Thanks to all of you who submitted answers to last week's Mom Marketing Quiz. A serendipitous thing happened. One of my blog subscribers, Kelly Rubingh, emailed that she's doing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk in October, asking if I would consider making my donation via her pledge page.

So...thanks to all of you, Kelly's pledge-o-meter just shot up $103. And our lucky winner, Gayle Hoch, is entitled to a $50 Amazon gift card for getting the most correct answers. (Prize coming via email today!)

Below are the answers, along with mini commentary about why these metrics are important in understanding the ever-changing mom market. I picked these questions to help you get smarter in very actionable ways. So listen up.

1). How much likelier is it that women (non-mothers) work than mothers?

Answer: 0%

Shocking, huh? If you remove households with infants (birth to 1 year), there is NO difference. 72% of moms and 72% of non-moms are in the workforce.

Implication: The workplace might be a better place to reach moms than at home, especially since women claim they have more "downtime" at the office than at home. Plus, think about how you depict your customers in your marketing materials. Is she on the couch watching TV with her kids with the sun shining in the window? Really?


2). How many ad messages does a mom encounter every day?

Answer: 3,000

This is the question that people were farthest off on. Yet this figure is well documented for all Americans, not just moms. Start to notice the ads on cereal boxes, fliers under your windshield, banner ads on your email program, even the sponsorships you hear on public radio.

Implication: Moms face a tsunami of brand messages and have learned to tune out. You have to work harder than ever to get her attention. This is where What's Your Blanket? marketing precision really pays off.

3). How many moms use coupons every month?

Answer: 67%

Thanks to the economy -- plus the emergence of mobile couponing and group-buying clubs -- coupon use is at an all-time high. And there's no shame in it. In fact, moms are psyched to have bragging rights when they score an especially good deal. As one mom in a focus group put it "I love coupons -- they're like my new crack!"

Implication: Offer coupons to motivate new customers to sign up (and provide their email address), to reward your most loyal customers, and to spur viral sharing on social networks. Make sure your shopping cart software supports coupon use. Unsure if coupons are right for your product or service? Enter the name of your category into Google followed by the word "coupon" or "discount." You might be surprised how many of your competitors are already riding the coupon wagon. Jump on.

4). What one thing appears on every page of Nielsen’s top-converting websites?

Answer: The company's phone number, usually in the upper right-hand corner.

Implication: Service matters mightily to moms. Make it easy for her to reach you. And don't subject her to phone-tree hell. Have a live human being greet her upon answering.

5). What % of NBA/NFL apparel is purchased by women?

Answer: 74%

Implication: Moms buy for many members of their extended families and often have affinities for things typically marketed as "just for guys." Don't make assumptions. At the M2Moms Conference last fall, a Marketing Director from maternity retailer, Destination Maternity shared a story about a line of nightgowns they tested bearing NFL logos, prepared for it to be a flop. They sold out lickety-split.

6). What one thing will cause 69% of moms to try a brand?

Answer: If it supports a cause.

Implication: Moms want their dollars to do good in the world. Brands that give back (especially locally) are far more likely to fall in favor with moms than those that pocket all their profits. Find a cause that aligns with your brand's personality and corporate culture. Seek out a nonprofit that is active in social media. That way your partnership will activate an already strong base of support.

7). How much time will an average mom spend in her car with her kids?

Answer: 17 days per year

Implication: Moms are on-the-go. Many times they're hostage in a parked car until karate/violin/ballet/swim instruction finishes up. Companies that create car-friendly products (such as snacks sized to fit in cup holders) will win big. And guess what else is in the car with mom and her kids? Her mobile phone. Optimize your site for mobile use! Make sure your store locator, hours, menu or other information likely to be needed by an on-the-go customer are front and center on the home page. And ensure your site displays correctly on all handsets in the marketplace, not just the most newfangled ones.

8). How many babies today are born to unwed mothers?

