Teething Toy Trend

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  Bonjour!  Today’s post shares a hot teething toy for today’s new moms.  Now…although this toy is celebrating its 50th anniversary, it’s now the “it” teething toy as seen with baby-toting celeb moms.  What is it?  It’s Sophie the Giraffe!

What makes Sophie so special, other than her $22.99 haute price tag?  Apparently, in her 50 years, she’s been able to claim:  that she’s manufactured from 100% natural rubber made from tree sap (and you know the bruhaha that’s been in the news about BPA and bad chemicals coming from plastics in baby bottles, cups, etc.); a host of other sight/sound/sensory benefits for babies (which, to be perfectly honest, seem like a bit like a giraffe’s neck, i.e., a stretch); and the support of over 30 million sold worldwide.

Beyond the celeb sightings, Sophie has also gotten buzz over her 50th anniversary celebrations, including: a photo contest in the US –snap a shot of Sophie in your hometown to enter.  Side note: Um…hello, shouldn’t including your baby or former owner child in the shot be part of the parameters?! That Sophie is a diva!  And a birthday card design contest in the UK.  Sophie does have her own Facebook page, by the way.  And it shows pictures of other celebrations for her throughout the world!

Wow!  I have an almost-nine-year-old and that Sophie made me feel out of touch with the new-mom-world!!  But it does go to show you what today’s parents feel is “the very best” to give to their children.  And how celebs can drive word of mom!  Hey, at the very least now you have a good idea for a baby shower gift, right?!  A quick shout-out of thanks to my new-mom cousin Joelle who owns Sophie and let us in on the scoop!  TASTY TREND:  Today’s Parents

Work it, Woman

FRESH FACTS:  As a working mom, this week for me is one of those grin and bear it weeks.  The kind filled with days that not only have the normal routine, but also the after school-into-the-night activities.  Think: baseball games that don’t end until 8pm (so go straight from work to the field), and the annual science fair (again, go from work to school, oh and don’t forget to get everything ready for it).  So by the time the after-work routine begins (homework help, laundry, lunch-making, hose-the-kid-down, pre-bed prep, reading time, deal with the mail, etc.), it’s time to go to bed and start all over again.  *Phew!* I’m tired just talking about it!  Well, it seems I’m not alone according to a recent iVillage-TODAY.com-msnbc.com poll for working moms.  Put your feet up in sympathy and give these nuggets a read:

Bringing home the bacon – Or whatever she chooses to feed her family…8 out of 10 working moms earn at least half or more of her household’s total income.  And that said, when today’s working moms look for jobs…

Money talks for moms – 97% of working moms surveyed say that salary is most important to them.  This is followed by a family-friendly work environment (91%), job enjoyment (91%), flexible hours (86%), a short commute (83%) and health insurance for the family (81%).  And just because she’s making money doesn’t mean she’s coming home to a whole lot of help…

Mom = chores – In two-thirds of dual working families, moms are responsible for 75% or more of all the household chores, with 97% of those surveyed responsible for half or more of the duties in the house.  No wonder that 68% of women polled would trade in their executive assistant for an assistant at home.

Working Moms sound pretty miserable right?!  Nope, just tired:  Although 90% of working moms feel tired and stressed, over 85% feel happy and proud.

On a practical note, I have actually had to use stats like these — so although they seem intuitive, it’s good to have the nuggets to back it all up.  Here is the article if you want/need:  http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=220664

So forget the flowers, forget the homemade cards and the macaroni picture frames…Give working moms a break this Mother’s Day and fold a lil’ laundry or take her to dinner so she doesn’t have to good, would ‘ya?!  (I’m using my own wishes on behalf of moms…Can you tell?!)  TASTY TREND:  Today’s Moms

Kid Around

CRUNCHY NUGGET:  Today’s post is an idea I’d like to share with anyone who deals with Moms, New Moms, and/or Parents, as a target.  Just recently, I joined SitterCity.com.  It’s a web site that helps connect parents in need of care with sitters in their area.  You pay a fee and get to post a job, review candidates, as well as search among a pool of sitters — choosing among lots of filters in order to get the best matches.  So as a member/email opt-in, I received an offer in my in box from their “partner” last week, Yoplait GoGurt.  The email let me know the benefits of GoGurts, as well as the opportunity to win a back to school pack (see image) if I was fast enough to be among the first five emails received by a Sitter City address.  The email ended with GoGurt’s Facebook and Twitter account links.

