Marketing to affluent mums in the digital age
Pradon Sirakovit
December 2, 2014 1:00 am
We've heard it time and time again: When a baby is born, so is the mother. But what seems apparent nowadays is that first-time mums-to-be have prepared well in advance for the challenges of motherhood, even before the child is born, rendering old-school adages about mothering virtually obsolete.
In the digital age where information is ubiquitous, mums have easy and convenient access to the knowledge required to support their burgeoning maternal needs.
In a recent study by IPG Mediabrands on affluent mums, we discovered that 70-80 per cent of all media consumption on motherhood support was through digital media, especially the smartphone. Not only is the smartphone the window to the pool of infinite knowledge, the utility gadget almost personifies the "genie in the screen" to these info-obsessive mums.
Smartphones have revolutionised the way we gather information and affected our media behaviour, with affluent mums spending five to six times as much on the device as the nationwide average. Furthermore, more than 85 per cent of this group have at least a bachelor's degree, with 35 per cent holding a master's.
What can be inferred from this finding is that their privileged upbringing and societal pressures to achieve spur them on to create a replica of themselves through their child. This creates the need for mums to be the ultimate "baby machine", from feeding their infants the most brain-nourishing milk to sending them to intensive pre-kindergarten courses, so on and so forth.
They say it's not easy being a mum nowadays, but I beg to differ. I think it's much harder being a child living up to these mums' expectations.
Affluent mums have an inherent need to feel empowered, giving them a sense of control in order to being the perfect platform for their child to develop uninhibited. But because they are juggling work and raising a child at the same time, the information they are consuming must be readily available at their fingertips, and the content must also be info-taining.
It is a brand-new approach to reaching mums' hearts and engaging them totally, creating a whole new standard for marketing to mothers.
For brands to win through social-media content, whether through Facebook or smartphone applications, they must ride on the growing wave of video marketing - simply because mums are way too busy to read.
The video must also follow a three-step process, for the potential customer to go from sheer awareness to brand advocacy.
1. Entertain: The video must be entertaining in nature.
2. Educate: But entertainment without the right education has zero value to mums. After all, they have an insatiable appetite for new information.
3. Inspire: It doesn't stop there; the video needs to inspire these mums to walk the talk, and post. After all, an affluent mum's value is only worth as much as her social-media post. Her good deed must never go unnoticed.
Social-network platforms will continue to play a prominent role in driving mums to share something new that she has learned or done (50 per cent), and express her point of view or experience on motherhood (60 per cent), according to an IPG Mediabrands study on 2,000 active Internet users.
As mentioned earlier, her time is fully devoted to work and raising her newborn, making time to meet her friends almost impossible, so she only has social media to stay connected in her circle, albeit a virtual connection.
Even though mums are becoming more competitive in nature, it is comforting to know that their ultimate goal is to raise their children to be happy in life. So when brands communicate, be reminded that every human being's underlying need is to stay happy, no matter which walk of life you come from.
Pradon Sirakovit is group head for strategy and innovation, IPG Mediabrands Thailand.