How it all started for Warby Parker
There are over 61% of Americans or 177 million people that need some kind of eye-wear due to loss of elasticity in the lens of a person’s eye. My first experience with my blurring vision started when I attempted to read the small print on a medicine container. I made an appointment to see an optometrist to have my vision checked. I found that I had developed presbyopia. The real shocker was when I sat down with the sales representative to look at various frames. The price of the frames with insurance was astronomical.
Warby Parker and three of his MBA associates also experienced and understood that the costs of lenses and frames were high and not to mention the time it takes a person to travel to a showroom to try on frames. This burden extended an opportunity to disrupt the eye-wear industry.
Big Business Worth Billions
The prescription eyewear market today is worth $161 billion and is expected to grow to $210 billion, according to Liam O’Connell, who published an article in statista. The cost of making eyewear from design to manufacturing to retailing drives the price of eyewear.
Warby Parker decided to tackle this challenge by designing glasses in-house and selling only directly to consumers. There was one issue with Warby’s strategy, and that was the fact that people like myself may be reluctant to purchase an expensive set of eye-wear online, thus creating a slight dissonance. Warby tactically reached his prospective clients by effectively utilizing social media to communicate his offers. Changing consumer behavior is not an easy feat; thus, by changing the narrative through social media, Warby reduced dissonance while capturing the loyalty of his prospective clients. Further people like to try on a set of frames before making a decision to ensure eye-wear fits with one’s wardrobe.
“You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it”
Edith Head
Fashion is essential to most Americans and is one finishing touch that distinguishes an ensemble and its wearer. Not being able to go to a showroom and try on frames is a concern. Warby mitigated this issue with a Home Try-on Campaign that will allow a client to order up to five pairs of glasses and try them at home at no charge. This opportunity will lend a client a chance to try these glasses with their chosen ensemble in the comfort of their home. Through this shaping strategy, Warby engages customers to make their buying experience more personalized. Moreover, Warby learned that customers who post pictures of themselves sporting their new eyewear tend to purchase at twice the rate as opposed to those who never posted.
A year ago, I took in my nephew who became homeless due to a series of unfortunate events. He had two years left to graduate, so we enrolled him in our community high school. About five months later, we discovered that he had a vision issue that he did not even know about. He did not have medical insurance, thus making it much more challenging to see an optometrist. Through programs, much like Warby Parker’s business strategy teaming up with VisionSpring, my nephew found help and was able to get a pair of free glasses. Warby provides a pair of eyeglasses for a person in need for every pair that a consumer purchases. Very much like my nephew, who today wears his pair proudly.
Word of Mouth is 30 times stronger than traditional MarketinG!
Many organizations understand how to leverage social media to reach potential clients while ensuring ongoing engagement and communication, thus reducing dissonance. These methods of customer engagement have proven to become a powerful word-of-mouth resource for companies. Word-of-mouth marketing is 30 times stronger than any company media marketing strategy. Another reason Warby’s success was such an impact with disrupting traditional marketing. Warby Parker and his three MBA colleagues delivered a much-needed product to millions through trusted resources – social media marketing.
Email me at robert.soto@comcast.net
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Very interesting post.
I liked how you tied together your own personal dissonance experienced which the company faced from many others, as well as how you can identify with Warby Parker’s work with VisionSpring. With both of these examples you have effectively correlated how the social media campaign changed the consumer’s behavior to take action through the “Try At Home” campaign and why you feel a personal connection that heightened trust and sense of community through shared experiences and socially conscious initiatives.
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Robert,
Your Warby Parker post draws the reader in by its conversational tone. Your personal accounts take the post to a warm level. You provide facts on how large the eyewear market is and how important word of mouth is to any business. You state “Word of mouth is 30 times stronger than traditional marketing. This has been a long-standing tradition in the used car industry. I’m sure we have all kicked a few tires and test drove new and used cars before making the purchase.
You make it evident that the “Home Try-On” campaign was a way for Warby Parker to let the consumer try before they buy. I think this solidified Warby Parker’s business model.
By finding the right medium to let people know about their business they were able to “effectively utilize social media to communicate with customers, change these narratives, reduce the dissonance, and eventually capture loyalty” ((http://ow.ly/hNR650zjBJ6 #snhusmm) through.
The fact, that Warby Parker teamed up with Vision Spring made for a win-win situation. We all want to contribute to the greater good and if we can do that making a purchase, it’s even better.
Carolyn Gall
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