Why most marketers aren’t connecting with today’s mom.

Take a look at any advertising targeted to moms and you’ll quickly notice a familiar cast of characters. The Soccer Mom. The Super Mom. The Career Mom. And yes, even June Cleaver. It’s the safe and easy route. But is it working? We thought maybe we should ask moms. We did, and we found that Mom is tired of being typecast and we’ve got some work to do to reconnect with her. Using our Trone Brand Connections Panel, we heard from over 1,500 moms across the U.S. who currently have a child 18 or under in the home. When it comes to advertising, the results were clear:

• 74% of moms do not find advertising useful
• 86% of moms think advertisers don’t understand what it’s like to be a mom
• 86% of moms think advertisers don’t understand their problems

Usefulness of Advertising to Moms

To really understand today’s mom, Trone developed and fielded an online segmentation study. The study revealed that what really differentiates moms are not their demographics, but their attitudes and motivations. Motivations and Attitudes Everyone values time and money. We discovered moms value those two resources in very different ways. Using a variety of questions about time and money, we learned that moms fell into three core motivational segments: Moms who focus on “me first,” “kids first” and “information first.” While they’re all motivated to some degree by all three, they have a primary motivation that rises to the top of the list. Within these three motivational segments, exists six attitudinal segments, two in each.

What Motivates Moms

“Me First” Moms

Fashionistas – “Appearance is everything to me…clothes, my home, my car” • They don’t like to drive cars more than five years old and their child’s image is important to them

Cool Influencers – “I’m very sociable, trendy and enjoy recommending things to all my friends” • They often provide health and fashion advice and are often the first to try new products

“Kids First” Moms

Relationship Moms – “I can adapt to whatever my children need” • They’re good at wearing many different hats • If they had an extra two hours a day they’d spend it with their family

Affectionate Reliables – “My children are so dear to me” • They are very conscious of what their kids wear and what they eat

“Information First” Moms

Worrier Moms – “Life is overwhelming and kids have taken over” • They’re stressed by everything: from taking care of kids to their own relationship

Answer Seekers – “I’m on the lookout for helpful information wherever I can find it” • They are plugged in to multiple sources of media: tv, radio, internet and more • If they had an extra two hours, they’d spend time with friends or on a hobby

Connecting the dots If you want to create relevant and believable brand experiences for moms, you need to figure out how your brand connects with what she truly values. It’s not enough to save her time and money. “Me First” moms are interested in brands that are trend savvy. “Kids First” moms will resonate with brands that reflect their values. And “Information First” moms are looking for brands that offer solutions. Use that as a first step to evaluate how your brand can start making more authentic brand connections.