St. Louis Chevy Dealers Have ‘Mommy Madness’

Mid America Chevy Dealers (located in the St. Louis area) have ‘Mommy Madness.’ In an effort to showcase the new Chevy Traverse and the all-new 2010 Chevy Equinox, the auto group has sent six Mommy Bloggers (who are members of the Mid America Chevy Dealers Mom Squad) on fun missions while driving the two featured cars. The Moms will be blogging about their experiences at www.MommyMadnessSTL.com and the general public can follow their stories and vote for their favorite Mom. All voters will be registered for a girls’ spa trip for two. In addition to the blogs, the auto group is offering consumers the opportunity to test drive the two featured cars in exchange for a free one-hour massage from Massage Envy. Said Kathy Federico, president of the Mid America Chevy Dealer Association. “Who doesn’t need a moment away from the madness of everyday life? A fun and exciting test drive, plus a free massage at any Massage Envy clinic, are stress-relieving breaks that every Mom deserves.”

New Sites Offer Support, Advice For Overweight Teens And Their Moms

Using a combination of social media, fashion, food, exercise and fun, two new sites have been launched to provide support and guidance for overweight teens and their Moms. Fitsmi (www.fitsmi.com) and Fitsmi for Moms (www.fitsmi.com/moms), not only helps teen girls make healthy behavioral changes and improve self-esteem, but gives Moms the advice they need to help their daughters. “After listening to many teens and their moms talk about the help they wish they had, our team created a destination that treats an overweight teen girl first as a teenager and helps her feel better about herself in a world that makes being overweight an emotionally painful experience. It’s designed to help a teen girl feel connected, supported, motivated and inspired to make healthy changes,” says Fitsmi’s founder and CEO Linda Frankenbach, who herself was a teen who struggled with her weight. “Teen girls are the mothers of tomorrow and it is so important they learn what to do to be healthy. In doing so, they will be better equipped to help their future families stay healthy.” Fitsmi for Moms includes: expert advice, coaching skills, professional counseling and connection with other parents to help Moms successfully support their daughters and to help turn a potentially difficult parenting situation into a positive mother/daughter team effort. The sites are designed to be used by teens and Moms who do not have professional help and are also being used as resources for pediatricians who want to offer affordable programs to their patients.

Sales Manager Needed For Beyondmotherhood.com

Beyondmotherhood.com, an online resource designed to empower all moms as they take steps re-enter the workforce, is seeking a Sales Manager that is experienced, intelligent and aggressive interactive online advertising sales professional who can grow in a dynamic and creative environment. . The individual will target and develop new national accounts. Other responsibilities and qualifications include:

• National (interactive) online advertising sales experience selling to advertising agencies and clients 
• Strong communication skills to convey programs and creative advertising opportunities 
• Good at building long term and substantive relationships with agencies and national advertising clients 
• Evaluate specific business categories and marketplace trends in order to identify prospective accounts that desire a mom genre
• An entrepreneurial approach to business that partners with clients 
• A person who really enjoys what they do for a living and is seeking a stable, secure and growth oriented home 
• The ability to structure deals and advertising.
• The ability to call on national advertisers to represent Beyondmotherhood.com and present creative interactive advertising programs unique to this brand. 
• Proven track record of success in sales career 
• Highly sales motivated individual with solid business acumen, prospecting and closing skills
• Bachelors degree in a business related field

Depending on a candidate’s qualifications, the compensation could include a modest salary plus incentive compensation based on company revenues.  Stock ownership opportunities could be available for the right candidate.  This is a virtual position, so candidates can be located anywhere within the US.  Interested applicants should send resume and cover letter to:  info@beyondmotherhood.com

M2Moms®-The Marketing To Moms Conference 2009—Daily Blog Updates

The Fifth Annual M2Moms®-The Marketing To Moms Conference has come to an end. It was an amazing two-days filled with great insight, innovative ideas and amazing networking opportunities with some of the top marketing to mom thought leaders and brands. Here are links to Patti Minglin’s daily blog updates:

And So It Begins…M2Moms® 2009!

M2Moms® Day One

M2Moms® Day Two

For photos from this year’s events visit http://2009M2Moms.shutterfly.com.

