MKTG Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 15)

Consumers are becoming more and more environmentally aware every single day. Therefore, Tom’s of Maine products will continue to be what consumers are looking for: natural, sustainable, and reliable. There are also no real competitors when it comes to naturally sourced and naturally derived products.

I also expect Tom’s of Maine to continue their efforts in keeping consumers and employees involved in their communities. Tom’s of Maine currently donates 10% of product sales to nonprofit organizations working to support health, education, and nature. Tom’s also encourages employees to use 5% of their paid time to volunteer for their favorite charities or causes.

Tom’s understands that this is the only planet we call home, so we must work together to protect it for future generations. A concept being recognized more and more by our younger generations. Tom’s makes it easy to get involved therefore I see Tom’s of Maine continuing to grow quite greatly in the near future and beyond.

MKTG 4900 Product Blog Analysis: Tom’s of Maine (Week 12)

Consumers use Tom’s of Maine for all sorts of personal reason. The most popular reason being that they realize the importance of knowing what they are putting in and on their bodies. For this week’s post I will mainly focus on consumers’ reasoning behind their choice of Tom’s deodorants. Tom’s asked women across the country to tell them why they switched. I will share two of those woman’s stories.

Bev switched when she got pregnant. It took her and her husband a very long time to get pregnant so when she did, what she put in and on her body took on a whole new level of importance. She uses Tom’s deodorant because she knows what goes in it, it was easy for her to say that she feels good about it which is what is important to her. The deodorant is something that puts her at ease and made sense to her life.

Elise switched specifically for the ingredients. She is a woman with a pretty active lifestyle. She rides her bike as much as she can to and from work, which means she is sweating. Her job requires her to be in front of people, cooking, so it is important she not only acts professional but smells professional as well. Elise understands that to cook good food it starts with the ingredients and the quality of the ingredients. For Elise, that philosophy pairs with Tom’s of Maine because their quality ingredients create “an awesome product.”

To hear more stories of why woman are switching, click the images below.

Source: https://www.tomsofmaine.com/whyiswitched/deo

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 11)

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Tom’s of Maine brand identity lies within its ingredients. Tom’s mission is to help others live a more natural life. This company believes in not just living for today but more importantly, living for tomorrow. Tom’s is aware that all of our decisions have a lasting impact on this planet, which is why Tom’s makes theirs thoughtfully.

The personality of Tom’s brand is all about their passion in finding and combining naturally sourced and naturally derived ingredients to create personal products that work. Tom’s is transparent about the ingredients used in products. They explain where they come from, what they do, and how they are made so consumers like me and you can make the right choice for ourselves and our families. Below I have provided one of my favorite parts of their mission statement: Our Reason for Being.

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Source: https://www.tomsofmaine.com/our-promise/our-mission/our-reason-for-being

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog (Week 10)

As I have discussed in previous blogs, Tom’s of Maine began with brand positioning, a kind of story- telling. What I have not yet discussed is how Tom’s then moved on to television commercials that brought their story to life. Their first ever television campaign didn’t air until 2004. Founder and president, Tom Chappell, hired a branding firm to produce their television commercial because of his value in storytelling. He wanted a team of skillful storytellers.

More recently, Tom’s has taken focus on “micro- influencers” to step up their Instagram game. These influencers are Instagram users who have up to 5,000 followers but engage a very high percentage of them around a specific topic…in this case, earth- friendly products. This strategy helped Tom’s build its Instagram community about eight percent in just two weeks to 1,000, with the goal of doubling the number within that year.

What works for Tom’s is how they use a functional context, such as a cute kid brushing his or her teeth with Tom’s toothpaste, as part of their social media advertisement. Another social media technique that worked for Tom’s was to give followers a glimpse into the company through photos of employees at community and volunteer events. Tom’s advertisements give users context and allow them to connect with the personality behind the brand. My favorite advertisement technique that Tom’s uses are the testimonials given by consumers who switched to Tom’s products. The testimonials just feel very authentic.

Resources: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20040827005218/en/Toms-Maine-TV-Advertising-Debut-Campaign-Branding

https://fleishmanhillard.com/2015/07/true/toms-of-maine-to-toms-of-gain/

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 9)

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Tom’s of Maine target market cares about the environment not just for themselves but, for future generations, especially their own children. Tom’s uses the idea of global good, sustainable change, and emotions to connect and promote to consumers. Instead of focusing on price and savings, Tom’s effort emphasizes sustainability and how the company strives to create a better planet by giving 10% of profits back to charitable organizations.

