Suresh, A. (2019). [Warby Parker, Upper East Side, NYC] [Photographed]. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warby_Parker_(48059227692).jpg
A group of students from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania changed the eyeglasses game in 2010. With a $2,500 seed investment, they started Warby Parker (Mahoney and Tang, 2017). Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider figured they could lower costs of lenses and frames by changing the market. Usually, customers had to go to the eye doctor and travel to a showroom to pick out the prefabricated frames. The team figured, if customers shopped online for their glasses, then by “designing the glasses in-house and shipping directly to the consumer, the company is able to drastically lower the cost of glasses (Mahoney and Tang, 2017). In order to be successful, the team used social media to effectively change the narrative consumers had behind buying glasses online.
1. Addressed the concern of not being able to try them on.
One main concern that consumers could have had to stop them from buying online is the importance of being able to try them on. So Warby Parker created a “Home Try-On Campaign” (Mahoney and Tang, 2017). The customer could order five pair of glasses, at no charge, to be delivered to the customer’s home to try on. They could choose the pair they liked and return the remaining pairs.
2. Used transactional communication.
Warby Parker communicated with customers through their comments via their social media platforms. This transactional communication was also utilized by the company asking the customers to post pictures of themselves wearing the glasses on their social media outlets.
3. Used social media to provide information to the customer.
They offered expert advice regarding eyeglasses, and created educational YouTube videos. The way in which they predicted customer needs, as opposed to simply marketing the product, was a way of directly communicating with the consumer on a personal level, thus, creating brand loyalty (Mahoney and Tang, 2017).
4. They marketed for social good.
They teamed up with VisionSpring and provided a pair of eyeglasses to a person in need for every pair bought from Warby Parker.
By doing these things, Warby Parker took a traditional behavior, quelled the dissonance of customers, and changed the narrative all by using social media. Sometimes we look at social media and think that the only way we can market is by throwing up our product and crossing our fingers that someone by it. But Warby Parker proves that social media can have a huge impact when used creatively to change the behavioral narrative.
References
Mahoney L. M., & Tang T. (2016). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781118556900/
Excellent article! Breaking down Warby Parker's steps to changing the behavioral narrative made it easy to comprehend and connect ideas. Warby Parker found a target audience with a pain point that needed to be addressed. Addressing the problem and creating a business to serve the need, as opposed to just promoting a product, ensured success. Through differing audience expectations changed by social media accessibility, Warby Parker started with individuals and then to a community.