Former Martha Stewart Living Editors Launch Site For Moms

A new website has launched that promises to give “moms a reliable stream of practical tips and fun advice for creating happy homes.” Momologie (http://www.momologie.com) covers everything from holiday celebrations, food and travel to fashion, beauty and home. “Momologie is like a recommendation or a tip you get from a friend,” said Gia Russo, co-founder of Momologie. “We expect many moms to count on us as a source of new ideas and practical advice. We’re working on stories now that are relevant to what moms are experiencing today, including Halloween, fall fashion, school and the year-end holidays.” And Russo should know a thing or two about providing helpful tips for everyday living. Gia, along with company co-founder Michele Adams, met over a decade ago at Martha Stewart Living where both were editors charged with developing magazine stories, producing TV segments and designing product lines. Next they formed their own company, MiGi, and have appeared on the Fine Living Network as well as guests on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” and The Style Network. Authors and spokespeople (for such brands as Baby Gap, Amazon and Pepperidge Farm), their unique background seems to lend itself well to the new site which feels more like a magazine than a website. “The Internet offers a glut of information, but there hasn’t been that one place that gives us the kind of information we want in a beautiful, magazine-type format,” said Michele. “Momologie is a place for moms to get the information they need but in a tasteful online environment.” Daily e-newsletters focus on a single theme, such as creating the best setting for homework time, or fun after-school treats that suit the season. The website showcases topical articles, practical check-lists, links to essential sites, and a blog capturing Gia and Michele’s real life experiences.

WhatToExpect.com Adds New iPhone App For Moms-To-Be

As we heard during this year’s M2Moms® Conference, mobile is becoming a vital part of a brand’s marketing mix so it isn’t surprising to see WhatToExpect.com launching a new mobile app for the iPhone.  What to Expect Pregnancy Tracker gives expectant moms (and dads) round-the-clock, at-their-fingertips access to What to Expect—allowing them to track their baby’s development and their own fast changing and growing bodies.  In its beta release, the Pregnancy Tracker became an instant hit and is already the most popular pregnancy app available for the iPhone. The app has also become an attractive new marketing channel to reach prospective new parents.  In addition to tracking their baby’s growth, consumers also receive weekly updates on what baby’s up to development wise, weekly illustrations of their growing fetus and an opportunity to upload photos of their burgeoning bellies and to turn the photos into slide shows to share with family and friends. “If you’re expecting these days, you’re probably busier than ever – between work, those doctor’s appointments, that layette shopping, and more. Yet you still want to keep every possible pregnancy resource at your fingertips – and keep track of and share every moment of life’s most incredible experience. Now you can!” explains Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting.  WhatToExpect.com has also launched the Baby Name Finder app for the iPhone. The application includes over 15,000 baby names which can be searched by gender, alphabetically and by origin. It also contains the top baby names for each year from 1950 – 2008 and the origin and meaning of the names included.  Both applications can be found at  www.whattoexpect.com/iphone.

Moody Mamas Brings Hip Maternity Line To Target.com

Moody Mamas, the ultra-popular, high-fashion maternity line is now offering their capsule collection on Target.com. Moody Mamas is revolutionizing maternity fashion by giving it a hip, stylish, sophisticated make-over with inspiration straight from the runways. The looks featured on Target.com will range from comfy loungewear to gorgeous dresses that are ideal for work and the upcoming holiday season. The 2-year-old brand Moody Mamas, which has caught on like wildfire in Hollywood, is the brainchild of 2 fashion-savvy young women in their 20’s, Marta Abrams and Elise Rosemarin, who are single and have never had children – admittedly an unlikely pair to design a maternity line – which is precisely why they have been so successful –throwing out the rulebook and shaking up the status quo by creating a bold, daring collection that has injected style and fashion flair back into the lives of expectant moms everywhere. It has also become the go-to maternity line for women across America and worldwide, available at more than 200 boutiques and other major retailers, including Nordstrom.com, Harrod’s, and Belk’s. “We are very excited to offer Target.com this capsule collection which is a diffusion of our luxury line, Moody Mamas. After dressing some of Hollywood’s hottest celebs, we are now looking forward to bringing our fabulous styles to moms across America,” say Marta Abrams and Elise Rosemarin.

Aetna Is Making It Possible For CUREchiefs To Be Delivered Nationwide

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Aetna and the Aetna Foundation are offering the ability to send a complimentary handmade CUREchief headscarf to an organization or a loved one who is being treated for a medical condition, such as breast cancer, that results in hair loss. 

