When I’m asked if we’re better off with social media, I always
answer with a definitive “yes.” And here’s why.
Last week I discovered Warby Parker. They are a designer
frame and online eyeglasses company based in New York. Their business was built by the founders outrage at paying extortionate prices for eyeglasses. Customers simply go on the Warby Parker website, select 5 designs they like and they deliver
them to your home. You select the pair you prefer and return the ones you don’t.
Not only that, but this YouTube videos shows their company mission, for every
pair of glasses you buy, they give a free pair to someone in need.
There’s something really authentic about this company and after
watching this you can see that their purpose goes beyond their bottom line. I
went on their website – which has been beautifully crafted too – and discovered that they didn’t deliver to the
UK and so I tweeted them this.
@warbyparker if only you delivered to the UK. Amazing brand story - youtube.com/watch?feature=…!Not only did they tweet me back, but they sent me a video reply.
— Kirien Sangha (@kirien89) March 27, 2013
@kirien89 We apologize but we have an option for you! youtu.be/4aDyguiDiPo #warbyvision
— Warby Parker (@WarbyParker) March 27, 2013
It’s great example of what the social media platform allows brands to do. A tweet back was great, but a video reply was even
more personal.
Cindy Gallop, the former Chairman of BBH New York, recently
said that brands of the future need to do good and make money simultaneously. And
this brand is a great example of that. Their business was built because they
believed Americans paid too much for glasses, but they have a goal to do good and serve society. It’s capitalism with care. The result? Well we all want
our glasses from Warby Parker, of course.
I love how they use social media. They constantly reply to customers on twitter, helping them decide on which glasses to pick and to answer any queries. Whereas their Facebook platform constantly publishes pictures of their adventures; these escapades are further talked about on their website
warbyparkerclasstrip.com where they give details about restaurants they visited
and bloggers they’ve met. Then they have two blogs, one with a more humourous
tone showing animals warbybarker.tumblr.com
and the other filled with rich visual images and articles about various topics such what they're doing to help communities in South America blog.warbyparker.com.