Answer: 41%

Implication: This surprisingly high figure was released in a recent Pew Research report. I was quoted in an article about this surge in unmarried moms and how it forces marketers to rethink how we envision families and market to them. While I know there are a lot of households headed by single moms, I also suspect this figure reflects a lot of co-habitation without marriage. There might be men in these households, but they are not husbands. What image of "family" do you showcase in your marketing?

That's it for today, folks. Thanks for your participation which helped a great cause.

Labels: Mom Marketing Quiz

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.

Last night I spoke to a group of women entrepreneurs from Savor the Success about marketing to moms. I started the evening off by giving everyone a quiz about this vastly misunderstood market. Guess what?

It's vastly misunderstood!

See for yourself.

Take the quiz below. I will post the answers on Wednesday, July 28 here on Maternal Journal. For every reader who emails their answers to katgordon@maternalinstinct.net by Wednesday, I will donate $1 to the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Fund. AND whoever gets the highest score on the quiz will win a $50 Amazon.com gift card and the prestige of being named here as the winner. So get out those #2 pencils and be forewarned -- this is a closed-book test; absolutely no Googling allowed.


1). How much likelier is it that women (non-mothers) work than mothers?

______%


2). How many ad messages does a mom encounter every day?

_______

3). How many moms use coupons every month?

______%

4). What one thing appears on every page of Nielsen’s top-converting websites?

________________________________________

5). What % of NBA/NFL apparel is purchased by women?

______%


6). What one thing will cause 69% of moms to try a brand?

_______________________________________________


7). How much time will an average mom spend in her car with her kids?

_____________ per year


8). How many babies today are born to unwed mothers?


_______%

Good luck, everyone. May the best mom marketer win. And feel free to invite friends and colleagues to participate, too. It's all for a good cause.

Labels: Marketing Wisdom, quiz

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.

This morning, at the corner of Montgomery and California in downtown San Francisco I was stopped in my tracks by what you see above: an unattended beverage cart filled to the top with bottles of Honest Tea. Next to it was a sign reading "The Honest Store, $1 per bottle, on the honor system." The plexiglass box above had several dollar bills resting inside.

Brilliant. So brilliant, I was plagued with waves of WDITOT* regret throughout my 11:00 meeting.

What a simple, smart way to make your brand name memorable AND to infuse your brand with personality while driving word-of-mouth. Think about it: if they had positioned a guy giving away the tea for free at that corner, you might have grabbed a bottle. Maybe not. But you probably wouldn't have even noticed whose product it was.

Instead, they created something almost like performance art, where passers-by became the performers. Bottles of tea on the honor system in a major downtown area? Now that's novel.

*Why Didn't I Think of That. Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.

No one loves the orthodontist. Or so I thought.

Yet this week, visiting with my sister and her family in Connecticut, I was reminded yet again that warm-blanket marketing can build loyalty for anyone...even the guy who earns you the nickname Tinsel Teeth and banishes popcorn from your life.

The story goes like this. My 9-year old niece mistakenly left her retainer wrapped in a napkin on a table at Dairy Queen. My brother-in-law braved 100% humidity, flies, and mountains of trash, dumpster-diving there that night in search of the missing retainer.

Nothin.

The next morning, the mood was somber as my sister dialed Dr. Kim's office, handing the phone over to Caroline to report her crime.

The grey clouds instantly lifted. Caroline hung up and yelled "Guess what, Mom! It's normally $280 to replace, but since this is my first loss, I get a special deal. If I make a dozen home-baked cookies AND write a one-page story about how I lost my retainer -- they give us half price. Just $140!"

Sure enough, Dr. Kim has a "Great Retainer Deal" policy (complete with wonderfully charming flyer) for all first-time offenders.

Here's what this smart doctor figured out:

- Sacrificing profit sometimes is smart business. Orthodontia equals a hemorrhaging of cash to parents. Taking the sting out of an unfortunate loss like this builds goodwill.

