The Power of Retail

All marketers want to be able to connect with the decision maker of the house and in most cases it is women and especially moms. When it comes to Gen Y moms, reaching out to them is not the same as what worked in earlier generations. According to research by Moxie Interactive, the way to target Gen Y moms is different. Based on their findings, moms born after 1978 are committed to using products that other generations have used, but have a smaller circle of friends and therefore put a lot of stock in what their peers have to say about a product or service. According to Joanna Sammartino, managing director of Moxie Interactive’s New York office, “They’ll respond to a recommendation from another parent much more favorably than a straightforward ad.”

Gen Y moms are more likely to use community features such as posting comments and asking questions about a product at parenting sites, instead of heading straight to the commerce section as older moms will do. How that translates for marketers is that they need to use a softer approach with this segment of customers, such as using blogs, and social networking sites to become more familiar to consumers and build brand awareness. Word of mouth publicity is a very vital tool for this generation of moms too.

Moxie, an interactive ad agency that works for such clients as Nestle, Coca-Cola and Maybelline, says that while Boomer moms tend to be less tech-proficient, they are willing to spend a surprising amount of time comparing prices, products and services–perhaps because they are more likely to have older kids who require less hands-on care.

“Marketers think mothers are just too busy to play casual games,” she says, but Moxie has found that plenty of moms are de-stressing with electronic games. “And they regard something like a marketer putting a brand name on checkers, for example, as a non-intrusive, non-marketing way to reach them.”