Getting into the Shopping Mom’s Mindset

Family budget aside for a moment, moms are continuing to shop.  There’s no way around the weekly groceries and I still have to fight my way through the masses when shopping for shoes, the latest Apple device and for any number of things at Target (at least when I’m not shopping online).  So how can brands be sure they’re top of “the list” when mom goes shopping?  The 360PR MomSquad partnered with our friends at Cool Mom Picks to find out.  We surveyed 950+ moms to identify the values, media and other factors that influence moms’ purchases for their families and themselves.

Word-of-mouth reigned supreme, with 77% of moms pointing to their own circles as the #1 trusted source on which brands to buy.  But where does word-of-mouth originate?  Well, just behind their own circles, moms said they turned to blogs and web sites as trusted resources on brands.

Moms rated a brand’s web site higher as a trusted source than a brand’s social channels.  But don’t get lulled into social complacency:  close to half of moms (44%) we surveyed said they spend 1-2 hours a day with social media, and a third reported spending 2+ hours each day using social media.  That’s one sure bet this election year, at least when it comes to being a resource for moms:  brands need to integrate and connect the dots between the proliferation of a brand’s social channels and web site.  The opportunity is to be there for mom, wherever she is.

While marketers have traditionally distinguished between working and stay-at-home moms, we found virtually no difference among the sources moms turn to and their priorities when shopping.  When mom’s ready to make a purchase decision, there’s no way around it – value comes first, whether she’s shopping for the kids or herself.  That’s one reason deal sites are so popular with moms: 75% of moms increased their use of deal sites in the past year.

Apps were big winners with moms, too – 72% of moms are downloading more apps than a year ago.  And there’s no denying the power of social good:  70% of moms said they had “liked” a brand on Facebook to support a cause.

You can read more about our report here.  We’d love to hear what you think!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Consumer Marketing, Marketing to Moms, Parenting by LauraTomasetti - 4 Comments →

In 360PR’s 10th year, we are celebrating by sharing some of the things we’ve learned along the way in a “10 minutes with…” series featuring interviews with our practice leaders! Last time we chatted with SVP of our Entertainment & Electronics practice, Stacey Clement. Now we’ve sat down  with Victoria Renwick, SVP of our Healthy Living practice, to learn more about her and some of the trends she has spotted over the past 10!

What are some of the trends you’re seeing in the Healthy Living practice?

One of the most significant trends we’re seeing is the stepped up role consumers are playing in educating and empowering themselves before they make a purchase.  So much is happening before the consumer gets to the grocery store or other store or considers an online purchase.  Yes, price is still a consideration, but there’s a lot more that factors into what we buy these days.  This presents an opportunity for brands to act as educators, resources and connectors, instead of marketers.

How important is it for brands to “go green”?

The term ‘green’ has been thrown around pretty freely.  Brands were calling themselves and their products ‘green’ or ‘natural’ and the public, for the most part, took that at face value.  Consumers are more cognizant of green washing now and are making brands more accountable for their claims. People are more aware of how to read labels and investigate the products they are bringing into their homes  – and certainly there are a proliferation of resources at consumers’ fingertips to help. I love the Environmental Working Group site – The Skin Deep section is especially eye opening and a great place to decode confusing labels for cosmetics and health & beauty. The Organic Trade Association is also a great resource consumers can turn to for the latest news on organics and legislation as well as practical tips.

Green business practices are no longer a ‘nice to have’ but an expectation. We expect companies to be conducting business in a way that is ethically sound, better for the environment and better for us as consumers. A broad spectrum of CPG companies and food manufacturers has sustainability plans and goals in place to quantifiably demonstrate how they will be greener in the coming years. It’s all a step in the right direction.

Are there any particularly memorable 360 moments that stick out in your mind?

The way 360PR has been a leader in the social media space stands out to me.  Being part of that evolution over the last three years has been really exciting.  360 was one of the first agencies to really get the mom blogger space. We started connecting bloggers and brands in high touch settings like our Blunch™ series. That was right around the time I started here.

We’ve worked on some really fun campaigns over the years too. Just recently we were teaching the country to can as part of National Can-It-Forward Day, a campaign we created for the Ball® brand. From grassroots to top-tier media, we really struck a chord with people looking to eat more fresh and local year round.

You spent a good part of your early career in the event-planning industry.  How important do you find events to be to your client work here at 360PR and for public relations in general?

 

Events are part of our 360 full-circle approach.  We’re an agency that does events and does them well.  Events offer brands a high-touch, relationship-building forum with consumers and consumer-influencers, and that’s important as part of an integrated strategy to engage consumers.    At 360, we always have something exciting on tap – whether it’s cooking in the Muppets’ Kitchen or solving the Rubik’s Cube on the National Mall!  It’s also important to keep the formula fresh – virtual events via Livestream & Facebook help us extend the reach of ROI of a client’s investment in a physical event.