- Teaching responsibility to kids is a silver lining. Without the cookie/story component, Dr. Kim's policy loses a critical element: turning a loss into a learning opportunity. The dental office keeps a notebook of the kids' stories in the reception area. Chances are my niece's story will give every kid in New Haven County pause about wrapping a retainer in a napkin. Plus parents appreciate the reinforcement from another source about the importance of personal responsibility.

- Catching kids being good matters, too. In addition to his retainer-loss policy, Dr. Kim has incentives to reinforce desirable behavior. Every once in a while, my niece leaves her appointment and is handed a sealed envelope bearing the words "You've been caught doing a good job." Inside is a crisp one-dollar bill. (Remember my earlier blog post about random rewards being more motivating than constant rewards? This guy really gets it.)

Who is your community has wowed you by running a business that's truly family friendly?

Labels: Marketing Wisdom

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.

There is no better proof of a product's wet-blanketness than having it pulled from the market.

Such is the case with Mead-Johnson’s Enfagrow Premium Chocolate Toddler Formula, a product I eyed suspiciously the moment I saw it. Aimed at toddlers 12-36 months, it was a surprising launch on Mead-Johnson's part, given the brouhaha caused last year by the Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk campaign targeting elementary school-aged kids.

Even the way Mead-Johnson described the product felt askew; as if they had bypassed the focus groups and just barreled ahead with a "hey -- let's make chocolate formula for toddlers!" positioning:

As your child grows from an infant to a toddler, he’s probably becoming pickier about what he eats. Now more than ever, ensuring that he gets complete nutrition can be a challenge.

That’s why we created new Enfagrow PREMIUM Chocolate with Triple Health Guard™. With more nutrition than milk, Omega-3 DHA, prebiotics, and a great tasting chocolate flavor he’ll love, you can help be sure he’s getting the nutrition he still needs even after he outgrows infant formula.

Huh? Yes, your toddler gets pickier about what he eats. That's his job. Here's yours: to not cave to his every whim. He also wants to put his fingers in the light sockets and swing from the ceiling fan. This is when "parent" becomes a verb.

To round out my inherent skepticism, I asked Wendy Wright, a licensed lactation consultant (with an MBA, no less) to weigh in.

"Once an infant turns one, it is time to expand the nutritional offerings - not limit them. Milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables help children learn to experiment with tastes and textures. High calorie/sugar foods limit exposure to variety and tend to make toddlers even more picky."

So what happened to make this product launch -- then fizzle -- faster than a fireworks display?

Three things.

First, Moms got mad:

I still have that sample of enfagrow on my desk. Looking at it still makes my blood pressure go up.

Our kids already have the deck stacked against them when it comes to nutrition in this country, why make it any worse?

This isn’t formula – it’s dessert marketed as something healthy!

I don’t know who to be angrier with though – the company for manufacturing it – or the fact that there are parents willing to buy it!

Then they voted with their dollars:

I was tempted to buy a can for the sake of research, but I just couldn’t justify giving Enfamil my money, not even in the name of investigative journalism.

Lastly, they did what brands fear most: told everyone they know:

I found out about this a week or so ago when one of my friends posted a link on Facebook.

I tweeted about this when I first saw it a week and a half ago, and was in utter disbelief.

But more than anything, Mead-Johnson failed even before the first can of Enfagrow reached the shelves. Why? Because they didn't ask customers what they wanted. There has never been a time in the history of the world that it's been easier, faster or more affordable to learn what your customer wants. All the quotes above I pulled off Twitter and Mom blogs. Mead-Johnson could have floated the idea of a chocolate toddler formula past moms instead of the reality of one.

Instead they learned the hard way that job one with Moms is protecting a child's health. Anyone who crosses that line is extricated from Momville faster than a drunken patron from a corner bar. That's what's most regrettable about this Wet Blanket Award. It was avoidable. Mead-Johnson had the ultimate formula for success at their fingertips the whole time -- they just never bothered to use it. Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.