3 fresh ways to look at moms (mommy insights crowd-sourcing)

Going beyond clichés and stereotypes to better

understand their hopes, dreams, values and “little

secrets”. Ultimately to better connect with them.

3 (of many) “fresh”

ways to look at

moms.

Motherhood is….

All rights reserved, Ulli Appelbaum 2013

The marketing

community has a huge

opportunity to make things better for moms.

of moms feel that advertisers

don't really understand what it's

like to be a mom*.

73%

of moms feel like marketers are

ignoring their needs*.

60%

of moms think advertisers are

doing a poor job at connecting

with them*.

80%

Source: M2Mom.com

Brands still focus on

motherhood “ideals” and

stereo-types and usually miss the mark.

Mommies’ culture however has evolved and changed.

The result is a major gap

between moms own

narratives and expectations

and the social norms

embraced by most brands.

Brands that will close the gap

first will win.

6

but first…

Who is this guy?

And what does he know about

MOMS?

Strategist

20+ years of global experience in

brand strategy and customer

experience design.

www.ulliappelbaum.com

Proud dad & husband

Lola, 4

Fynn, 4

Leo, 2

Entrepreneur

Co-founder of

www.wemothers.com, a start-up

focusing on moms emotional

wellbeing.

Online Community Manager

I’ve built a community of nearly

10.000 moms by listening to and

conversing with moms for the last

2 years (total investment = $0) .

12

The research.

The Stimuli.

Over 1200 Facebook posts capturing

insights, truths, needs, vulnerabilities, jokes,

aspiration about motherhood.

Delivered in a Facebook friendly format,

“digital posters*”.

To our community of 7000+ moms. posters *To learn more about digital posters visit www.ulliappelbaum.com

The Methodology.

• Moms see one of our posts (digital posters).

• They decide in a split second whether the content

(the post) resonates with them and whether they

want to engage (“like”, “comment” or “share”) or not.

• This methodology measures moms’ “blink”

reactions. No rationalization, social filtering or

forced conversations, just real spontaneous and

visceral reactions that show moms hot buttons. A

real temperature check of what resonates with

today’s moms.

• Facebook provides the analytics that allows us to

track the engagement levels and type of

engagements.

Quick facts

Digital posters posted

1200+

Moms reacting to those posts

7000+

most engaging posts are the focus

of the research.

Top 10% Top

10%

To test the relevance of

these insights, I ran an

artcile on the Huffington

Post

Nearly 250.000 “likes” and 64.000 “shares”

within the first 72 hours on the HuffPost alone.

Estimated reach: 3 to 4 million readers.

How relevant and

engaging are these

insights? No, really?

I published a “consumer friendly” version of

these insights on the Huffington Post entitled

:”24 Clear Signs You’re a Mom”.

17

3 of the “Mommy truths”

identified in the research

are highlighted next.

The Digital Posters shown in the next section

were chosen because they triggered some of

the strongest engagement levels from moms

(liked, shared or commented). In other

words, they rung particularly true with moms.

Today’s moms celebrate and

take pride in their lack of

“perfection”. They celebrate the

“anti-hero” archetype.

Mommy Truth 1:

Moms are “heroes”. There is no doubt about that. However, the “narratives” they use to describe themselves and the type of experiences they use to relate to each other are those of “anti-heroes”. It’s all about celebrating the little imperfections and short-comings of motherhood. While it is tempting for a brand to celebrate the “ideal” and portray moms as the heroes (that they are), this approach often doesn’t ring true with moms. Try instead to explore and understand the little imperfections that moms will admit to and “celebrate”. This will open up a whole range of new and innovative solutions on how to relate to moms.

Thought starters.

Most people think daily chores

are, well, “chores” and vacations

are, well, ‘vacations”. Moms

however are not like most

people.

Mommy Truth 2:

Most categories are based on certain conventions that define what is good and what is not. Brands usually use those conventions to differentiate themselves and add value. Moms however may experience the core conventions and drivers in your category quite differently. A trip to a retail outlet, under the right circumstances, can become a treat. A vacation is often seen as “work away from home”. How do moms’ perceptions and experiences differ from your own beliefs and conventions about what the category is or should be. And how would you change the way you interact with moms or the type of experiences your brand provides if you were to re-frame your category understanding around moms’ point of view?

Thought starters.

Hidden in the pantry in a box labeled “flour” is top -of-the-line chocolate and a few joints. I rarely resort to it, but it’s a comfort knowing it’s there*.

Every loving, dedicated and

sacrifice-making mom also has a

dark side (often in the form of

chocolate) that she selfishly

hides from others.

Mommy Truth 3:

* Source: Smokler, Jill, Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood: The Good, The Bad, and the Scary.

To build on the previous thought-starters, do you know your audience’s little indulgences, “little secrets” and secret selfish little behaviors and habits? Once you have identified them, it becomes easy to identify better and more meaningful ways to relate to her.

Thought starters.

www.ulliappelbaum.com

Interested in learning more about

this research, how it can help you

better understand and connect

with today’s moms and most

importantly how to translate

these insights into powerful

marketing strategies &

programs? Just reach out.

“The study offers a fresh yet powerful approach to understanding what moms today think, feel and want. Using a crowdsourcing and social

approach to garnering insights allows for a rich, and honest perspective from real moms. His insights are very valuable to any company who wants to reach the critical mom target and his ability to demonstrate how these insights can reach moms will make meaningful impacts on your business.”

M. Edgin, Global Director, Digital IQ at Kimberly-Clark Corporation (the makers of Huggies).

What experts say about the

research.

“The methodology is impressive in its ability to capture the real sentiment of today’s moms. The presentation is full of fresh and interesting insights that will benefit everyone trying to better understand and connect with

moms both strategically and creatively.” S. Bamber, EVP Chief Strategy Officer at DraftFCB

and mommy marketing expert