 

 

As the head of 360PR’s healthy living practice, have you found that your client work has had a significant impact on your personal life?

Absolutely. I’m so lucky to be exposed to the type of clients we have and the resources and knowledge that comes with them.  We’re PR practitioners but we’re also consumers.  Keeping on top trends for clients, you can’t help but take what you learn and apply it to your personal life.

For example, we conducted a speaking tour recently with food activist Robyn O’Brien on behalf of our Stonyfield Farm client. Robin’s a mom of four who compiled a staggering amount of information about our broken food system. As a new mom, I was a sponge, soaking up everything she had to offer.  I’ve bought her book, The Unhealthy Truth, for everyone of my friends who is a mother. It’s just too important not to share!

We also work with PBS KIDS.  When my son is ready to start watching TV or go online, I feel lucky to know what to look for when it comes to healthy, educational media. And as a busy mom, I really do rely on our clients’ services to make like easier. I use Peapod for grocery delivery every week (it’s a lifesaver!) and I do my family’s meal planning through Allrecipes.com.   This summer I planted a (small!) garden, started composting (it’s surprisingly easy!) and joined a CSA too – all things I probably wouldn’t have tried previous to heading the Healthy Living practice.

Filed under: 10 Minutes With Our Practice Leaders, 360 Public Relations, Consumer Marketing, Events and Conferences, Food Industry, Green Marketing, Marketing to Moms, PR Industry by EliciaBasoli - 5 Comments →

By Caroline Pierce

360PR’s very own Cindy Gordon moderated a panel last week at M2Moms: The Marketing-to-Moms Conference on how brands can attract the Cool Mom.  The session was called “Moms Gone Wild: Winning Over The Cool Mom.” Joining Cindy on her panel was Molly O’Donnell from Xbox, who is in the midst of launching one of the coolest new products Xbox Kinect; Donna Mirus Bates from Universal Orlando, who just opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Jyl Johnson Patee, Founder of Mom It Forward/Girls Night Out, who has mastered the technique of motivating moms to advocate on behalf of brands.

Marketers may think that it can’t be hard to win over the cool mom with cool brands like Xbox and Universal, but the insider tips shared even won “cool” praise for a baked beans company.  If these girls can make baked beans cool, anything can be cool!  Some of the top takeaways from the session were:

• Cool goes beyond aesthetics, style and packaging to include brand ethos. What a brand does outside of selling their product is important to mom – especially as it relates to helping families and the community
• Cool is naturally about packaging, branding and style, but also for mom it’s sometimes about a cool find, and something can be cool to mom if it is pragmatic and affordable
• Mom thinks brands that have a dialogue with her are cool – she’s looking for a relationship that shows the brand is listening and responding to what she has to say
• Cool used to be reserved for fringe brands discovered by NYC kids; now mom also discovers and decides what’s cool, i.e. Cynthia Rowley band aids anyone?
• Mom needs to be comfortable with making decisions, and information is key to her comfort.  She also likes to involve her friends, family in the decision process, so shareable videos, tips are important for a brand to be cool.

Also, the cool brand results from 360PR’s “Cool Brand Panel” are in! Check out which brands moms think are cool in 2010 and nominate your favorite cool brand for next year’s picks.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Events and Conferences, Marketing to Moms by Admin - 1 Comment →

360 recently hosted members of the new Boston Parent Bloggers Network for a discussion on what’s next for bloggers and brands and what’s working now.  The meeting was spurred by a rigorous schedule of blogger events we have underway this fall for an array of brands.

We’ve had great turnout at our first few events.  But if you’re a blogger, how many events for how many brands can you get to in a given week, especially if blogging is a part-time gig as it is for many?  And how can agencies and brands take it the next level?

All of the bloggers we met with are active on Twitter – some to promote their blogs and give-aways and others for purely social reasons.  The group agreed that on the whole Twitter is a platform for influencers, not the average consumer.  Facebook is also part of bloggers’ daily routines and bloggers “like” brands that fit their lifestyle.  If you’re not interacting with bloggers on Facebook, consider how you can.

Bloggers stressed that once they have become invested in a brand by participating in events, writing posts, etc., they expect to be kept in contact with.  The best programs, like relationships, are ongoing.  For example, a food council sent a different “recipe in a box” to bloggers every month for a year.

Bloggers said they’ll continue to take the time to go to events, but certain times work better than others – for mom bloggers it’s Monday-Thursday mid-morning, after school, or after 7PM.

