Goldberg and Heath met while working at a media company and they quickly learned that they shared a passion for entrepreneurship. “We shared a lot of ideas about businesses that we thought were interesting and we were generally looking around and seeing what was out there,” says Goldberg. Then Heath saw a quote on Facebook about the need for socks in homeless shelters, which led them to investigate the problem. “There’s a huge need; if you are living on the street and you’re homeless, a fresh pair of socks means a lot. And it turns out if you have a used pair of socks you’re not allowed to donate them for hygiene reasons,” he adds. They could see there was an opportunity to help the community, and they matched the problem with the concept of donating an item for each item purchased pioneered by TOMS Shoes and the online sales format used by Warby Parker. “And that was the origin!” they proclaim.
To ensure that they would offer an exceptional product, the two entrepreneurs began to research the socks currently on the market. “We went out to all the stores around us and looked at everything and we realized that there was a massive gap between low-cost, low-quality commodity-type socks, and premium products that were sold at specialty stores,” explains Heath. “There were a lot of features and benefits that were incorporated into these premium-priced products that just generally translated to overall comfort, and we wanted to take all of that innovation and bring it to the mass market,” he adds. According to Goldberg, “we knew that if we created something that was far beyond the expectations and beyond what customers were asking for that we could really deliver an amazing product.”
The next two years were spent developing the product as Goldberg and Heath obsessed over features, quality, and production. Finally, they thought “we love it, our parents love it, our friends love it, let’s see if the world loves it,” observes Goldberg. They selected the name Bombas, from the Latin word for “bumblebee,” because bees are altruistic animals that live in a hive and they work together to make their world a better place.
“We loved the name since we’re a company that was born out of a mission to give back to the community where we work and live,” he adds. The idea of working together was woven into their entire approach to branding.
In fact, they selected “Bee Better” as their motto. They launched the business on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo with the hope of raising $15,000. Within a month they had raised $150,000! The money allowed them to build their website and begin selling their socks to the public. They also raised money from friends and family, and shortly after their online debut they received an invitation to appear on Shark Tank and received an offer from investor Daymond John. The money and exposure catapulted Bombas onto the national stage. “After that we were kind of off to the races doing what we do best, telling our story, focusing on product, focusing on community, and building the business,” says Goldberg........

Questions 

1 How did Bombas’s founders Randy Goldberg and David Heath create customer value when they started their apparel company by selling socks?
2 How did Goldberg and Heath raise money to start the company?
3 What are the key elements of Bombas’s “four Ps”
marketing strategy?
4 How has the combination of the Bombas social mission, its “Bee Better” motto, the direct-to-consumer sales model, its Customer Happiness Team, and its promotional activities contributed to Bombas’s success?
5 Describe possible future marketing actions Bombas should consider.