TOMS

Academy
of
Hope Presented
by
Campaign Fiona Bernie
SITUATION
 Quick Company Background
TOMS

Founded: 2006

Founders: Blake Mycoskie (CEO)

Alejo Nitti (Co-Founder)

Headquarters: Playa Del Rey,

California

Website: toms.com
Blake fitting kids his shoes
Quick Company Background cont.
■ Blake first visited Argentina while competing in
second season of the Amazing Race in 2002

■ Noticed the local polo players wearing shoes

called alpargatas (the inspiration for the classic
style of Toms shoes currently)

■ Buenos Aires, he noticed local children without

shoes and in general Argentina. He also realized
other developing countries had the same
problems

■ Created the “one for one concept” business

model, for every pair sold he would provide a
new pair of shoes free of charge to the shoeless
youth of Argentina and other developing nations

■ Company first started selling shoes in May 2006

 “One For One Model”
■ Toms trademarked the phrase “One
for One”

■ Company’s promise to deliver a pair

of free, new shoes to a child in need
for every sale of their retail product

■ Countries sent with free products:

40 countries such as – Argentina,
Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Rwanda,
South Africa and United States

■ Focusing on corporate social

responsibility
Toms…A New Endeavor

Toms will explore territory that

the company has not done
before and that is the creation
of schools to further grow and
strengthen global awareness
in the importance of
education
 Why Global Education?
■ Education represents the hopes and dreams of
children and their families. Education is one of the
most effective tools to help break the cycle of chronic
poverty in the developing world.

■ More than 250 million children worldwide cannot

read, write or count—basic skills needed to get a job.

■ Currently only 2% of humanitarian aid supports

education programs worldwide.

■ Young girls are significantly less educated than boys.

 Education
Statistics

One-third of all
out-of-school
children live in
West and Central
Africa, South Asia
and Latin America.
OBJECTIVE
 PR Plan Objectives
1. Increase awareness of TOM’s current global corporate social
responsibility programs.

2. Position TOMS as a company that supports the global issue of

access to quality education for all children.

3. Establish and add a new TOMS division that will be the

EDUCATION DIVISON

Division 1: Shoes Division 4: Safe Birth

Division 2: Sight Division 5: Prevent Bullying
Division 3: Water Division 6: Education
AUDIENCE
 Breakdown of Audience
■ This PR plan will focus on TOMS core target audience of young adults between
the ages of 18 and 34. Although TOMS is sold globally, this target resides
throughout the United States with a major focus on urban areas such as Los
Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York City etc.

■ This target is a diverse racial background with a unifying trait of wanting to

support brands that give back as part of their business model. With a high
school and college education, the target is educated about the world and global
issues and believes it is everyone’s responsibility to take ownership to make our
world a better place.

■ The target likes to stay in top of trends and is fashion conscious, but also enjoys
affordable fashion brand. Wearing TOMS is more than a fashion statement it is a
way of expressing their passion for being a concerned global citizen.

Source: MRI Reporter

 Target Persona
Heather is a 22-year old senior at UCLA in California where she
studies business and economics.
- Heather loves fashion and reading style magazines and likes to
stay up to date on trends that she can afford
- Heather is a server at a local restaurant where she works part-
time.

Heather has studied abroad in Europe and during her semester

away she traveled to South Africa where she was impacted by the
severe poverty of this region.
- Heather supports charitable organizations on campus and
enjoys raising awareness for causes such as homelessness,
poverty and education.

Heather spends a lot of time online

- Keeps in touch with friends on Facebook, Instagram and
Snapchat using her phone and MacBook.
- Heather is passionate about TOMS as a brand that gives back
globally and she is proud to wear her TOMS shoes knowing
she is helping people in need.
 Primary Stakeholders
1. TOMS current and prospective consumers

2. TOMS company investors

3. TOMS employees

4. Retail partners i.e. Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters

5. Media partners

6. Charity partner donors/supporters

7. Charity partner employees

8. School children at TOMS Academy

9. Teachers and local community where TOMS Academy is built

STRATEGY
 PR Plan Tactics
1. Help raise awareness of global
education issue.
Main campaign idea is to create global
awareness and the importance of
education.

