Talk to Mums Brand Digest 1

Welcome to the first Brand Digest from Talk To Mums

As marketers, you already understand the importance of customer conversations on social media, particularly in tracking the customer journey. Harnessing those conversations into meaningful insights is essential and that’s what our Brand Digest is all about. We curate conversations that relate to current marketing trends. But we also delve into lifestyles because as marketers we know that the future matters as much as now. This is the first of our regular digests into what our targeted group of 20-50-year-old mums are discussing now.

Highlights from our conversations this week

• Mums don’t always want to be involved with your kids
• Guilt vs Reality: the dilemma of meal preparation
• The miracle products that mums love

1. The popular advertising image of mums enjoying each other’s company while their kids play together might not totally reflect real life.

Emma Brock in The Guardian says it for a lot of mums, “One of the things no one tells you in advance – probably because you wouldn’t believe them – is that the worst thing about having children is other people and their children. Before, children were annoying but avoidable, and now they are not, and I can’t even be sour about it. My children can be pretty annoying, too.”

We asked our network what they thought about dealing with other people’s children.

From Uta, a stay at home mum with a two year old daughter, “Whilst I appreciate the neighbour's kids playing with my daughter I can't bear it when they start talking to me, asking me all sorts of crazy questions.”

“I have absolutely no problem telling other people's kids off if their parents can't be bothered/ pretend they didn't see it. The amount of kids I have to bollock at soft play centres is ridiculous,” says Clare, mother of two toddlers.

“I can relate,” says Sarah. “I've always been incredibly maternal and couldn't wait to have children. But I find other people's kids very hard to tolerate!”

2. Meal preparation is a psychological minefield for marketers because it’s complicated

Journalist/Feminist Rosie Boycott commented that feminism was partly responsible for obesity because “it created an environment where the expectation is that women can have it all - work, raise a family, go out. As a result, they're buying more ready meals and not cooking food from scratch.”

We ask our mums, is she right?

Karen, blogger and mum of three, said, “ I can see a point there. Something has to give and I guess an easy option is to reach for more convenience food. That said, you can whip up a spag bol in the time it takes to ping some ready meals so while convenience food has its place in modern day families, we have to try to find a balance.”

“I just don't understand why the cooking food from scratch falls to the mother for those who have a partner? It's a joint relationship,” says working mum, Abbi.

Rosemary says, “I work full time & long hours. I also blog and am the mother of two children. I've always cooked from scratch. My husband now does a lot of that due to my hours & my kids can & do so too. We'd rather eat well than use the time required to do it creating healthy food, than using watching TV. It's all about priorities & finding your own balance.”

Sarah, mum of four admits, “I don't do ready meals but I am guilty of buying jar sauces and even ready mashed potato these days. Now I have 4 kids under 8 and run a business so cooking is not something I have much time or passion for at the mo!”

3. The best miracle products already exist. Does that mean marketers have a problem?

According to an article in last week’s Sun newspaper, a mum was delighted when, “Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser found on the shelves at her local Boots, was the £3.99 miracle cream that cleared up her daughter's eczema.”

We asked our mums, ‘What’s your miracle product?’

Kira says, “ I've used aqueous cream for years on Sally, my eldest, now 14. I actually use this Child's Farm product on my youngest who's 7 and have purchased the newborn set for little bump.”

“Coconut oil for me,” says Hannah, mum of two 3 and 13 months, along with many others.”We get through so much Kokoso that I probably use more of my own shop's stock than my customers do!”

Nikki, blogger and mum of four says, “Aveena Daily Moisturising has really helped with my daughter's eczema.

This is not the first time the simple products have risen to the top. It’s a bit like grandmother’s wisdom, very hard to top even for the most astute of marketers.

Nuggets from the latest marketing news

Brands should be targeting Mumlennials

The Grocer reports on the rise of the 'Mumlennials,’ daughters of Generation Z parents. According to research conducted by Babycentre, these women “seek support and connection, who are used to social media community and engagement, and who are actively seeking to tap similar groups of like-minded people as they reach such an important new life stage…. They are more open to content marketing techniques and brand-first content that can help them approach motherhood.”

It’s not a resume gap, it’s a pregnancy pause

New York Agency, Mother is championing the job of being a mum by introducing the ‘Pregnancy Pause’ as a way of displaying their maternity leave on the LinkedIn profile. According to a spokesperson, “Motherhood shouldn’t have to be defended in a job interview,” says the agency, but moms are often dismissed by potential employers because of the gaps in their resumes.”

So much advertising shows mums being able to put it all together, family and working life, with apparent ease. But are you making harder for them?

Our client Sanctuary Spa conducted a piece of research, uncovering the truth about modern motherhood. As reported in Good Housekeeping, “Nearly a quarter of mothers – 23 per cent – said they don’t have time to cook, while 25 per cent say they have no time to mend holes in clothes. One in five said they have no time to make a birthday cake and 22 per cent said spring cleaning takes the hit.”

Are marketers being a little unrealistic about the lifestyles of modern mums?

Do they really want it all?

Do they want you to offer it all?

We can help you answer essential questions and give you regular, real-time insights as well as getting you accurate segmented trial of products. Trial + Dialogue = Trialogue. We bring you closer to mums that matter.

Contact Sally at Talk to Mums on 020 7099 8638 or sally@talktomums.co.uk