Cause Marketing

A new e-tail website called Harrys.com launched last week with a BOGO cause marketing approach. Harry’s sells moderately-priced men’s shavers, giving the handles names and taking a boutique approach. If that sounds familiar it’s because Harrys.com was started by Warby Parker co-founder Jeffrey Raider. BOGO means Buy One, Give One. Harrys.com isn’t the first direct-to-consumer shaving company. Dollar Shave Company with its profane-a** commercials was into the space well before Harry's. And it’s easy to guess why; the business model is so classic, so bulletproof  it has its own name ! The razor blade business model is why Proctor and Gamble paid $57 billion for Gillette back in 2005. Of course, Procter and Gamble has tens of millions to spend on branding and advertising its razor products. No wonder Dollar Shave Company goes blue with its branding and advertising. How else to break through the clutter? Well, one way is with cause marketing and BOGO. “We are passionate about...

The New York Times says that Google Glass is in talks with Warby Parker to make sure the augmented reality head-up display isn’t just geeky-cool, but cool looking. Google Glass is basically a computer that allows you to take a picture or record video of whatever you’re seeing using voice commands, and then send it off to your social network. It displays map instructions in real time, translates words, allows you to read your Gmail, and answers spoken questions like ‘how long is the Brooklyn Bridge?’ Google is holding an essay contest on Twitter and Google+ to recruit beta testers. Enter before Feb 27, 2013 and be prepared to pay $1500, plus tax! That's Google co-founder Sergey Brin on the left wearing a pair. Meanwhile, Warby Parker is famous inside and outside of cause marketing circles for its use of BOGO, buy one-give one. When you buy a pair of Warby Parkers the company gives a second pair of glasses to someone in need. BOGO is a defining part of Warby Parker’s unique s...

Warby Parker , which uses buy one-give one (BOGO) cause marketing as a key element of its positioning and marketing has officially hit the big time. Investors and the business press are taking note of the company’s 500 percent growth in 2011. Since its founding in 2010 Warby Parker has sold stylish spectacles for $95. For every pair you buy the company gives a second pair to someone who needs them. Since Warby Parker’s BOGO appeal emerged on the heels of TOMS Shoes BOGO, it’s easy to conclude that its BOGO was a case of me-to. But there’s more to the story than that. Eyeglasses were invented in 1286 by Friar Giordano da Pisa. Ben Franklin added the bifocals in the 1780s. But aside from little things like adding gradient lenses or different coatings, there hasn’t been that much innovation in eyeglasses in the years since. (Although that may be changing with " Google glasses "). Eyeglasses seem exactly like the kind of product that would be commoditized. And, yet, strangely, th...