Shoe brand Toms is changing its marketing strategy while also cutting creative costs.
Until now, most of the company's advertising has focused on paid social media and digital advertising. But since changing its philanthropic model over the past five years, Tom's has started experimenting with other marketing channels and re-promoting itself to its audience, Amy Smith, Tom's chief brand officer, told Modern Retail. Told.
Toms had a “buy one, donate one” policy since 2006, but changed the policy in 2019. At the time of the decision, the company was struggling with mounting debt. It also changed its marketing strategy in 2021 to try to target new shoppers. Currently, Toms told Modern Retail that its growth strategy remains focused on conversion and expanding its marketing reach.
Today, that means advertising on podcasts, streaming, and live events like a Justin Timberlake concert. Thoms is experimenting with all three of his methods for the New Year campaign. The campaign features six influencers, all of whom are connected to the mental health field in some way. All of Toms' new initiatives fit into this approach. For example, at Timberlake's concerts, Tom's runs ads that guide audience members through deep breathing and meditation.
Smith spoke to Modern Retail about how Toms has changed its approach to marketing at a time when many brands are struggling with rising customer acquisition costs. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you decide where to put your marketing dollars on your most recent campaign?
Marketing budgets continue to be tight, so we really thought, “Where can we put our budget to best effect? Where can we test and learn a little bit? Where can we try something new?”
One of the things we're thinking about is more full-funnel marketing. It's very easy to convert and use all your money into paid social photos, up-close photos. [Toms] Shoes, we tell shoppers to buy them. We're certainly spending some of our money there. But if we're not spending in a meaningful way at the top and middle of the funnel, we're shrinking the funnel entirely instead of opening it up to bring in more traffic.
We know consumers will take their time. [to purchase]. Industry standard is 7 views [of a brand message] Before you can actually get in that zone. It takes a ton of money to get to that place. So we spent a lot of time testing and learning in 2023, working with influencers, trying different things on TikTok…something simple like Spark Ads.
We're also serious about cutting down on creative costs, so we can free up those dollars for more advertising and media buys. If you can create beautiful campaigns for less money, you can redirect some of that money to the top and middle of your funnel.
What is attractive about podcast advertising for Toms?
i was skeptical [about podcast ads] Because, to be honest, I was like, “I talk about beautiful shoes, but you don't see them.” But we did it and it was incredible.
For podcasts, streaming, etc., you can attach pixels [to track conversion] And then we'll be able to see if they're driving in traffic. How are people engaging with that? Are they listening to the whole ad on the podcast? We just [four] It's been a few weeks and we've seen that our investment in podcasts has doubled our return on ad spend, which has been a huge surprise for us and we're really excited about it and want to do more with it.
How did you decide which podcasts to advertise on?
We have worked to fully understand our target consumer… Research shows she is between 25 and 45 years old [years old]Women care about how they look when they go out. And they shop based on their values… We took that consumer data and shared it with our media partners, who helped us sync it with the podcasts this consumer listens to the most… On Purpose with Jay Shetty, The Happiness Lab with Laurie Santos, Pod Meets World, Stuff You Should Know, The Bobby Bones Show, etc. We want to reach out to each consumer a minimum of four times to balance frequency.
What interests you about advertising via streaming video?
We did some very straight up upper funnel brand advertising with several streaming services like Amazon, YouTube TV, Hulu, Disney+, etc. We did that because it was to track if the technology was working, if it wasn't working, what results we were seeing, and if we could change anything. All of this happens very quickly so we can make changes in real time.
The results were really good: in the first few weeks, we had over 3,000 visitors. [Toms] site… While it wasn't our goal to increase sales, we are seeing increased sales through podcasts and streaming, so we are seeing increased visits to the site and we are seeing conversions.
How are you using live events to increase awareness of the Tom's brand?
We work with agencies that advertise at concerts across the country, and we work with Justin Timberlake concerts. [that starts this summer]. Between the opening act and when he takes the stage, he will perform a 60-second spot at 70 shows in 53 cities.
We help people take a few breaths and then remind them: [our tagline] “Wear something nice” And then Toms. We're very excited about it and we'll see how it goes. It's a different way of approaching marketing, a different way of reminding people about Toms, a different way to make the experience a little bit disruptive and a little bit unexpected.
