How Brands Can Celebrate Moms on Mother’s Day and Throughout the Year

Mother’s Day. The day I look forward to each year. The day when my son and I spend the entire day together – just the two of us. Whether it’s going to a movie, out for sushi, or on a road trip, that day is what memories are made of.

Though most moms say time spent with their loved ones and homemade cards are what they really cherish, the National Retail Federation says Mother’s Day spending will jump 11 percent this year to $20.7 billion, with consumers spending an average $168.94 on mom.

“It’s clear that Americans want to honor the women with the hardest job in the world this Mother’s Day,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shey. And for good reason. Moms are typically the household chef, chauffeur, organizer and primary purchase decision-maker for their families. But they’re not just buying for themselves; they’re also buying for kids, husbands, friends, sports teams and often their own parents.

Marketers are always looking for ways to reach moms, but it can be a struggle if they don’t understand how best to connect with them.

Tips to Attract and Engage Moms

Participate directly with moms. Brands trying to win over moms must participate directly with them, and develop a credible voice: one that is engaging, personal, authentic and participatory.
Research where she is online. Yes, moms like to shop and read blogs, but they also research health information, conduct online banking, watch videos and play games. Because patterns vary by life stage and interests, marketers need to understand their audience and how they are using the Internet.
Help her connect with your other customers. Moms gravitate toward brands that help them converse and connect with other moms. Brands can accomplish this through their websites, blogs and other social media sites where moms are connecting.
Don’t talk AT moms. Many brands create social media campaigns aimed at engaging moms, but fail because they end up talking “at” moms with self-serving advertising speak. Create added value for moms by providing them with information that is useful and interesting. Then provide tools that allow moms to interact not only with the brand, but each other. Listen to their feedback and make changes accordingly.
Respect her. Moms want brands to listen to them and respond to what they’re saying by showing respect and understanding their needs.
Don’t stereotype. Soccer moms. Helicopter moms. Boomer moms. Gen Y moms. Stay-at-home moms. A mom wouldn’t describe herself as such, so why do marketers? Appreciate the diversity of moms and connect accordingly.
Make her laugh. Moms love to laugh. Women’s humor grows out of identifying with another person in a funny situation, and recognizing their similarities. Help them find those similarities in humorous situations.
Concentrate on customer service. Word-of-mouth is the biggest factor in purchasing decisions for online moms. They look for recommendations from people they trust, and stay away from businesses if other moms relay bad experiences. Brands should make sure that word-of-mouth doesn’t work against them by making a commitment to impeccable customer service. Always go a bit further than needed, and include some form of “thank you.”
Remember that moms are not JUST moms. Moms are not one-dimensional — they have other interests, and don’t want to read just about mom-related topics. Moms also travel, race dirt bikes and collect fine wine as well.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

We’re huge fans of Anna Quindlen and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use her genius book title in a blog post. We love that she celebrates the concept of lots of candles, when practically all of America runs from it. So what’s the book about? It’s a memoir with the Pulitzer Prize winning author writing about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen serves up generous portions of her wise, commonsensical take on life.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Marketing to Women: Life After Mommyblogging

Marketing to Mommybloggers

It’s nice to be validated by the Harvard Business Review! As we’ve been saying, marketers seem to have missed – or ignored – the arrival of Boomers, particularly women boomers, online. What do these women want marketers to know? They want them to help women age well: it’s about looks, finance, dreams, work, parents and kids. As Morra Aarons-Mele points out, even the original cadre of “mommybloggers” have reached an age where their kids are older, and their lives and blog content are expanding to reflect that. The fullness of a woman’s life demands a 360-degree view from marketers; her interests cannot be contained to a narrow lens or a defined age group.

Check out this great read!

Marketing to Women? Don’t Forget PANKs!

Don’t Forget to Market to These Women: PANKs.

PANK: Professional Aunt No Kids.

A joint study recently released by Savvy Auntie and Weber Shandwick with KRC Research revealed that PANKs are a “sizeable segment of younger women with disposable income, dynamic influence, and a digitally-connected lifestyle.”

The acronym for this emerging demographic of 23 million women who love children but have none of their own was first coined by Melanie Notkin, founder of Savvy Auntie. According to the study, one in five U.S. women is a PANK and are important because they are:

Big Spenders: More than 76 percent of PANKs spent more than $500 per child this past year, for a total of $9 billion.
Highly Influential: 68 percent of survey respondents said that they’re a role model for the kids in their lives.
Avid Info-sharers: 73 percent of PANKs are likely to provide information about products and services to others, both in person and through social media.

