#withoutshoes

In May of 2015, TOMS decided to launch a social media marketing campaign via Instagram.

#withoutshoes

As the photo suggests, Instagram users worldwide were encouraged by TOMS to post a photo barefoot while supporting the hashtag n the caption, and in return for each photo posted the brand promised to donate one pair of shoes to a child in need.

Naturally, the campaign took off. Hundreds of thousands of people were posting photos barefoot whilst simultaneously popularizing the shoe brand. participants of the social media campaign had from May 5th to May 21st to post. Giving Instagram users just over two weeks to engage was a risky move on behalf of TOMS.

On one hand, by limiting the time frame of the campaign they were naturally limiting their own boundaries of growth, if the campaign's timeframe was infinite it is not unlikely that people would still be posting and raising awareness of both the cause and the brand, even after the hype begins to die down.

#withoutshoes takes off

On the other hand, however, limiting the campaign was necessary. At the end of the day TOMS is a for-profit organization, and although giving away shoes is a noble act the company has to eventually make money. But was limiting the timeframe of the campaign also subtly a smarter move from TOMS regardless of profit? 

It is evident the campaign was a success, judging by the vast number of participants uploading photos branding the hashtag as well. However much of the success TOMS enjoyed post campaign comes from the fact the campaign was so short lived. Ultimately, the 16 day span participants had to abide by in order to fully engage meant almost everybody who was going to post a photo decided to post the photo within this timeframe. This prevented people from putting off uploading photos supporting the campaign, and instead encouraged them to do it asap (when they found out that there was a timer ticking) 

Celebrity Richard Branson loses his shoes for #withoutshoes

Due to everyone uploading photos for the campaign, from the 5th to the 21st of May, Instagram was saturated with photos of bare feet, captioned #withoutshoes. Due to this saturation, people who otherwise may never have stumbled across the social media marketing campaign were also exposed to it, and ended up posting themselves in hopes of being responsible for donating a pair of shoes to a child in need. 

#withoutshoes continues to raise awareness

#withoutshoes from Africa

#withoutshoes takes over Instagram

All in all, was #withoutshoes a success when compared to other social media marketing campaigns? The answer is simply yes. The leading cause which determined TOMS' success regarding the campaign includes their ability to offer anyone (customer or not) to do something they perceive as a good deed for free. Another contributing factor to TOMS' success is the ease of engagement. TOMS' followed the path of a revolutionized method of brand image enhancement. 

Decades and even years ago brands had to set up shop in shopping centers and hassle customers into partaking in their campaigns through registering and providing information and time. Taking a photo barefoot however takes seconds of a potential consumer's time, and even less time to hashtag #withoutshoes and help TOMS grow as a brand.