The Guilty Parent blog turns into full-blown online community

What started out as a “no fluff” blog filled with fresh and honest parenting information and insight has now turned into a go-to site for parenting advice, tools, resources and tips.  Written for and by parents, TheGuiltyParent.com is filled with stories that make you laugh, cry and think about what it’s like to be a mom or dad in today’s world.  Says its founder Nichole Smith, “We’re not sugar coating parenting for you like other parenting resources do.  We’re exploring parenting for all it’s worth and bringing you the best of what every mom and dad today need to know and need to have in order to make their job as easy and as guilt free as possible.”  Visitors can meet other parents and learn from their experiences as well as find products and information needed to take the stress out of bringing up today’s kids.  “We’re working towards strengthening your family; everything from your child’s education to the time you spend with them,” says Smith.  Smith is the chief mom officer and community development manager at BabySpot.com and was named one of the “50 Most Powerful and Influential Women in Social Media” for 2008.  The Guilty Parent is updated regularly through parent submissions and contributors and currently has a couple of advertising packages available for both button and banner ads.  In addition, merchants can submit a request to have a new product reviewed or possibly used as a giveaway for site visitors.  For more information, visit the new online community at http://www.theguiltyparent.com.  

Pregnancy magazine partners with The Cradle

The Cradle, a social community and lifestyle destination focused solely on expectant and new moms, has announced that it is joining forces with Pregnancy magazine, a leading monthly magazine for pregnant women and new mothers. This strategic partnership brings together two premier media properties in this rapidly expanding market for a relationship that includes content-sharing and advertising representation.  The Cradle will provide Pregnancy magazine and its online property, Pregnancy360.com, with a strong foothold in the rapidly growing online parenting space, while Pregnancy will give The Cradle visibility and brand exposure in its hard copy publication that reaches more than 1 million monthly readers. The two properties will also develop joint consumer promotions, and a Pregnancy-moderated discussion group will live within The Cradle’s active online community of new and expectant moms. Lastly, Pregnancy will enhance its own advertising offerings by including The Cradle in their ad sales efforts, thus bolstering each property’s overall reach, revenue generation opportunities and marketing appeal.  “It has been exciting to watch The Cradle’s growth over the past year and see our users take advantage of the content and tools that we offer. Partnering with Pregnancy will allow us to introduce a new audience to our offerings and align ourselves with a brand that shares our vision for this market,” stated Hilary Zalon, founder and president of The Cradle.  The announcement will expand consumer reach and enhance advertising appeal for both properties and represents a defining example of the ongoing marriages between leading offline and online properties.  “Pregnancy was seeking a strong partner in the fast-growing online new parenting space,” said Stacey Levy, vice-president, Publishing Director of publishing for Future US, the parent company of Pregnancy. “We’ve experienced our own recent growth with the rebranding of our print magazine and online property, Pregnancy360.com, and the launch of our digital magazine, and the timing was perfect to partner with The Cradle. We’re excited to be working with them in what is destined to be a new parenting powerhouse relationship.”

Disney Family.com study gives insight into how economic downturn affects families

More than two-thirds of Moms believe the recent economic downturn has affected them and their families, with job status being a major concern.  According to a recent survey, 58% of all parents are very concerned about their current employment status, have recently been laid-off or need to re-enter the workforce to help pay bills. When asked about their overall happiness and well being, 45% of all Moms said they don’t feel like they have the proper life/work balance and 54% said that they feel stressed out most of the time. These findings, among others, were revealed in a recent online survey about moms from Disney Family.com (www.family.com).  In addition to focusing on the current economic times and how families are coping with financial instability, the recent Disney Family.com survey asked parents questions about self confidence, overall happiness, time spent on physical well-being and more. Further survey findings include:

• When asked about overall confidence, 35% said they don’t have confidence to achieve things they set out to do.
• Fifty-nine percent of respondents cannot remember the last time they did something fun, just for themselves.
• Forty-nine percent of working parents reported they spend no time whatsoever focusing on their own well being, while another 20% said they spend only 5-15 minutes a day focusing on their well being.
• Sixty-four percent of women take less than 30 minutes to get ready in the morning after having kids. This is half the time most women used before having kids and 58% reported they spend more time getting their families out the door than they do themselves.

“The current state of the economy is affecting all of us and families are among those having to make the most adjustments,” said Emily Smith, vice president of Disney Online’s Family Group of Sites. “The ‘New Year, New Me’ resource is designed to be an in-depth guide to give moms the tools they need to look better, feel better and take care of themselves as they also take care of their families during tough times.”  To provide moms with the tools they need to restore their overall confidence as they find themselves back in the work force or dealing with hard economic times, the new Disney Family.com “New Year, New Me” resource (www.family.com/makeovermom) includes a go-for-it guide to help moms be fabulous every day, along with tips from Kathryn Sansone, mother of ten, author of Women First, Family Always, and former guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Knot acquires Breastfeeding.com

The Knot Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Breastfeeding.com (www.breastfeeding.com), the number-one website dedicated to providing advice on breastfeeding—one of first-time mothers’ biggest challenges. The addition of Breastfeeding.com further enhances The Knot Inc.’s already robust pregnancy and first-time parenting offerings, which include TheBump.com and LilaGuide.com.  Features on Breastfeeding.com include:

• UNPARALLELED BREASTFEEDING CONTENT:  With thousands of breastfeeding Q+As, articles and videos, Breastfeeding.com has the deepest easy-to-understand, easy-to-find collection of breastfeeding content on the web.