2. Partner with Third-Party Allies to

contribute to developing a
sustainable school building campaign.

a. Pencils of Promise
b. Room to Read One of the PoPs school
c. The School Fund
d. Construction for Change
 PR Plan Tactics
3. Engage current and prospective customers via media, online and
retail channels.
a. Create media relations through
- television
- popular news outlets
b. Strengthen/Raise social media outlets
- via popular social media groups
c. Creation of limited edition shoe

4. Partner with Third-Party Allies to contribute to developing a

sustainable school building campaign.
a. The “TOMS Tour”
TACTICS
Tactic #1
Partner with an international nonprofit that builds
schools for children in developing countries e.g.
Pencils of Promise.
Invest $100K to build three TOMS Academy schools
for children in developing countries (one school in
South America, Africa and Asia).

WHY Pencils of Promise (PoP)?

Pop’s Charitable Promise:
Every child should have access to a quality
education.

More than $250 million children in developing

countries lack basic literacy and math skills.
Education is a key to breaking the cycle of poverty,
and increasing opportunity for boys and girls.
In developing countries, for cultural and economic
reasons, many girls do not attend school. A PoPs School Class!
 Organizational Background
Tactic #1 cont. (Founded by Adam Braun in 2009)

Braun was inspired to start an organization

that provides education after he met a
young boy begging in India who told him
the one thing he wanted was a pencil.

Braun had a background in hedge fund

management and left his consulting job
with Bain & Co to found Pencils of Promise
(PoP) with a $25 investment.

To date 300+ PoP schools have been built

in developing countries in South America,
Africa and India.

100% Donation Model: 100 percent of all

donation made online are directed to the
building of schools and education
programs.
Tactic #1 cont.
■ Local and Sustainable focus
– PoP partners with local
community partners and
members of the community to
build the school.
– Provides a teacher-training
programs to educate local
teachers to sustain the school
and provide teaching based
best-practices e.g. provides e-
readers for students.
■ School Builds
– It is a $25K charitable
investment to build a school.
– Community partners and local
community are involved in the
actual construction of the
school.
– PoP supporters can travel to
attend school builds—part of
their social giving travel
programs.
Tactic #1 cont.
■ Other important non-
profit groups TOMS will
partner with

1. Room to Read

2. The School Fund

3. Construction for Change

 TOMS Academy of Hope
■ TOMS will commit $100K
investment to PoP to fund the
building of three TOMS Academy.

■ Schools for primary school-aged

children will be built by PoP in
Ghana, Guatemala and
Philippines by end of year.

■ Schools will be named “TOMS

Academy of Hope”

■ Schools will be maintained by PoP

with ingoing impact reporting to
TOMS.
Students with TOMS new uniforms
 TOMS
Academy of Hope

School Logo School Uniform Crest Patch

Tactic #2
Develop special edition of co-branded shoe
with nonprofit organization.

■ TOMS will design a co-branded shoe that

will feature the yellow pencil design.

■ The yellow pencil is the logo image for PoP

as well as a global symbol for education.

■ Retail Price: $60 (one for one) (20% goes to

the “Toms Academy of Hope campaign”)
First Sketch
Prototype
Tactic #2 cont.

SALE DISTRIBUTION PROMOTION

■ Will be available in limited quantity ■ Through multiple outlets with social

in special stores that sell TOMS media playing a significant role

1. Nordstrom 1. Social Media platforms

2. Whole Foods 2. Television commercials
3. Toms retail stores 3. In store signage
4. Urban Outfitters 4. Fashion catalogs
 Final Sketch
360 image of special edition TOMS shoe
Tactic #3
Create TOMS Academy website, a site
extension of the current TOMS website
dedicated to this global education campaign.
■ This interactive website will be an
extension of the current TOMS website and
content that showcases TOMS global CSR
programs.
http://www.toms.com/improving-lives
■ This site will highlight statistics about the
global education issue as well as facts and
figures from the nonprofit partner.
■ There will be an online quiz that users can
take to learn more about the global
education issue and cultural information
about the countries that will be served
from this campaign i.e. Ghana, Guatemala
and Philippines.
■ Images will depict students in each of
these areas along with success stories from
PoPs previous school builds. This will help
us humanize the children and communities
behind the facts.
Tactic #4
TOMS will launch an online contest to award
two winners and a companion to win a fully
expense paid trip to help build two of the
TOMS Academy schools.
■ All contest entrants must be actively
involved in community service through
volunteering. They must be examples of
the TOMS improving lives model.
■ A peer, friend or family member must
nominate contestants.
■ A detailed description of how the
contestant is improving lives through
charitable volunteer work must be
included. One photo must be submitted.
RULES
1. Contestants cannot be employees of a
nonprofit organization; the work they do
must be volunteer only.
2. A team comprising TOMS and PoP
representatives will judge contestants.
3. The winners will be announced online via
Facebook and Instagram on a specific date
(TBD).
4. The winner and the nominator will win a
once-in-a-lifetime trip to travel with TOMS
and PoP founder for five days to help build
the TOMS school.
5. TOMS will pay for airfare, $500 ground
spending money and local hotel
accommodations.