Virtual events are catching on with busy bloggers.  Some factors for success include special access to a celebrity or other high-profile speaker, a charitable tie-in, and limiting the event to no more than one hour.

We talked about the value of tapping into existing events instead of, or to supplement, your own.  Conferences like Type A Mom, Blissdom and Blogalicious are drawing hundreds of bloggers and offer a captive audience for quality interactions.  But you have to have a strategy to stand out.

Bloggers are also interested in ambassadorships, which might entail producing content for a brand – a video series, for example.

When asked how they measure their influence and success, bloggers cited their loyal readers and the quality of their writing as most important.  It’s that personal relationship with their readers that continues to differentiate blogs from traditional media.  Brands that are succeeding in the blogosphere have a similar respect for bloggers, and an ongoing, integrated approach.

Many thanks to Christy Matte, Jodi Grundig, Erin Furey, Melanie Feehan and Kate Hayes for contributing their time and insights for this post.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Blogger Relations, Boston, Digital PR, Marketing to Moms, Social Media by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Bloggers felt the embrace of brands who planned out involving and playful interactions for them at BlogHer10. There was every manner of entertainment at the show, from happy mascots and hi-energy dance floors, to coloring stations and full-on hair salons!

At this year’s event in particular, I was struck by how many bloggers were turned into brand “spokespeople” right in front of my very eyes through highly creative and video-worthy stunts and campaigns.

In a nutshell, putting bloggers on camera talking passionately about a particular topic led to a whole lot of third-party endorsements for brands. On the flip side, bloggers didn’t seem to mind their starring role in the brand videos; in fact they seemed to welcome the opportunity to be on camera, bringing to mind the possibility of a future BlogHer Reality TV series?

Please read my short letters to the brands to learn why they were the video stand-outs, extending their brand through video in the most distinctive ways.

Dear Walmart,

You are very bright.

I applaud your focus on selling products that sustain people and the environment, and I admire that you knew it would be the perfect theme for BlogHer. I like how you took a page from the Grammy’s playbook by inviting bloggers who are passionate about the quality of life on our planet to tweet their “bright” ideas for creating a sustainable future, and then feeding their tweets in real time on the giant video screen at your booth for everyone to see.

You were also genius to offer a professional video booth for bloggers to record their ideas and share them on your YouTube page and sustainability site. Having dozens of female bloggers raving about sustainability on your website is an endorsement that means way more than any paid advertising. But you already knew that. It also didn’t hurt that you had super knowledgeable folks staffing your exhibit – they were all brilliant.

Sincerely,

Cindy

Hello Jimmy Dean,

You brought a lot of sunshine to BlogHer.

Apart from the fact that I love sausage breakfast sandwiches, who wouldn’t love meeting the “hot” celebrity from your famous Jimmy Dean commercials? As if that weren’t enough, having the chance to star in a video with the “Sun” was a marketing move that really made me melt.

In the other part of your booth galaxy, I enjoyed talking to the friendly Hillshire Farms Chef who happily took the time to make me a custom, savory sandwich. She also gave me the 411 on the “Fresh Taste Challenge Sandwich Showdown” hosted by Padma Lakshmi that had 16 bloggers competing Top Chef-style to become the champion. The really great twist in my opinion was inviting three elementary school kids to judge the goods and decide the winners (they loved the sandwich ka-bob!). Talk about great content for the Hillshire Farms YouTube site, not to mention that the 16 bloggers have most likely already streamed the video on their own blogs.

All the best,

Cindy

Dearest Yahoo! Shine,

You inspire me.

It’s really good news that you are dedicated to offering online advice and information to women, and you were very clever to extend your “You. Reinvented” brand campaign to BlogHer10. After all, what’s more inspiring than stories of women who are reinventing their lives?

I was spell-bound by your fashion news-room set-up where you invited bloggers to share their “reinvention” stories on camera. I was so enamored with the idea, that I decided that I must reinvent myself in time to participate in your video show at BlogHer11.

Good for you for not only curating the blogger videos on Yahoo!, you also smartly gave embeddable videos to each of the participating bloggers so they could easily share on their blogs too. The idea that one woman’s voice on one lone blog may not change the world–but together, they wield quite a bit of power with other women is very classy.

As ever,

Cindy

P.S. I would be remiss to not offer a shout-out to the Tempur-Pedic folks for being cheeky and dressing up in pajamas, and also for jumping on the video content bandwagon with their “Ask Me” professional photography booth.

That’s a wrap.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Blogger Relations, Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Green Marketing, Internet, Marketing to Moms, Social Marketing, Social Media, YouTube by Admin - 2 Comments →