This Mother’s Day, consumers are expected to spend approximately $152.52 on gifts for mom – up 8 percent from last year. As we head to Mother’s Day weekend, we surveyed MMC’ers who are quite the shopping enthusiasts to see where they’re getting their gifts. A majority named online retail sites. The list included:
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
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- Nothing but NETFLIX – Whether it’s adding to your queue or watching instantly, Netflix has figured out the formula for success. With more than 2 million new users since the beginning of 2013, Netflix has risen to the top, while bringing the trend of “binge viewing” into the homes of the American public. The online video provider has branched out by creating original content with the launch of its first series “House of Cards.” Netflix also signed a coveted deal with the producers at “Arrested Development” to bring 15 original episodes of the cult comedy back to the small screen to pave the way for a potential movie. Netflix is hot right now, and its lack of commercial content is what makes it stand out from the other big guns of binge viewing. This is a tough nut for brands to crack, but a growing platform with real PR legs if leveraged strategically.
- Courting Martha Stewart? – America’s favorite homemaker sat down with Matt Lauer last week where she confessed to wanting to try online dating, specifically Match.com. This was obviously music to the ears of the folks at Match.com, who coordinated a follow-up special on TODAY featuring Martha and Matt hunting for her online love. Even if she doesn’t find her soul mate, Match.com certainly took advantage of a golden opportunity.
- Get Your Own Gala Gown – With the Met Gala taking place tonight, celebrities have enlisted the help of their glam teams and famous fashion friends to get prepped. Aside from the Oscars, the Met Gala is arguably the biggest fashion night of the year, and a time to make a real statement. Upscale E-commerce giant and event co-sponsor Moda Operandi has partnered with several of the designers to offer the gowns as soon as they hit the carpet in a live streaming flash sale. Get your credit cards ready gals, these gowns will cost you a pretty penny.
- Seacrest and Paltrow Team Up – PEOPLE’s Most Beautiful and E!’s most profitable have signed on to create a 10 episode web based series on AOL’s On Network. The series entitled “Second Chances” will feature Gwyn and her fitness guru pal Tracy Anderson as they share stories of women who have faced and overcome a variety of obstacles in their lives. The series will roll out over the next couple of months, as Ryan Seacrest Productions continues to focus on digital content.
- Mr. President Goes to Hollywood – President Obama took a break from his day to day duties to join Hollywood’s elite for the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner. Conan O’Brien took over as host, while delivering some memorable zingers. Not to be outdone, Mr. President had no shortage of one-liners himself; even getting a few laughs while sporting his wife’s buzzed about bangs. Often deemed the “nerd prom,” the annual White House Correspondents Dinner is a collision of two different worlds, but always makes for some good laughs.
Image courtesy of Netflix
Women, particularly mothers – who represent a $2.4 trillion market – are making about 83-87 percent of purchase decisions in American households.
In March 2013, Mom Central Consulting surveyed 900+ moms to understand the power of peer influence on these purchasing decisions. The results showed the following about moms:
- 99% research products online before purchasing; of which, 87% specifically look for first-person recommendations. Marketers need to engage with consumers to get feedback and address it to maximize positive brand sentiments.
- 81% read 5+ blogs per week, which confirms the importance of encouraging online influencers to blog about your brand.
- 76% trust social media recommendations for products before purchasing them, and 69% are more likely to purchase if a product is recommended by those they follow on social networking sites.
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- When it Comes to Purchasing, Moms Do Their Research…Online
- by Alyssa Marderstein
- Tagged: Creative, digital, Integrated marketing, Marketing, Marketing to Moms, marketing to women, public relations, shopper marketing, Social Media, Women's life stages
Beer has passed wine as the favorite alcoholic beverage for women between 18 and 34 years old, according to a 2012 Gallup poll. Additionally, women in their 20s and 30s are in “the sweet spot” for craft beer consumption. Many are even choosing an India Pale Ale (IPA) over a Chardonnay.
Brewing companies like Carlsberg that have an 80 percent male customer base, are working on developing products and marketing them to women. Carlsberg’s approach is to create new recipes that are “lighter in alcohol, refreshing in taste, and perceived as healthy enough to take on wine, champagne, and other drinks vying for women’s dollars.” We’ll see if this is the right formula for going about it.
Moreover, it turns out that beer may even offer health benefits for women. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and noted in this infographic, beer protects bone-mineral density because of its high levels of silicon. Women have a higher predisposition for osteoporosis, which affects 44 million Americans – 68 percent are women.
The infographic also points out that the first professional brewers were women, and that back in the day, brewing beer was considered a very important and noble task for the ladies.
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That’s a question we asked Arun Sudhaman, managing editor of The Holmes Report on the heels of a study about creativity his publication conducted with creativity experts Now Go Create and sponsored by our Omnicom sister agency Ketchum.