As a part of Tom’s “Start Young, Live Green” campaign, the company partnered with TerraCycle, to launch the first used- toy, recycling program. Families signed up to receive a recycling box they would fill with used toys and use a prepaid shipping label to send the box back to TerraCycle for recycling into park benches and other items.

Tom’s also partnered with Sara Snow, a green mom personality, on a radio tour to promote the program which went viral, earning more than 40 million media impressions. Boxes were gone within a few days.

The campaign also included fun online game- type elements available for download. These elements included a card similar to a paper fortune- teller that kids could play with to lean educational green tips, and a recipe for creating do-it-yourself sidewalk chalk using an empty Tom’s of Maine deodorant container. Building on these elements, Whole Foods worked with the brand to create the first Tom’s of Maine recycling and upcycling endcap. This featured Tom’s of Maine toothpaste and deodorants, upcycled TerraCycle tote bags made from toothpaste tubes, samples of the DIY chalks, and the chalk recipe cards. “Growing Up Green” kid- friendly events were held at Whole Foods, Hannaford, Wegmans, Target, and Walmart stores.

Tom’s ultimately looked at this campaign as a model on how to create a big idea around an emotional insight that connects their consumer in a way that is unique, differentiated, and adds value to their lives.

Source: https://shoppermarketingmag.com/toms-maine-plays-emotions

https://www.tomsofmaine.com

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 8)

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Toothpaste and deodorant are convenience items sold in most pharmacies, health stores, and even gas stations. Most consumers are brand loyal when it comes to these types of products and don’t think twice about seeking out a new brand. Most consumers will generally pick a brand that is well- known and continue to pick that same brand each time.

When Tom’s of Maine first started selling its all- natural toothpaste, it had a selective distribution to only health food stores. The brand took off very quickly and was able to break into the entire consumer population, especially being one of first all- natural toothpaste distributors.

Tom’s of Maine uses both push and pull strategies in the dental hygiene practice. Toothpaste companies promote their products to both dentists and pharmacies. They also run ads to persuade individual consumers to ask their dentists and dental hygienists about what they recommend and what will benefit them. Tom’s of Maine has been rewarded the Seal of Acceptance by the American Dental Association. Therefore, dentists are more likely to promote this toothpaste to their patients with it being positively recognized. With that being said, having a positive name has helped Tom’s get their other self-care products out there as well, especially their deodorant and children’s products. These natural products continue to reach more and more consumers who seek to live and promote simple, all- natural lives for not just themselves but especially for their families.

Source: https://www.coursehero.com/file/p4pb0nj/2-Marketing-channel-strategy-Toms-of-Maine-and-Colgate-use-intensive/

https://www.tomsofmaine.com/news/toms-of-maine-tooth-floss-earns-american-dental-associations-seal-of-acceptance

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 7)

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Tom’s of Maine creates all of its products using natural, simple ingredients taken from plants and minerals. Tom’s toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, deodorant, and even their soap do not contain the artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors, flavors, or animal ingredients that we are used to seeing in other popular products’ raw materials. Tom’s products are tested for safety and efficacy without the use of animals, they are biodegradable, and are packaged in earth-friendly manners. 10% of the profits are donated to charitable organizations and employees are encouraged to use 5% of their paid time in volunteer work. At the end of this blog post, I have provided specific ingredients found in Tom’s products. On the Tom’s of Maine website they provide in great detail what the ingredient is, what it does, how it is made, alternatives to the ingredient, and if it is the right option for you. Please feel free to click the link below that will lead you directly to their ingredients page.

https://www.tomsofmaine.com/our-promise/ingredients

Through the entire process of the product, Tom’s strives for transparency and quality in ingredients; naturally sourced and naturally derived. What it means to be “naturally source” is when an ingredient has been removed and concentrated but it is still otherwise much the same as it would be found in nature. To be naturally derived is to be taken from an ingredient’s original state and modified through additional processing. This is generally done to improve safety of the ingredient.

