Dorothy Crenshaw May 8, 2009 | 01:00:59
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Mother’s Day Goes Social – And Socially Conscious

Brandweek ran an interesting feature recently about a M2Moms survey in which 73 percent of moms said they feel advertisers don’t really understand them. While it’s true marketers have lagged in recognizing the purchasing power and social clout of mothers, I feel many are listening to and reaching the so-called Power Moms, on their own digital turf.  Here are a few Mother’s Day campaigns worth watching:

1-800-Flowers‘ “Spot A Mom” campaign is interesting for two reasons. It recognizes 24 mommy bloggers who apparently exemplify certain maternal archetypes, like “Do It Yourself” or “Red Carpet” moms. Supported by (somewhat anemic) Twitter and Facebook accounts, it relies on social networks and bloggers in advance of a traditional ad buy.  Customers can also link to a website at which they can “spotlight” an extraordinary mom, which is a more typical promotional tactic. More interestingly, it markets to the social mommies as customers, not just recipients of floral gifts. Kind of counter-intuitive. 

Phi­losophy and Snapfish hooked up to add color to a promotion to celebrate the relationship between moms and daughters. Through a fairly robust Facebook page and a song by Amy Grant, among other tactics, it encourages women to create a “She Colors My Day” image and photo book at Snapfish. For each book created, Snapfish donates 50% of net proceeds to benefit the Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Visitors can also buy campaign-branded Philosophy bubble bath and download the song “She Colors My Day” by Amy Grant. Philosophy donates 100% of net pro­ceeds to cancer research. There are many elements here, but they’re fairly well integrated, and I like how it bridges two or more generations of women.

The Mother’s Day Every Day Campaign (led by the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE) has a more hard-hitting message. A mother dies in childbirth every minute, and the campaign advocates for better healthcare to reduce fatalities among women and infants. Huffington Post joins the cause with a blog series every day for the week leading up to Mother’s Day. The campaign also features an online “Wall of Mothers” where visitors can post a photo and send an e-card to mom.

My favorite campaign, though, is the simplest. Created by MomsRising.org, a three-year-old grassroots group that advocates for ending economic discrimination against mothers, it’s been a huge hit among my friends and family. This is a simple, customized video tool whereby you can put in your own name, or that of your favorite mom, to create a funny mock salute announcing her as Mother of the Year, complete with Red Carpet celebrity interviews and a speech by President Obama. It’s reminiscent of the viral get-out-the-vote campaign just before the 2008 election, and what I like is that it encourages moms to honor one another, with a nice dash of humor flavoring a message that is never strident or too self-important.