• EXTENSIVE BREASTFEEDING PANEL OF EXPERTS:  Breastfeeding.com has assembled the ultimate team of breastfeeding experts and a medical advisory board of the world’s foremost authorities, including Dr. Ruth Lawrence and Dr. Jane Morton.
• LACTATION CONSULTANTS:  Looking for a lactation consultant? Breastfeeding.com has a directory of nearly 4,000 lactation consultants, Plus, first-time moms struggling with breastfeeding can log onto the website to join in 2-hour live chats with lactation consultants four times a week.
• LARGEST COMMUNITY OF BREASTFEEDING MOMS:  With one out of two moms in the US and Canada visiting Breastfeeding.com, the site is home to the largest community of breastfeeding mothers.

“We are thrilled to add Breastfeeding.com to our suite of number-one websites for women in key lifestages,” said David Liu, CEO of The Knot Inc.

Free white paper: 7 Keys to Mom’s Heart

When it comes to spending, moms are the bomb. All told, they influence virtually every brand transaction that takes place. They control 85 percent of household spending and are responsible for making $1.7 trillion of purchases.  Moosylvania has spent valuable, quality time with moms – both online and off – to hatch insights for better designed communication. It condensed its findings into 7 Keys to Mom’s Heart, a white paper it is offering for free.  “If you want to create long-term relationships with moms, 7 Keys will be your manifesto,” said Rodney Mason, chief marketing officer at Moosylvania. “We use it as a filter for brands that want to establish or re-affirm their loyalty and trust with moms.”  In addition to sharing proprietary purchasing patters and attitudes of moms, 7 Keys highlights successful mom-centric campaigns by Nintendo’s Wii, Allstate, Home Depot, MetLife, Michelin, Luna, Hewlett-Packard and Pepperidge Farm.  “There’s always more you can do for mom,” said Gus Hattrich, president of Moosylvania. “She’s quite open to positive support and meaningful help in her quest to build a happy, healthy family.”  For a copy of 7 Keys to Mom’s Heart, go to Moosylvania.com and click on “Insights.”  

GoFish relaunches as Betawave Corporation

Following a $22.5 million financing last month, GoFish Corporation is relaunching as Betawave Corporation (www.betawave.com), the industry’s first attention based media company. The name change to Betawave, a cognitive term for the mind state of active concentration, reflects the company’s belief that consumer attention will become the new economic basis for brand media.  Betawave focuses exclusively on the highest attention span media environments as measured by time spent per month, time spent per page and receptivity to brand advertising. This approach, coupled with an emphasis on immersive advertising products, allows Betawave to weave brands into the fabric of consumer experiences and deliver measurable results that far exceed industry norms.  “Historically, the portals have been the only options for big brands to reach big audiences online,” says Betawave CEO, Matt Freeman. “Unfortunately, the portals have largely devolved into utility environments that offer reach rather than engagement – more tonnage than attention. We want to create an alternative for brand advertisers who are seeking both scale and attention – at a price that isn’t artificially inflated.”  Betawave’s transparent portfolio of casual gaming, virtual world, social play and entertainment publishers delivers scale with a unique monthly audience of 25 million domestically and 69 million worldwide, and attention with an average audience engagement of more than 54 minutes per month.  As measured by minutes of consumer attention, Betawave is the world’s largest pure play digital media company for Youth (6-17) and Moms and a rapidly growing force in 18-34 demographics.  Betawave’s platform is specifically designed to support highly-innovative and entertaining campaigns (ones that consumers actually enjoy rather than ignore) like advergames, virtual world integrations, rich media and video at a level of scale and accountability that befits major marketers. “The basic idea is to aggregate audiences that are relaxed and paying attention, and then help brands make an attention grabbing contribution to that consumer experience,” says Freeman.  “We offer brand advertisers a simple solution based not just on how many people we reach, but on how much interest we generate,” concludes Mr. Freeman. “Brand advertisers deserve the same level of accountability as direct marketers. We are simply applying that same performance focus to brand-friendly media environments.”