Now…Why am I sharing this, for the love of lunchboxes?!  Because…someone, sometime soon, will have a brand that targets Moms.  Moms with kids who are of an age where they need a babysitter.  I have friends who work on brand-name pacifiers and baby products.  I have friends who work on nutritional products for kids.  I have friends who work on kid-friendly snacks.  All of these peeps should think about a partnership with Sitter City.  It’s an interesting, credible web-centric partner who reaches oodles of busy Moms.  Now unfortunately, in the About and Media sections, their site does NOT provide exact database numbers (to let you know what to expect in terms of reach).  But I’m sure they’ll share.  And they have market-specific versions, in case you need to go more localized.  This is the kind of under-the-radar partner I would have been calling/emailing/reaching out to if I had a kid-Mom-parent appropriate program or product that needed a lil’ help from a partnership.  Whether it was to extend reach or to supplement a program or to find something unexpected.

OK, that’s my share for the day.  Use or not use.  Explore or ignore.  No worries, either way.  Phew, I’m glad I got that off my mind/chest/email inbox!  Now run, run with this free idea!  TASTY TREND:  Today’s Parents

Cookie Crumbles

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  “FREE Chips Ahoy! Cookies” — now that’s a compelling headline.  It’s what caught my attention in Sunday’s FSIs.  And with a closer look, it showed both good and not so good elements.  Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and take a read:

What’s nuggety and good…FSI.  Nice, high-reaching vehicle to grab Moms.  And hey, Facebook!  The offer isn’t your traditional clip, shop, and save coupon.  The “perforated” offer on the bottom of the full-page directs you to Facebook.  Every first Monday of the month, beginning on March 1st, they’ll post downloadable coupons on their Facebook page for this offer.  Good, makes-sense place to drive the target. She’ll probably spread the word among friends, if she likes it.  And FREE!  Last year’s “relief” offers delivered lots of free-for-alls.  This one continues the love in a strong push.

What’s not so good…The small print.  OK, OK, so perhaps there is a pantry load objective.  And sure, you need to make the retailer happy.  But it’s not really a completely FREE offer.  It’s a buy one get one.  And you have to buy a gallon of milk.  So that’s stocking up on two packages of cookies and the big-sized milk to get one package free.  Again, a retailer will like this with a higher basket ring and a cross-aisle purchase.  But as a Mom, having two packages of chocolate chip cookies in my house isn’t ideal for any of our waistlines, versus one as a freebie treat.  And for the love of remembering…This is going to recur every first Monday of the month through 2010.  Who’s going to remember?!  And if someone’s opted in to get reminders, how are you going to capture the rest of the Moms who haven’t seen it, haven’t taken advantage of the offer, etc.  Seems like a lot of re-rewarding for loyals (not a bad thing…just sayin’ if you want to increase HH penetration and grab newbies).

Just a quick update (having printed a coupon out on March 1st) for anyone who likes details…YAY!  I can use it on ANY Nabisco Cookie.  Oreos, 100 cal packs, etc.  All good.  But BOO!  Seriously…three days to redeem?!  Sure, limit liability but really?  Only three measly days?!  Ugh!  And it’s all powered by SmartSource (promotion peeps).

So a lil’ good and a batch of bad.  That’s how this cookie crumbles.  Good for nugget observation purposes.  Bad for Moms.  TASTY TREND:  Free For All; Socially Acceptable; Traditional Experiential

World of Mouth

CRUNCHY NUGGET:  Happy World Nutella Day!  Didn’t you get my card?!  Just kidding. I’m a huge fan of Nutella and could eat it for days, straight from the jar.  But from a marketing perspective, Nutella provides an interesting case study…

• In 2009, it was the third most popular fan page on Facebook, right behind President Obama and Coca-Cola.
• Three different fan pages on FB — none of which are facilitated by the brand — now capture just about 5 million advocates from around the globe.
• There are somewhere around 5,000 videos featuring Nutella on YouTube, including foreign commercials.
• There are more than 17,000 Nutella featured photos found on Flickr.
• It’s a favorite subject among bloggers (hey, look at me blogging about it!).
• And “World Nutella Day” — an unofficial brand holiday — has its own site, a FB page, and was mentioned in latest issue of FastCompany in their monthly calendar.