Tactic #5
TOMS will partner up with social media influencers
■ TOMS will leverage its current story telling
strategy in social media by using photos,
global education facts and figures as well
as personal stories of students being
helped by the TOMS Academy of Hope on
the TOMS blog for the duration of this
campaign.
■ The TOMS school build videos and contest
winners will also provide content for this
social media effort.
■ Facebook branded content will be utilized
to promote the contest and launch of the
special edition education TOMS shoe.
Social Media Platforms
Special Contributors
 YouTube: Humanitarian and Philanthropist
volunteers upload their experiences
 Bloggers: Rosemary Holden, blogger for
“Rosemary Travellog” about her volunteer
work and international travel
 Instagram: Jayalvarez (Global travel
blogger with more than 3 million followers
on Instagram)
 Snapchat: TOMS own channel
 FACEBOOK: TOMS own profile promotion
 Participating Cities
Tactic #6 and
Celebrities
Host “TOMS on Tour” live events in Chicago, Los
Angeles, New York and Miami to promote the Cities (with “special participation” of
TOMS Academy campaign. celebs) will include

1. Chicago – Derrick Rose

■ “TOMS on Tour” is a nationwide special
event plan to host VIP parties to 2. Los Angeles – Angelina Jolie
showcase this partnership for
influencers and celebrities in Los 3. New York – Taylor Swift
Angeles, Chicago, New York and Miami.
These events will take place over the 4. Miami – Justin Bieber
course of one-year.

■ Events will have a prom theme to Both the founder of TOMS and PoP
will also give speeches during these
connect to the school/education events.
message of the overall campaign.
Tactic #7
TOMS will leverage a national and niche media
outreach plan to secure coverage on national
news outlets as well as niche media such as
philanthropic and global giving media outlets.

■ Major news outlets

1. Today show
2. Good morning America

■ Television via News outlets

1. Anderson Cooper: Anderson Cooper 360, 60
minutes
2. Diane Sawyer: CBS Morning News, Anchor
World News
Tactic #7 cont.
Further outlets including magazines
that cater to philanthropic work

■ Niche media outlets:

1. Good Magazine

2. Conscious Magazine

3. Chronicle of Philanthropy
CALENDAR
TIMETABLE
BUDGET
MEASUREMENT
EVALUATION
 Goal #1
Increase social media
engagement with current and
prospective consumers by 20%
■ Measured by: TOMS will
measure engagement before
this campaign and monitor
social media engagement
throughout the campaign by
tracking, Likes, Followers,
Shares, Comments etc.
Goal #2
Increase online engagement
with TOMS website by 30%.
■ Measured by: TOMS will track
web traffic throughout this
campaign and after to see
increase in web visits, time
spent on pages as well as most
popular content visited on
website.
 Goal #3
Expand consumer engagement
with TOMS through in-person
events.
■ Measured by: TOMS will track
the number of attendees to
the TOMS on Tour events by
capturing their contact
information and consumer
behavior post events with
special discount code post
event.
Goal #4
Secure media placement for
TOMS Academy of Hope
campaign, both nationally and
internationally.
■ Measured by: TOMS will
monitor media placement as
well as format for news piece.
Impressions and circulation for
news outlets will track
exposure of media message.
 Goal #5
Contribute to the improvement
of access to education for
children at TOMS Academy of
Hope over 3-year period.
■ Measured by: TOMS will
partner with nonprofit partner
to track the ongoing
educational success and
improvements of students at
schools to determine
effectiveness of program.
Goal #6
Increase sales of TOMS shoes by
15% by end of 2017.
■ Measured by: TOMS will track
sales of special edition
education shoe sales in select
markets, as well as online
global sales.
REFERENCES
■ https://pencilsofpromise.org/
■ http://www.toms.com/
■ UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/UNESCO-OOSC-EXS-Eng-
web_217.pdf Retrieved in April 27, 2016.
■ Youtube.com
■ Facebook.com
■ Instagram.com
■ MRI reporter
■ www.roomtoread.org
■ www.theschoolfund.org
■ www.constructionforchange.org
■ TOMS shoe template (https://www.pinterest.com/creativecommons/sophie/)
■ Thegildthink.com
■ www.good.is
■ Philanthrophy.com
■ Concscious.co