Virginia Miracle

Ben at Church of the Customer and John at Brand Autopsy have kindly shared the remarkable story of Tom’s Shoes. In a nutshell:

Strategy: Passion + a Simple Mission

For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One

Advertising Budget: $0. To quote the founder, “It’s hard to do advertising in a personal way” Marketing dollars are spent on getting involving customers in the mission – truly cutting the marketing clutter. In an MSNBC interview, a retailer explains that the shoes started selling after posting a picture of the shoes being handed out and the mission over the display.

Results:

• 60,000 pairs donated and a goal of 200,000 by the end of 2008.
• People who think the shoes are ugly on first glance (including me) purchasing them and breathlessly waiting for them to arrive.
• A growing army of volunteer marketers who want to be asked about their ugly shoes so they can tell the story.

I am equally excited about the shoes, mission and conversational capital that I just bought!

As the Miracle clan prepared for our beach trip this week, I moved from mildly amused by the colorful new vineyard vines store in Georgetown to borderline obsessed. While I had admired the slice of Martha’s Vineyard life offered in the store since its opening and had even directed visitors staying with us to check it out, I hadn’t taken the purchase plunge myself.

Once I started buying, I couldn’t stop. Why? The store is not just about the merchandise, nor is it just about the Vineyard lifestyle (or the “Good Life” as they call it) – it’s about being a part of a great entrepreneurial dream. In the words of founding brothers Shep & Ian:

“In 1998 we started vineyard vines on Martha’s Vineyard, and we’ve been having the time of our lives ever since. We’re brothers who decided to leave corporate jobs in New York City to pursue the American Dream. With no money and little experience, we set out to make ties that represent the finer places and things life has to offer. We’re pleased to have expanded beyond the shores of the Vineyard and now offer much more than just ties”.

I can guarantee this is a critical part of their merchandising, because they tell “Our Story” across all customer touchpoints – catalog, in store, on almost every single page of their website, and even the polo short tags read “vineyard vines by shep & ian”. On the section of their website, you are transported out of e-commerce and into a robust online realm that is what vv is selling beyond clothes including:

The Dream – media clips and videos that show the brothers telling their story. A great Entrepreneur clip shows them going from $2m in sales in 2002 to $372m in 2006.

Customer Community – photos of everyone from Violet Affleck to everyday other vv customers wearing the clothes doing everything from getting married to boating with Walter Cronkite (no kidding). You are invited to send in yours too.

Whale Tales – the stories of notable customers told with photos of them modeling their favorite vv outfits.

This is a remarkable case of a business sharing its story – not just by telling it, but inviting you to participate, meet them, come to their events, and contribute your own stories and photos as customers are also a part of “Our Story“.

I wonder how many other business I patronize also have remarkable stories that they aren’t telling? Or do they just not want to invite me in?

At the end of last week, Nau announced that they’re back. They’ve been acquired by another remarkable company – Horny Toad – who has agreed to handle their financing issues and has wisely supported Nau keeping its distinct and remarkable brand personality in tact.

One of the reasons they decided to hunker cited in their “comeback” blog post is the outpouring of both emotion and ideas in their Thought Kitchen blog upon the announcement of the brand and its stores shuttering. I can imagine the mixed emotions with which I would greet the prospect of being saved/consumed by another brand. I think its a testament to the team’s dedication to Nau’s mission and to its customers that they are giving Nau 2.0 a go.

For the flip side of this unique relationship, check out Horny Toad’s “We have a sister!” post which discusses the business deal not as an acquisition, but the adoption of a new family member. Funny how the choice of a few simple words can make such a difference in demonstrating what a brand stands for.

I never pictured announcing that a Brand Worthy of a Weekend has gone out of business, but this post is exactly that. Groundbreaking sustainable clothier Nau announced on Friday that, due to an inability to raise another round of capital, they are closing up shop. Click here to read the note from the Nau team or the Treehugger coverage.

It’s been almost 48 hours since I read the news, but I haven’t yet posted, because I’m not sure what to say. I recently heard that the Evanston, IL location of another WOM favorite, Cereality, should also be referred to in past-tense. What do we learn when brands with great Word of Mouth bone structure fail? Here’s the start of a list:

1. Novelty is enough for me to try you once and to talk about it. If this is what you provide, I hope you are in a place that will constantly expose you to new audiences like tourists. Everyone else needs a strategy for encouraging repeated, valuable engagements with the same set of customers over time.
2. Sustainability is important to customers, but a huge part of the population is not willing to pay “extra” for it – especially when times are tough. One of the reason the Leonardo DiCaprio light bulbs do so well is that they save you money in the process of drawing less energy.
3. Let them see you sweat. If your business needs something – press, referrals, investors, testimonials, etc – let your loyal supporters know so they have the opportunity to rally to your aide. Honestly, if I had know last week that Nau needed help, I would have let my networks know and bought items myself if I thought it would have kept them around to fight the good fight another day.

What are your takeaways?
P.S. Good news for shoppers – remaining stock is 50% off at nau.com

What follows is Part 2 to the Brands Worth of a Weekend look at Beija-Flor jeans. While I am personally a fan of Beija-Flor, I am relatively new to the brand, so I asked one of their longtime fans, Michelle Henderson, to answer a few questions.

How were you first introduced to Beija Flor?

I was first introduced to Beija Flor by my good friend Jennifer Cavanaugh,who invited me to a jeans party at Emile’s (VM note: Emilie is Beija-Flor’s co-founder) house.

What do you like about the jeans?

I like the jeans because they are comfortable, stylish, and flattering to all figures. I have never been able to find all three of these attributes in one pair of jeans before. They make me feel 100% like I’m ready to bring my A game.

What do you like about the brand?

Well, I can not say enough about the brand. It makes me feel special to know that I have been in support of this business since the ground up. From the jeans parties to now a retail store and in the future I expect national recognition. Its make my ego feel good to know I am step above a new trendy jean that not everyone knows about yet. Also, most importantly, the conception of Beija-Flor is inspiring. I was moved and extremely impressed that Emilie and her mom Kathy took their cultural background and their entrepreneurial spirit to create a brand that is synonymous with empowering women to feel beautiful and exude confidence. Also, with each jean being named after a person, it feels as if every pair has a story. That’s extremely special to me because how often do you know a personal background to an item of clothing that you are wearing?

What do you say when you tell people about Beija Flor?

I always tell people that they are flattering, comfortable and stylish, and that they have to try them!

If you were invited to a weekend get together for Beija Flor fanatics, what would you expect to do/learn/see/experience?

I would definitely expect wine!! Seriously though, I would expect to see fabulous new creations with interesting stories told by Emilie of their genesis. I would also expect to learn more about Brazilian culture as well.

What would the ultimate Beija Flor fan experience be?

The ultimate experience would be to go to Brazil with all my girls (including Emilie of course) and to see where the jeans were made and to learn first hand more about Brazilian culture.

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What I love about Michelle’s answers above is that they demonstrate the power of conversational capital – she explicitly calls out the value of knowing and being able to tell a compelling story about what she’s wearing. Beija-Flor has also done an amazing job of building a database and keeping in touch with the women they touch. Everyone who is brought into the fold will feel like a co-owner of their success as the brand continues to grow.

And, for the record, I am ready to sign up for the first Beija believers Brazil trip as well.