Kelley Skoloda’s soon-to-be published book already gains rave reviews

Longtime friend of M2Moms(R) and M2W(R) Kelley Skoloda, partner/director, global brand marketing for Ketchum Public Relations, will soon release her first book, Too Busy to Shop:  Marketing to “Multi-Minding” Women and it is already getting great reviews.  Here is the advance review from Publisher’s Weekly:

Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to “Multi-Minding” Women Kelly Murray Skoloda. Greenwood, $34.95 (360p) ISBN 978-0-313-35487-8

If you still consider women a marketing “niche segment,” this book by brand expert Skoloda is a must-read. The author reveals that women not only “control $3.3 trillion in consumer spending,” but also make more than 80% of household purchase decisions and increasingly control this country’s wealth. She asserts that women are far beyond multitasking—they actually “multi-mind”: simultaneously juggle home, family, work, social and financial obligations. In order to reach them, advertisers need to change their tactics, as her research illustrates that these busy women are immune to conventional marketing methods (they routinely Tivo through commercials and are inconvenienced rather than drawn in by new product displays). She presents studies that show women increasingly get shopping advice from friends and family, make purchasing decisions before entering stores and are drawn by “cause connectivity,” a company’s involvement in issues that are meaningful to them. While occasionally repetitive and geared more toward professional marketers than general readers, this book offers a treasure trove of timely insights on how to better understand and engage women consumers.(Mar.)

The book is set to be published March 2009 with an official book launch to be held during the pre-conference reception at the 5th Annual M2W(R)-The Marketing To Women Conference.

Fleishman-Hillard creates new global practice focused on moms: FH Moms

Fleishman-Hillard International Communications has announced the launch of a global practice group focused on marketing to the consumer segment responsible for 85 percent of all household purchasing decisions: mothers. The new FH Moms practice combines the scope of Fleishman-Hillard’s global network with a deep understanding of the growing “momocracy” that has emerged as consumers in general exercise more and more control over where and how they interact with brands, and as moms increasingly lead the conversation, both as advocates and critics.  FH Moms will coordinate across the firm’s global network of 80 offices to provide strategic counsel on communicating with moms through an integrated range of touch points that includes both traditional and online media, as well as influencer and word-of-mouth marketing.  Dave Senay, president and chief executive officer of Fleishman-Hillard, noted that this expanded breadth of market influence is matched by the expertise within FH Moms, which comprises specialists from the firm’s diverse practice areas, including marketing communications, healthcare, technology, travel and tourism, FH Hispania, and financial communications. FH Moms co-chairs Liz Hawks, Heidi Hovland and Kris Caputo Hurley also mirror the firm’s geographic diversity, representing its Kansas City, New York and Sacramento offices respectively.  ”While FH Moms is our newest global practice group, this is an area of rich expertise for our firm,” said Dave Senay “The establishment of this practice formalizes and sharpens our focus on strategies and approaches that our integrated marketing communications experts have been applying and refining for years. Our expanded commitment to this important market segment promises to deliver tremendous value to our clients.”  “We know moms. Many of us are moms. And we know that, overwhelmingly, moms don’t think major brands are relating to them and their unique needs,” said Liz Hawks, co-chair of the new practice. “FH Moms will leverage deep knowledge and agency expertise to help clients bridge the gap between their organizational goals and moms’ needs as consumers.”

Gerber launches new advertising campaign

Gerber is launching a new advertising campaign called “Vow” created by Draftfcb New York. It introduces a new tagline: “Start healthy, stay healthy.”  The integrated TV and online campaign, which includes a call to action to visit a new website at www.starthealthystayhealthy.com, communicates Gerber’s pledge — an unwavering commitment to nourish a healthier generation, one baby at a time. The initial TV spot demonstrates this by following expectant parents’ journey through childbirth, chronicling the hopes and dreams they have for their children.  The website, created by O’Grady Meyer, allows visitors to pledge to their children, create a custom slideshow, and view pledges from other parents in the Pledge Gallery. In addition, the website offers practical advice from experts, a proprietary nutrition guide and menus, and milestone symbols that reflect each child’s stage of development.  Developed to drive awareness of Gerber’s commitment to the next generation, the “Vow” campaign positions Gerber as a trusted partner for new and expectant moms and dads to help them fulfill their vow to be caring parents. Visit http://www.draftfcb.com/viewing_room/gerber/vow/ to view the initial spot.

Lansinoh Laboratories announces new agency of record, Euro RSCG Life LM&P

Euro RSCG Life LM&P, a leading healthcare communications company, is proud to announce that their Chicago-based agency has been assigned agency-of-record responsibilities for Lansinoh Laboratories. “We look forward to working with Euro RSCG Life LM&P to continue our mission to provide quality products and support to new and expectant moms and contribute to a positive and healthy overall experience during pregnancy and babies’ first years,” said Gary R. Downing, CEO, Lansinoh Laboratories, Inc. Lansinoh provides products that ease the challenges of breastfeeding by applying knowledge and best practices gained through real-world experience. From BPA-free products to breast pumps and nursing pads to topical treatments, it is Lansinoh’s mission to provide real solutions to encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies. “We are excited to be selected as the agency partner for Lansinoh to create innovative communication programs that connect with their consumer,” said David Paragamian, president of Euro ESCG Life LM&P. “It was an amazing year for the Euro RSCG Life LM&P Chicago office. Lansinoh marked the third new brand assignment for 2008.”