One of the findings that caught MMC’s attention was that the 650 interviewees named three campaigns MMC has worked on out of the 12 they cited as “best example of a creative PR campaign that drove business results over the past 18 months.” These were: P&G Moms, Head & Shoulders with Troy Polamalu and Depend Great American Try On.
So we followed up with Arun recently to ask him a few more questions about creativity in PR campaigns. Here’s what he had to say.
Q: Are you seeing any new trends in creative campaigns?
A: There are two trends that we’re seeing. One is an increase in integrated marketing communications programs, particularly in consumer marketing. While a campaign might begin with a “PR Idea,” many campaigns, particularly those in consumer marketing, include the whole gamut of marketing communications.
The second trend is the importance of purpose, or social marketing. To stand out in a crowded marketplace, marketers need to demonstrate that they care about people’s lives – not just their products. An excellent example of this is a campaign Electrolux did called “Vac from the Sea.” Electrolux’s idea was to recycle plastic debris from the ocean and turn it into vacuum cleaners to draw attention to the issue of plastic ocean waste. As one of the world’s biggest appliance makers, Electrolux had a natural stake in the idea as the company uses recycled plastics in its appliances.
Of course, not every campaign has to be purpose driven. The last thing you want to do is align with a purpose that’s not authentic to your company or product. And just as many campaigns that have tried to tap into a cause fail as succeed. It really depends on how the campaign is developed and executed.
Q: Are you seeing an increase in the central idea for integrated campaigns coming from PR?
A: Yes, but those ideas aren’t necessarily coming from PR agencies. Often they come from the advertising agency.
You can almost count on two hands the big ideas coming from the PR industry. A big part of the challenge is that clients may not be willing to accept ideas that drive an integrated campaign from the PR agency. Clients may say they don’t care where the big idea comes from, but I think they really do care — they expect them to come from the ad agency.
Whenever we interview CMOs, they always say they want more ideas from their PR agencies. It’s hard to believe that PR agencies aren’t coming up with those ideas. I think it’s a matter of PR agencies doing a better job of articulating how the idea can solve a client’s marketing challenge.
Check back tomorrow to see what Arun has to say about how PR agencies can be more creative.
Image courtesy of The Holmes Report
We’ve read the reports. We’ve seen the data. Emotion plays a huge part in “why she buys”. We get it.
But, how often do we take the time to lift that layer of emotion. Does it just make her feel good, or is there more to it?
Since we’re talking about women here, my money is on the fact that there’s more to it.
Check out this photo. I’m on Spring Break, beach bound for the day in the Caribbean. I’ve got my SPF 30, 40, and 60. But, what’s that in the corner? Is that…? Yes, it is.
I was on line at the pharmacy this morning and spotted Ban de Soleil Orange Gelee Classic Formula SPF4. What is happening? They still make this?
If I were in a romantic comedy the camera would immediately cut to a flashback of me in my teen years with all my girlfriends at the beach, with a sea of magazines at our feet, slathering on this glamorous St. Tropez Tanning formula – soaking in that signature fragrance and the excitement of what the night would bring as we sport our new fresh-faced, bronze glow. Notice no mention of wrinkles, skin cancer or sun spots.
Life was good. Life was simple.
And so was the decision today, 20+ yrs later, to pay $14.99 for this little Time Machine tube. I couldn’t resist the idea of rubbing even a tiny bit of this potion into my skin, enjoying that signature fragrance, feeling simple.
Of course, today I sit under my umbrella, covered in La Roche-Posay 60, while wearing a larger-than-life visor that could probably pick up several more movie channels than my current cable package allows.
You could say the path to purchasing this was my version of taking a spin in Doc’s DeLorean equipped with the flux capacitor.
What’s yours?
Today, one out of every nine Americans is over 65, and, for the next 19 years, nearly 30,000 boomers will become seniors every single day. But in an age where 50 is the new 30, boomers don’t feel constrained by their age and marketers should take notice. I recently attended the What’s Next Boomer Summit in Chicago along with 400 other marketers interested in reaching this consumer (our Depend client also presented a case study on our work for The Great American Try On). Here are some key takeaways for targeting this age group:
- Age and frailty don’t sell. Age is just a number right? When 60 year olds are asked what age they feel, the average response is 45. And this only increases slightly as people get older. Boomers are active and are concerned with looking cool too!
- Boomers and millennials are a lot alike. Surprising, yes? You may think these are two very different target audiences but they actually share many of the same values. Hot topics like green work places, flexible schedules and work/life balance are very important to both segments.
- Entrepreneurs at heart. More boomers create start ups today than 20 somethings. Their motivation comes after spending many years in corporate America and wanting to embrace their creative sides.
- Don’t waste their time. Boomers have a lot of life to live and are extremely sensitive to anything that wastes their precious time.
Today’s boomers are different from every generation before them. Take some time to get to know them if you want to capture them as a target.
Image courtesy of Depend
