Sometimes a brand blazes a trail, only to find itself outrun by the competition. 

Back in 2006, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, who made his name and a small fortune as a contestant on reality TV show, The Amazing Race, came up with a unique proposition for a new brand, TOMS Shoes. The business model: TOMS would donate a pair of shoes to a child who lived in poverty for every pair of shoes sold. The philanthropic concept quickly became a sensation that catapulted the company's brand awareness to superstar status.

Not surprisingly, other companies started to knock off the idea. The most egregious copycat has been a line of shoes called "BOBS" that Skechers introduced in 2010. BOBS not only look exactly like TOMS signature shoe, right down to the logo stitched on a visible exterior label, but Skechers also shamelessly followed TOMS' "one-for-one" model of giving away a pair of shoes for every pair sold.Continue reading...

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Remember the first thing you bought online – a book, CD, DVD?                                           

The thought of larger purchases was a dim shadow then, but e-commerce has defied conventional wisdom and people now buy everything from groceries, diapers, flowers, wedding dresses, cars, houses, wine and now… prescription glasses online.

Warby Parker has sold 20,000 pairs of glasses since launch last February, including its own branded frames as well as styles by Ray-Ban, Chanel, Prada, Ralph Lauren and Gucci. For every pair of glasses sold, a pair is donated to individuals who can't afford glasses (as outlined in the video above). Talk about a social vision.Continue reading...

At Procter & Gamble's annual meeting of shareholders yesterday, the company showcased not only its achievements of the past year and plans for the next, but also highlighted its philanthropic and corporate social responsibility efforts.

Case in point: Brian Sasson, P&G's Global Social Investment Manager, who was shown (in the video above) talking about how his daughter's new eyeglasses made him realize that it's a rare sight in China to see kids wearing glasses.

The heartwarming upshot: he duly partnered with Luxottica, featured here back in July, and helped fund Luxottica's OneSight initiative to bring glasses to more than 800 Chinese students through mobile vision clinics at P&G's Hope Schools in rural China.

Call it a high concept store. Luxottica’s just opened Eye Hub store in Australia is 16,000 square feet of interactive merchandising and jaw-dropping design.

The basic layout is shaped like an eyeball and includes a wind machine, a treadmill, machines that simulate snow and water glare, and 41 touch screens that serve as cameras and mirrors for shoppers to check out the frames.

At the epicenter of the store is the ‘iris,’ home to the most expensive brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari and Versace. The products are displayed like a rare wine vault, and the store boasts the biggest selection of high-end eyewear in the southern hemisphere.Continue reading...