Over fifty percent of Americans use some form of prescription eyewear. If you’re in that fifty percent, you know what a hassle it is to take time off work to visit the optician, pick out frames, and then wait for your glasses. Next, we take more time off to have them fitted correctly, sometimes needing more than one visit. Or, we end up wearing glasses that may not have the correct prescription anymore because we haven’t gone for years to get a new eye exam. That’s not even mentioning getting a pair of glasses that we think are cute, but end up rubbing our nose wrong, or hurting behind the ears, or even causing a headache. It’s time-consuming, it can be costly to get a nice frame, and as much as we hope to only go once in a while, we sometimes need yearly changes to our vision wear. Now, add to all that the fact that many people live in rural areas where it may be even harder to get into an eye specialist because we live miles from a specialist.
These were some of the concerns of four classmates from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania when they decided to start up Warby Parker. I am sure you have probably seen the commercials for Warby Parker on TV, or advertisements online where they show how their glasses are made in-house, designed, and shipped out to each person for their specific prescription. Their goal was to make it easier and less expensive to purchase eyewear.
In the digital age, what could be easier than logging online and clicking a few buttons to have your glasses arrive in the mail? Warby Parker had the same idea. With a small start-up fund, they set about making glasses in-house instead of using a big firm so they could offer an easier way to purchase glasses. But wait, there’s more. Warby Parker didn’t stop at simply offering lower-cost, easier-to-order eyeglasses. They offered a free frame trial, so anyone can pick up to 5 frames to try on at home to ensure they were truly happy with their glasses. This means people don’t end up stuck with a pair of glasses that is the wrong shape, style, or size for their own comfort.
All this sounds like a grand plan, offering something over half the population needs at a faster pace, in an easier method, with the ability to try out the frames instead of just a quick test, and for less cost. For most people this would be enough to want to at least give them a try. But Warby Parker decided this wasn’t enough. Nope. Not only do they want to help those who can afford a pair of eyewear, but they also want to help those who need glasses and can’t afford them. So every pair a person buys from Warby Parker, the company donates a pair to someone in need.
Through all the changes and additions to their marketing, they have always thought about what their customers not only want, but what they need, and who can afford it. Warby Parker is one company that does social media marketing for the good of people, not just the good of their business.