Maybe "Big Girls Don't Cry," But Brands do, for Mommy...

For decades, American brands have recognized a distinct consumer that not only holds purchasing power on their own, but also controls the purchasing power of others - the "Mom."

Marketers, and even politicians, have sought to make "mom" a brand of her own - first giving birth to "Soccer Moms," and then, "Hockey Moms," as distinct groups of consumers who share common demographic and psychographics.

According to Mike May, the Director of Communications at the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Soccer Moms are

most likely married, aged late 20s to early 40s, probably driving an SUV; she works, though it's questionable whether or not she has ever played soccer. Some are college graduates and some are not.

Hockey Moms "are basically the same people."  They may be a little tougher (thanks to the reputation of the sport) and a little more blue collar - but their focus on their family, placing family needs above their own, remains constant across both groups.

These moms have taken their power online, creating a phenomenon known as "mommy blogging."

While the numbers alone are staggering -  79% of all US moms with kids under 18 use social media and 4 million moms are blogging - the influence these blogs have on consumers is what is really making brands take notice.

According to NPD Group research,

Active social media moms [have, on average] bought a children’s product based on a social media recommendation... five times in the past year. Fifty-five percent of these moms said they made their purchase because of a recommendation from a personal review blog

It's not surprising then, that brands are falling over each other to woo and win over these influential Moms.  For instance,

popular mommy bloggers have been sent to the Olympics, courtesy of Procter & Gamble, and to the Oscars, courtesy of Kodak; and road-tripped to Disney World in a Chevy Traverse, courtesy of G. M. Canada...

The fascination with Moms as a target market is not limited to the US.  As domestic markets continue to dry up – thanks to the almost endless number of competitors and economic recession – marketers are finally looking to China as a consumer market, rather than just the world’s factory.  So now they are introducing us to Tiger Moms - Chinese mothers who hold the purse strings (supposedly in an iron fist) for her family.


In her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, Amy Chua describes the Chinese mom as part drill sergeant, part Sorority House pledge mistress, who's demands for perfection are voiced bluntly, without apology.  Mom is likely to say to her daughter - "Hey fatty - lose some weight." Or to a child who doesn't get straight A's - "You're lazy.  All your classmates are getting ahead of you."


Regardless of what we think of this parenting style, it provides great opportunity for brands to consolidate "Moms" into a coherent target group based upon shared attitudes and sensibilities.  Or does it??


Just like skeptics who question the usefulness of market segments such as Soccer Moms and Hockey Moms in the US - Chinese researchers are calling into question the relevance of "Tiger Moms" in today's China.


According to Allen Wang, CEO and Founder of Babytree.com, China's most popular parenting website, today's Chinese mom comes from a "post 80's" generation, that values freedom and things like "happiness, confidence, and the ability to do anything they want in their lives" for their children.  In essence, the Tiger Mom is a fiction of the past, while the Chinese Mom of 2011 looks (and acts, and thinks) a lot like her Western counterparts.

The case of Tiger Moms reminds us that targeting, while an appealing necessity, is in no way an easy task.   As we look for similarities among consumers we often find them, but similarities in one area do not guarantee similarities in others. Yet once we convince ourselves of these similarities, we take them for granted and suddenly find ourselves slipping into stereotyping.


Whether it is Soccer Moms, Hockey Moms, Tiger Moms, or any other demographic group, Michelle Miller, co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth, clearly isolates the problem:

You can put 12 women who fit the ‘soccer mom’ demographic together in a room and get wildly different opinions about a product or service.

This is why brands must stick to the basics - both quantitative and qualitative research - rather than get caught up in the buzz of new consumer groups and target markets.  Knowing your customer is key. Regardless of which demographic or psychographic is "hot" at the moment, that will never change.