Eugenol

Fruit Juices

Jojoba wax

Source: https://www.tomsofmaine.com/our-promise/ingredients

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 6)

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The price of Tom’s of Maine toothpaste has never directly affected my decision to use the product over another brand. My primary reasoning for choosing this brand all really began because I was looking for an all-natural deodorant. With there being more and more scientific proof that ingredients found in most deodorants are also found in breast tumors of cancer patients, it became very important to me to start using products with natural ingredients. Therefore, after discovering Tom’s line of deodorants, I became very interested in purchasing their other products.

As long as I can remember I was very loyal to Crest, specifically, Crest 3D White. I have always been drawn to toothpaste with a “whitening” feature and not only is Crest 3D White the toothpaste my dentist uses on me, but it has a great taste. You can buy a pack of two on Amazon for $9.39. In comparison, Tom’s of Maine Antiplaque & Whitening will only cost you $8.91. Not a huge price difference by any means and remember, I didn’t switch because of the price; I switched because I no longer wanted to put harmful ingredients inside my body. Therefore, if you are someone who is looking for an affordable, fluoride-free, all-natural, whitening alternative toothpaste, Tom’s of Maine Antiplaque & Whitening is for you! Be sure to check out my other blogs to see how you are also giving back when purchasing Tom’s products.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/best-whitening-toothpastes-dentist-recommendation

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 5)

One of the main reasons founders, Tom and Kate Chappell, started Tom’s of Maine was because of the high prices in the industry at the time. They were parents therefore they were the consumers and knew first-hand what other consumers needed and at what price. These two entrepreneurs created a profitable company but were also exemplary in their efforts towards social responsibility, pursuing financial and non-financial objectives simultaneously. Not only is Tom’s of Maine one of the cheapest in the industry, but it’s one of the most sustainable.

“We think we should make much more than just profit,” explains Bridget Burns, Tom’s of Maine’s social media strategist. “Sustainability has always been at our core, but also giving back.”

To create a place where all of these ideas and goals could intertwine, Tom’s of Main has created a regularly updated content hub through the use of its blog. At least twenty articles are published a month if not more, encouraging and informing readers about everything regarding health and family, natural ingredients, and community involvement. Like every other brand though, there is the unavoidable question of how to determine Return of Investment (ROI) from these efforts.

To overcome this obstacle, Tom’s thinks critically about its audience’s buying behavior. Tom’s oriented towards two specific goals: measuring intent to buy and ensuring that that intent sticks. Whether a user who reads content then shares, subscribes, or navigates to the brand’s e-commerce page, all of these actions help the Tom’s marketing team know what stories are getting people to stick. Big emotion leads to big engagement. Emotional, story-driven content works for Tom’s by telling stories and engaging with the brand’s emotional consciousness. Tom’s is able to generate a sense of authenticity and trust by continuing a story as the company itself. At the end of the day content reaches people, not numbers. By putting families first, Tom’s is able to continue to drive engagement with the same type of caring audience that they originally set out to protect back in the seventies. This is what sets Tom’s aside from any other competing company. They put their customers’ needs first and do not try to sell to them upfront.

Feel free to click the link I have provided below to review Tom’s of Maine’s prices available at Target.

https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=tom%27s+of+maine

MKTG 4900 Product Analysis Blog: Tom’s of Maine (Week 4)

Storytelling Turned Marketing

The brand of Tom’s of Maine has grown through storytelling and continues to build on those stories today. More times than less, people start companies when they see a market opportunity; Tom’s started because the founders simply wanted certain products for their own kids. They were speaking to people, not a market. These products have changed in appearance, messaging, and channels of course, but throughout it all the brand’s promise has remained the same: You can rely on us for simple, wholesome products that will be good for your family.

Each product fits into the company’s product mix for multiple reasons. Each personal care product comes from the combination of naturally sourced and naturally derived ingredients, all of which were guided by Tom’s Stewardship Model. To ensure satisfaction, each product comes with a product guarantee. In addition, Tom’s of Maine donates 10% of product sales to nonprofit organizations working to support health, education, and nature. Every employee is even encouraged to use 5% of their paid time to volunteer for their favorite causes. Tom’s of Maine is very passionate on protecting our planet for generations to come. Through the purchase of their products they have made it possible for each and every one of us to get involved in this movement. No matter which product of Tom’s of Maine we choose, each fits the company’s product mix of living a simpler, more natural, healthier life.

Sources:

https://www.tomsofmaine.com/products

https://instagram.com/toms_of_maine?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=14qozghbtdhxj