Now, with such global love for chocolatey-hazelnutty goodness, certainly, a brand team would recognize the “existing conversation” and leverage it as marketers.  Um…No.  Sure, they recognize the power of word of mouth (world of mouth for this global brand).  But they’re not facilitating the love.

If you’ve seen their ads in the US (which are posted on their site as “content”), they’re Mom-targeted.  They show just how wholesome Nutella is for kids, and how satisfying it is as a nurturing Mom to have it on hand for toast, sandwiches, etc.  Fine.  I get it…The brand team has limited funds.  They want to turn Nutella into a pantry item in the US just as it is in other countries.  Yes. Yes.  But come on!  Nothing around it’s being a worldwide comfort food?!  And very old school-Mom-as-homemaker images with lots of clean whiteness and smiling perfect kids.

Their site also has a store with limited branded merchandise.  And a monthly sweeps to sign-up and potentially win product.  Now, a case of Nutella sounds pretty sweet to me.  So, of course, I have signed up — months ago.  And they’ve done NOTHING with my data.  Nada.  Not an email.  Not a coupon.  Nothing. And I’m in their target audience — wholesome Mom — making peanut butter sandwiches weekday after weekday.  Missed opportunity.

So on this day, let’s think about Nutella.  For its tasty goodness as a product.  And also for its US marketing efforts which, in my opinion, are not so good.  It’s a teachable moment with a chocolate shmear.  Hey, have a good weekend.  I’ll be kicking it off with big ol’ jar and a spoon.  TASTY TREND:  Socially Acceptable

Updated Mom Stats

FRESH FACTS:  In starting Crunchy Marketing Nuggets, I had several goals.  One of them was to give myself (and you, dear reader) a means of sharing great stats, and then knowing where to find them again when you actually need them.  That said, today’s chat is a good, seal-it-up-in-your-mental-container post.  It’s a crunchy bunch of new Mom-stats that cover how and why she connects with brands online.  The crunchy goodness comes courtesy of the Center for Media Research, as gathered by the Parenting Group’s Mom Connection.  Sit up straight and make your mom proud and read this:

Where Moms seek advice about brands, products, and purchase decisions – Online?  Yes, but not necessarily.  Moms are four times more likely to turn to their personal offline network of friends and family than online social networks for product recommendations and buying advice.  Moms see the role of social networks as a place for Entertainment and Personal Communication.

So if I’m a brand, where can I connect with a Mom? – 81% of Moms have visited brand web sites; 65% have signed up for a newsletter from a brand; and 36% have posted a link or become a fan of a brand on Facebook.

Word of Moms – the power continues! Moms are very vocal and eager to share their thoughts.  94% of Moms give advice to other Moms in at least one product category with the average Mom giving and getting advice in more than 8 product categories.  69% of Moms recommend specific brands by name to others. 54% have rated or reviewed a brand online.  And 37% have posted their opinions about a product in an online forum or blog.

And what categories are getting the most talk among Moms? Topping the list at 86% is Children’s Toys and Games, Entertainment at 84%, Cooking and Baking Tools at 82%, Online/Offline Shopping at 78%, and Drugs and Remedies at 75%. (Good to know for Pharma types.)

Seeking instead of giving advice – Where Moms are more likely to seek than give advice:  Financial services; Home renovation, repairs and appliances; Cars and automotive products; Electronics and home entertainment equipment; Computers and cell phones.  (Did you catch that, my CE and Telecom peeps?!)

And lastly, six characteristics that make a brand buzz worthy among Moms:

1. A good value
2. Trustworthy
3. Responsive to Moms’ needs
4. High-quality
5. A money-saver
6. A time-saver

So if you’re a marketing type, looking to reach Moms with your brand messaging online, these are all great insights that can help shape your communications.  In other words, when to talk, when to listen, what core message you wish to convey, etc.  By the way, I should mention that this survey reflects Moms with children 12 and under.

Ahh!  Another great, stat-filled find – Love it!  I’ve already vacuumed sealed it all up.  Hope you find it helpful, too.  TASTY TREND:  Today’s Moms; Socially Acceptable