How TOMS gained 61K Snapchat Swipe Ups with authentic storytelling

The Story

With consumers increasingly concerned about the brands beyond their products, it’s more important than ever to tell captivating stories around all the good initiatives brands are involved in. TOMS pioneered the One for One® business model, partaking in charitable initiatives since its founding in 2006. Today, the brand commits a third of all profits for grassroots good, supporting people building equity at a local level, and driving change from the ground up.

For that reason, TOMS wanted to show why they think their shoes are something special—especially their classic Alpargata, which they describe as the shoe that started it all.

The Goal

Together with Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS), TOMS sought to raise awareness of the brand in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) with a strong focus on promoting the grassroots initiatives they are involved in to the Gen Z consumer.

The Strategy

TOMS had previously carried out a strong ZMS campaign in 2020 as part of an Earthwise campaign focused on sustainability. Due to the success of this project, they wanted to amplify this message further with a campaign focusing on their grassroots initiatives. By using a combination of brand content on offsite channels TikTok and Snapchat, a strong presence onsite, as well as a ZMS Influencer campaign they were able to raise the profile of the brand and increase awareness in the target customer group.

“At TOMS, we are committed to cultivating open and collaborative relationships with our wholesale partners by providing support while also growing and learning together.  Zalando has been an integral part of our success in the EMEA region by telling TOMS product and Impact stories in new, exciting ways across their channels.  We are thankful for their partnership as we introduce the updated brand Impact approach, and launch new iterations of our iconic Alpargata together.  Their openness to collaborative approaches, and overall enthusiasm for TOMS, has led to significant results in the campaigns we have launched together in 2021, and we look forward to building upon these successes with the team at Zalando”

Ian Stewart, Chief Marketing Officer at TOMS

Tips for brands

• Tell captivating stories around your collections: Customers increasingly care deeply about the brands behind their products. With this campaign grassroots initiatives were at the center of the story.  

• Purposeful influencer marketing: Encourage swipe-ups to buy, with engaging story content including a strong call-to-action.

In Detail