Posted by Marketers Refocus on this Trillion Dollar Market
From soccer moms making their voices heard to mothers mobilizing to demand baby formula, advertisers are rediscovering a powerful consumer niche that’s been there all along.
Moms represent a whopping $3.1 trillion dollar consumer market annually in the US alone.
Considering mothers hold the sway over a vast array of purchases, it’s no surprise marketers would want to dip their ad dollars into this very lucrative pocket.
What’s recently changed is how the mother as a consumer is viewed by the ad community. In the 50’s it was common to gear laundry detergent, cooking products, and household item ads to mothers, since the majority stayed and worked at home. Somewhere along the way, ad strategies to this all-important demographic didn’t progress well with the times.
Advertisers are at last getting up to speed. Marketing campaigns are recognizing the current profile goes beyond the cooking and cleaning marvels of the past. Today’s mothers are professionals juggling family and career, work-from-home employees, caretakers, entrepreneurs, often primary wage earners, and business owners. They may be pursuing additional degrees, looking to buy real estate, screening contractors for home improvement jobs, buying a car, or running for office.
In the social realm, mothers tend to be widely connected and incredibly influential. They’re a word of mouth powerhouse. Mothers are active in school groups, religious groups, athletic groups, and many others. And they are highly effective at sharing what they loved – or didn’t love – about a product, or service.
Said Maria Bailey of Marketing Insider, “I’m not accusing brands of ignoring moms as purchasers. I believe companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and Kellogg’s have long known moms are their main target as buyers. However, recently I’ve seen television ads focused on marketing to moms by the likes of Bank of America, Swarovski, Carhartt, and Google.”
She continued, “I can’t help believing recent headlines highlighting the innovative ways moms are coming together to source formula, or moms developing less expensive solutions to every day consumables, have contributed to the awakening of marketing departments across Fortune 500 global brands toward moms as consumers.”
How will this powerful mom demographic continue to shape the marketing future? Read more here.