‘Buy One, Give One’ Model Can Work Profitably for WakaWaka, CEO Says

WakaWaka, the Dutch-based supplier of a $79 solar-powered LED lamp and smartphone charger of the same name, thinks it’s still possible to make a profitable go of a philanthropic business model that’s based on giving one unit away for every unit it sells, CEO Camille van Gestel told us at CES Unveiled New York Tuesday. "WakaWaka means ‘shine bright’ in Swahili, and I’m not sure Shakira knew that when she did that song at the World Cup four years ago," van Gestel said of the Colombian pop star. At $79, "you buy one, you give one," van Gestel said. To achieve profit on that model, "it’s still possible, but it’s challenging," he said. "Specifically from the bricks and mortar perspective, margins are under pressure. So we look at a selective retail environment for next year. We’re looking for strategic partnerships with retailers that really appreciate what we do and want to help us get the story out, and maybe accept just a little bit less. So we all make this happen all together. Once we get more volume, we can further decrease our production costs, then it will be a much healthier business for retailers." Profitably speaking, "it works, but barely," van Gestel said. Some "very high-profile" retailers will carry the WakaWaka in time for the holiday selling season, but NDAs bar him from revealing their names, he said. For now, WakaWaka is available from the company’s online store, and from Amazon and a few other e-commerce merchants, he said. "With each purchase, you get a unique code that you can punch in at the WakaWaka website. That’s where you can select where your ‘give one’ goes. And we track and trace where that ‘give one’ goes. We get testimonials from users, from Syrian refugees, from Ebola health workers." Citing data from the International Rescue Committee, "one of the parties we work with," van Gestel said WakaWaka "is the most valued nonfood item in Syria. I would never have thought that -- more than blankets or shelter or anything like that. But it’s extremely rewarding to be able to do this, and it’s our passion. It’s the reason why we are in the States and selling in Europe in order to make more impact. The 1.2 billion people who are out there and have no access to electricity -- that’s our goal and our mission to provide light to them before 2030."