Tis the season to sport a baby belly

This week, my wife and I visited one of our favorite eating spots and our waitress and 4 others were all expecting.

Looking back on my own personal history, 2 out of 3 of my kids were in the womb in May, so now is the time to pass on this bit of info:

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Over-the-Fence Influencing 2/3 of Moms and Moms-to-Be

New research by BabyCenter and the Keller Fay Group, shows that today's pregnant women and new moms engage in one-third more word of mouth conversations per day than the total public or women, and 60% of conversations among the studied group carry with them a recommendation to buy, try, or consider the brands under discussion.

This group has an average of 109 word of mouth conversations per week about products, services and brands, most of which are positive and considered highly credible by other moms. The Word of Mouth Marketing Study, conducted among 1,721 pregnant women and new mothers in the first quarter of 2008, shows that positive brand sentiment outweighs negative by a 10:1 margin. Among the mom segment, word of mouth about shopping, retail and apparel is highly impactful, with 69 percent likely to purchase based on what was heard.

Half or more of all moms surveyed report having at least one conversation per day about technology, financial services, health care, food/dining, media/entertainment, packaged goods, shopping and retail experiences. Eight of the top ten most talked about brands listed in the study are retailer, consumer electronic or soft drink brands.

On average, pregnant and new moms engage in seven conversations per week about technology and eight conversations per week about both beverages and shopping-related topics. Within these conversations they mention five technology brands, six beverage brands and eight retailer brands on average.

The top 10 most talked about brands, as noted in a summary by Marketing Charts, are:

• Target
• Wal•Mart
• Verizon
• AT&T/Cingular
• Coke
• Apple Computer
• Pampers
• Sprint/Nextel
• Gerber
• Pepsi

The majority of discussions about brands and products occur in person, but much of this talk is stimulated and informed by content moms have been exposed to through media channels such as the Internet and TV. Among pregnant and new moms, the Internet is the #1 driver of word of mouth, beating out all other forms of media, including TV, magazines and outdoor.

Percent of Brand Mentions Involving One or More References to Marketing Activity
Activity	% of Pregnant & New Moms
Internet	12%
Television	11
Coupon circular	5
Direct mail/email	4
In-store display/Video	4
Product package	3
Newspaper	3
Magazine	2
Product sample	2
Radio	1
Billboard ad	<1
Source: Keller Fay Group, April 2008

Tina Sharkey, chairman and global president, BabyCenter, said "Moms have a natural desire to share ideas and information with each other. For marketers, having the validated insight that the Internet is the leading media driver of word of mouth can help them shape their media and marketing budgets... plans and ...messaging."

Close to 1 in 5 pregnant and new moms were identified as word of mouth leaders based on their recommending behavior and size of social network. This number is 60 percent higher than the total public and 45 percent higher total women.

Ed Keller, CEO, the Keller Fay Group, said "...If you want to reach a group of highly engaged consumers who are actively engaged in word of mouth to learn and share consumer experiences, this is a ‘must reach' group of consumers."

For more information, please visit BabyCenter here, or Keller Fay here.

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