Stephanie Azzarone, founder and president of Child´s Play Communications, a public relations firm for toy companies, knows moms. She understands their changing image and how retailers can identify moms in local communities, find their key needs, and create services to draw them into stores.
Moms today are very different from those of the past. "Single moms comprise over 50% of the population," says Azzarone, "and there are also adoptive moms, teenage moms, and moms of teenagers." But among these different kinds of mothers, there are two main age categories for the retailer to keep in mind: Baby Boomer Moms (40-60 years old) and Generation X Moms (30-40 years old).
To find out what kind of moms there are in a community, Azzarone offers some tips. Retailers can survey moms either by in-store questionnaires or though marketing groups. Electronic newsletters and Web sites can poll consumers. These are great tools to detect trends or needs for products and services.
A Universal Mom
Says Azzarone, "Today, all moms want products and services that will help them do their job as mom better and more efficiently." Moms also want products that will keep children healthy and safe, and will make them smarter. That´s why educational products showed one of the biggest increases in sales last year. Only board games and puzzles had a greater increase. Azzarone attributes that to the nesting trend prompted by 9/11 that drew families to game nights and more time spent together.
One major way to reach these mothers, says Azzarone, is to develop special services targeted to individual groups of moms. For example, if there are a number of moms who have adopted children, a retailer might sponsor a networking group at the store. This could be done with moms of multiples (twins, triplets, etc.), teenage or very young moms, or single moms. The retailer not only offers a place for the moms to meet each other, but these mothers become a focus group for the store to find out what these moms need.
Reaching Out to Mothers
Retailers can also find ways to make shopping for the items moms want a lot simpler, more convenient, and less time-consuming. This can be through displays and signage.
Azzarone adds, "Retailers can pursue opportunities to reach moms outside of the store through play groups, OB-GYN offices, Lamaze classes, playgrounds, and schools." This can be in the form of newsletters, coupons, and free samples. "Stores can go to moms, offering information and products," Azzarone says. "They can offer seminars and in-services with experts in the store."
Kids fairs in the store or in the mall or other places in the community are also great ways to offer information sponsored by the store. This not only provides product news or child development tips but positions the store as a reliable source of information and creates a relationship with the community. "Basic grassroots events like these are very effective in reaching moms," Azzarone says.
Though moms may be the most obvious customer target, Azzarone says that these tips can be applied to any customer base, including grandparents or dads.
Writer's Bio: The mother of two grown children (an artist and a musician), writer Janie Franz once was a radio announcer and did booking for a rock band.