PANKs represent an excellent opportunity for brands that are looking to market to women. To gain the hearts and spending power of PANKs, here are some important strategies to keep in mind:

Acknowledge PANKs: Recognize them as a powerful market.
Avoid stereotyping PANKs as non-domestic: While they enjoy their domestic lives, they find their community service and charity work to be equally important.
Develop online campaigns: PANKs are digitally savvy, with 56 percent trusting online reviews more than their own instincts (47 percent). Create social platforms content for them, as their postings are likely to go viral.
Focused messaging: PANKs are proud of the relationship that they have with the kids in their lives, regardless of their “non-mom” status.
Build a base of PANK advocates: Many PANKs will become moms one day. Brands should look to secure their loyalty now.

“PANKs have the time, income and passion for purchasing the best for the kids in their lives,” says Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist for Weber Shandwick. “They are well worth a marketer’s attention.”

Marketing to Women: Emotional Attachment & Brand Loyalty

Brand Loyalty and Marketing to Women

Emotions play an important role in a woman’s purchasing decisions and brand loyalty. We don’t always buy a product or service because it’s the best value for our money; many times our choice is driven by an emotional connection.

Brands often develop exclusive campaigns and programs to build and maintain this brand loyalty. The recent success of P&G’s ‘Thank you, Mom’ campaign focused solely on females, is a great example. Brand loyalty now is a two-way relationship; businesses demonstrate their loyalty by listening to the needs and concerns of their consumers, actively engaging and responding to their issues, and using that information to anticipate market trends. In this way, customer loyalty is a mutually beneficial relationship, rather than a one-way flow of products and information.

The 2013 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index® indicates that brands driving the highest level of emotional engagement were ABC (evening news category) with 97 percent, Amazon (online retailers category) with 96 percent, and three companies at 95 percent– Pampers (diapers), Dunkin‘ (packaged coffee), and Subway (quick-serve restaurants). Other category winners include:

• Credit card: Discover, 94 percent

• Automotive: Ford and Hyundai at 93 percent

• Luxury cosmetics: Clinique, 93 percent

• Natural food stores: Whole Foods, 93 percent

• E-readers: Kindle, 92 percent

• Tablets: Amazon, 92 percent

• Breakfast cereal: Cheerios, 91 percent

• Gasoline: Shell, 89 percent

• Discount retail store: Walmart, 89 percent

• Social networking sites: Facebook, 88 percent

• Airline: US Airways, 85 percent

• Search engine: Google, 85 percent

• Pizza: Domino’s 84 percent

• Car Insurance: State Farm, 82 percent

• Casual Dining: Applebee’s, 82 percent

• Luxury hotel: Inter-Continental, 82 percent

• Bank: JP Morgan Chase, 79 percent

It bears repeating that women are the top marketing opportunity in today’s economy. They make 85 percent of all consumer purchasing decisions, and account for $7 trillion in consumer and business spending. Savvy marketers understand this, and will continue to look at ways to build brand loyalty with this key consumer.

The Badass: Marketing to the Boomer Woman

Marketing to the Boomer Woman

Women Baby Boomers Have Money to Spend on Everything

Women baby boomers know their own strength – but brands are still having a hard time recognizing it.

Because I’m a baby boomer and specialize in the marketing-to-women space, I’m particularly conscious of how I’m treated by brands. I’m certainly not ready to be stored in the attic, and neither are my friends. Yet, as boomer women we’re continually marginalized by brand managers (primarily male) who don’t think any women of value exist over the age of 39. What they must realize is that those inconsequential 45+ women are the ones that have the most money to spend on everything from vacations, to new homes, and from cars to cosmetics. Some interesting statistics on the purchasing power of Boomer women:

The net worth of women ages 50 and older is $19 trillion. They own more than 3/4 of the U.S. financial wealth
Boomer women buy 65 percent of new cars, 91 percent of new homes, and 92 percent of travel
Boomer women spend more than $55 billion per year on consumer electronics
Disposable incomes are highest for women aged 45-54
Boomer women are at the peak of their careers, and statistically are the least impacted by the recession
91 percent feel that marketers do not understand them

In addition, this group of women will experience the largest population growth over the next 10 years, and the largest transference of wealth from inheritances left by parents and husbands. Yet rarely if ever does one see a marketer’s target audience that extends beyond the age of 49 unless it’s for the senior market.

Brands Should Learn to Recognize the Badass that Is the Boomer Woman

Marketers and the media need to finally realize that the women most ignored are the ones who can do the most good in this economy. The time for patronizing ads and ignorance is long gone.

So marketers, take it from Katherine Hepburn: boomer women are older, but certainly not old. They’re strong, capable and generally pretty badass!

Do Teen Preferences Rule Your Marketing to Women Strategy?

There has been quite a bit of talk lately regarding the exodus of teens from Facebook. A recent Business Insider story noted that teens are obsessed with Instagram and Snapchat, but are less enthralled with Facebook. And while the reasons that Facebook has become “boring” could be many for teens (including the fact that nothing is cool if your parents are involved), it doesn’t make Facebook irrelevant for key audiences. Teens typically are on the cutting edge of technology, adopting new platforms faster than I can whip up a batch of my chocolate chip cookies. For marketers, it’s important to clearly understand your target audience, and where they spend their time engaging with their communities. And if as a marketer you are targeting women, then Facebook is still a relevant place to engage them.

