Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Twitter Crowd Isn't Inviting Motrin Moms To Their Playdate
Motrin's new campaign is targeting moms. Nothing new right? Lots of brands target moms. However, this one has a serious chance at blowing up in their faces as hundreds of conversations are now taking place online on twitter and in videos (as above) regarding the semi-offensive tone the campaign has taken.
The campaign is relatively straight forward. Large sweeping words emphasize the voiceover of a woman describing the rigors of strapping a baby carrier to your body. I have no doubt that during the planning stages of this campaign, some of the key insights that came out of their research/focus groups had a lot to do with the very physical wear and tear moms tend to endure while being the greatest caregivers on earth.
But one insight seems to be lacking - affection. The reasons why we want to keep our children close to us is we want to keep them safe (bottom of the Maslow pyramid - survival/security). And as another key emotion in the ol' hierarchy of needs being love seems to be absent, it is no wonder the reaction from their audience has been overwhelmingly negative.
I predict that these Motrin will die a quick death and if I were Motrin, I'd accelerate change to this campaign quickly for this very reason alone: moms are not isolationists. They talk - online via mommy message boards, offline at playdates, etc. I assure you that the passalong factor of this topic will increase exponentially over the next few weeks.
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5 comments:
The condescending tone of the woman in the ad is a large part of the problem. It is also just plain offensive. Mothers don't wear baby slings to be fashionable or trendy. Moms are not "crazy" either as the ad suggests. Where were Motrin's focus groups? I've received online surveys asking my opinion of a company's advertising in the past. Did Motrin survey mothers? My jaw dropped when I saw this ad. I just don't know what to say other than offending your target audience is not the best strategy, Motrin.
Thanks for acting so quickly to get the word out. I posted about this to and have linked to you:
http://mommosttraveled.com/a-devout-baby-wearer/
I am so tired of being marginalized by the media and PR companies who only see "dumb" moms as someone who can be manipulated as a source of revenue.
Nice analysis of the Motrin ad. I was also thinking of the Maslow pyramid, and how classic marketing ideas could have helped steer this campaign away from the rocks. The point made in the video that baby-wearing moms stick together is exactly why that segment is so attractive to market to -- but it also makes it a risky segment if you get the tone wrong.
Here's my latest post on the subject:
Motrin Moms Take it to the Street
Wow, talk about an advertising FAIL. I'm not sure that an apology is necessary, but Motrin should definitely reexamine how they gather info on what will appeal to their target market.
This reminds me of those terrible Brooke Shields VW ads that seem to mock the very women they're trying to sell to. So bizarre.
If they're smart, they'll respond with a 'mea culpa' ad, acknowledging the fiasco.
But they'll probably just quietly and timidly pull them, instead.
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