Mom Marketing Lesson: Always Include Mom Bloggers
Marketers can’t afford to offend the powerful force that is the mom blogosphere. The recent Motrin mommy mess-up is a testament to that.
Here’s what happened: Motrin put up an ad on their website that has since been removed, about how carrying a baby in a sling or wrap can cause back pain for moms. The problem with the ad was that it insinuated that moms wear their babies because it makes them “look like an official mom.” It also insinuated that that’s why moms sometime look “tired and crazy.”
This ad, also on YouTube, created a fury of negative responses from angry moms on Twitter and blogs. Some called for a boycott of the product.
Motrin responded by immediately by removing the ad, acknowledging the mistake, and sending apologies to the offended moms.
Here are some takeaways for marketers marketing to moms:
1. In addition to conducting focus groups and other research with moms, you should conduct a mini-focus group or survey with influential mom bloggers before launching a mom-targeted ad.
2. Moms are sophisticated consumers. They rarely respond well to condescending tones in advertisements.
3. Invite mom bloggers to be part of your company’s mom panel. All companies that market to moms should have some sort of mom panel or mom expert that they ask to preview mom-targeted ads before running them.
Categories: Consumer Marketing, Health Marketing, Online Advertising Marketing, mom, mom bloggers, Motrin