Question: can you clearly identify where your audiences/customers spend their time online?

Marketing to Women: Baby Boomers and Beauty

We’ve spoken often about how women baby boomers are the most affluent consumer segment today; yet they are continually underrepresented or (worse yet) completely ignored by marketers. BOOMbox Network conducted a survey with women over the age of 45 to see how they feel about their beauty at this life stage. As the survey notes, it was no surprise to find respondents lamenting about how most beauty brands do a very poor job of communicating with them. Details of the findings are in the infographic below, but some highlights of the findings include:

For women over 50, hair is super important!

They feel more beautiful in midlife than when they were in their 20s

They do not believe most beauty product claims

They do not like the use of younger models or celebrities in advertising targeting them

They define beauty in terms of confidence

Beauty marketers, are you listening to these Baby Boomers?

Truths About Marketing to Moms

Marketing to Moms: A List of Truths

Recently Holly Pavlika shared her predictions for how marketers will attempt to engage moms. We’ve noted a few of them below:

Television, social media, and motherhood will recognize that they need each other. It’s already happening with blogger integration. Television is the second screen to her, and it will be interesting to see how apps like Zeebox, which integrates television shows and social media, will fare.

Technology and smartphones will become more and more a part of her life. Brands need to get ahead of the curve with mobile.

Brands will continue to try to reach moms through “pinked” and specially designed products. And they will fail miserably. Painting a product pink and adding glitter to something hardly raises its ability to effectively meet the buyer’s needs. To win her over, focus on features, benefits, providing value, and superlative customer service.

More and more advertising will feature moms. Until we want to scream. Advertising and marketing to moms is so blatant right now, it’s almost laughable. Brands will continue to think putting a mom in the picture will attract moms to listen their pitch. The emphasis should not be on “hey, mom,” messaging, but rather on recognizing whether or not moms really need the product in their lives.

We’ll see more growth in the Latina mom market. Brands need to get ready for her – she’s highly social, has huge spending power, and isn’t afraid to use her voice.

The Networked Mom will continue to adapt and use technology and social media to share ideas and connect with others. She loves the ability to share her passions and use her voice, and she will continue to be a primary focus of the media and marketers in 2013.

Photo courtesy of Episencial

Marketing to Women: Mama Needs a Glass of Wine

by Pia Mara Finkell and reprinted with permission from CRT/tanaka

Before becoming one myself, any term modified by “mommy” made me wince. Mommy blogs, mommy marketing, mom(my) jeans. Barf. Now that I have an adorable, bubbly, giggling, non-sleeping baby at home, I’m warily starting to take notice. I find myself secretly reading some of these mommy blogs, thinking about buying some of those mom-targeted products, and contemplating the rising waistline of my jeans. It’s unavoidable, I guess.

One that I really get, now more than ever, is why wine is increasingly marketed to women, particularly young moms. In my house, we call it mommy juice, and apparently, we’re not the only ones. Someone’s already packaged a product with the same name, and there’s no shortage of others trying to take advantage of the fact that, according to a recent Gallup poll, 52 percent of women prefer wine, compared to 20 percent of men, and according to The Beverage Information Group in 2011, make up 58.1 percent of wine buyers. Mommy’s Time Out actually filed for trademark infringement due to MommyJuice’s use of the ubiquitous word in their wine marketed to women. Mad Housewife, Lulu B.(which, full-disclosure, I used to represent as their North American Brand Ambassador), Girl’s Night Out, Bitch Wines, and on and on and on. Needless to say, there’s a lot of competition for my evening tipple of choice.

This has become such a hot topic that even The New York Times recently wrote an article, Marketing Wine as a Respite for Harried Wine Women, discussing the brands above, as well as popular Facebook groups, such as “Moms Who Need Wine,” (640,000+ followers), and “OMG I So Need a Glass of Wine or I’m Gonna Sell My Kids,” (127,000+ followers). Interestingly, this article also discusses a new campaign primarily targeting women from a brand that doesn’t obviously target women through name alone, Chateau Ste. Michelle. Targeting their wines at women like me, 25 to 38 and referred to as “reluctant adults,” Chateau Ste. Michelle’s ads and Facebook campaign use an “engage-with rather than talk-at approach,” asking women to declare and share how they most enjoy wine.

Chateau Ste. Michelle is betting this choose-your-own-adventure method of engagement will make women feel the brand really “gets them,” affording them a sympathetic sound board, as well as an evening buzz after the kids’ bedtime. Something tells me they’re not the last wine brand to go down this path. As for me and what will fill my glass tonight, now that my little guy is finally sleeping, it will likely come down to taste, how well it pairs with the dinner my lovely husband made and, to be honest, the speed at which it’s poured.

Cheers!

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