectly designed athletic sock. //