• A CUREchief is a handmade headscarf, available in a wide variety of patterns and colors. 
• The CUREchief Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing warmth and comfort to cancer patients, survivors, their families and friends.
• To learn more about the CUREchief Foundation visit: http://www.curechief.com.

Aetna is working with the CUREchief Foundation to make up to 5,000 CUREchiefs available for delivery nationwide.  Anyone can order one free of charge from the Aetna website (http://www.aetna.com) during the month of October.  For those who want to send them to organizations, they can order up to 50 by visiting the CUREchief Foundation site (http://www.curechief.com).

NPD Study Finds Moms Could Use Help In Expanding Nutritional Knowledge

Healthy eating is on the minds of many moms, but it’s their eating habits and nutritional knowledge that have the most bearing on what their children eat, according to The NPD Group. Recent NPD food industry market research finds that in households with kids, when the adult female has a good Healthy Eating Index (HEI), a measure of diet quality similar to federal dietary guidance, the majority of kids in the household are eating just as well. Although moms’ healthy eating behaviors impact how their children eat, moms’ attitudes about nutritional eating often do not necessarily align with actual behavior, according to the NPD report, “What’s on the Minds of Moms and How Are They Coping.” Three-fourths of new moms and 65 percent of experienced moms say they actively seek out foods with nutrition benefits. The study finds, however, that moms are less likely to actually eat foods with nutrition benefits. Moms also give themselves high marks when it comes to nutritional and healthy eating knowledge. The NPD study, which was written to aid the food and beverage industry in marketing to moms, reports that 67 percent of moms feel they are extremely or very knowledgeable about nutrition and eating, and 81 percent of moms feel they are the primary source for nutritional education for their children. Yet when moms are asked to assess their children’s level of nutritional knowledge few ranked their children extremely or very knowledgeable, a little over half of children 6- to 17-years old were considered somewhat knowledgeable. One-fourth of moms considered their children 6- to 12-years old not very knowledgeable. “Theirs and their family’s healthy eating is clearly top-of-mind with moms, and their follow-through on this attitude has a direct impact on their family’s eating behavior,” says Dori Hickey, product development manager and author of the report. “It’s clear by our findings that moms could use help in expanding their and their children’s nutritional knowledge, and the food and beverage industry can help in this regard.”

M2Moms® 2009–Day One

“Moms are core,” said Wendy Clark, SVP of Coca-Cola.  “And the core influences the connectors and the connectors influence the masses.”  Is there any other reason why your brand shouldn’t be connecting with today’s mom consumer?  

We have just finished Day 1 of M2Moms®-The Marketing To Moms Conference and I am sitting in my hotel room still feeling exhilarated and inspired.  Yes, I actually used the word inspired.  Isn’t that refreshing? We have moved from a world of Return on Investment to Return on Involvement—and moms are front and center.  Here are some key quotes from today’s presentations (I just didn’t have time–or space–to put more than one per speaker.  So much great stuff!!):

Kristin Bennett Butterfield, Partner, ConsumerDig
“Generation Y moms want to see a diverse family—not just ethnically.  They want to see grandparents involved, dads involved, gay parents, single parents, etc.”

Susanne Norwitz, Director, Brand Public Relations, Kellogg Company
Kristen Laney, Senior Vice President, Group Manager, Ketchum
“Kellogg Cares allowed us to engage moms with our brand and create a social movement.” 

GiGi Carroll, SVP Creative Director, Draftfcb
“You have 6.5 seconds to convince a consumer to engage with your brand.”

Zanny Oltman, Vice President, Marketing Partnerships, Destination Maternity Corp.
“Do not ignore who she was before she became pregnant—especially while she’s pregnant.”

Stacy DeBroff, Founder & CEO, Mom Center Incl.
“The sphere of influence measures in social media can translate into sales measures.

Dr. Mary Manz Simon, Consultant & Parenting Expert; Greg Fritz, SVP, Marketing, Big Idea, Inc. – VeggieTales; Stephanie Bryant, Manager, Business Development/Emerging Marketing, DaySpring, subsidiary of Hallmark; Naomi Cramer Overton, President, MOPS International; David Kinnaman, President, The Barna Group<
“The church was one of the first real social communities”

“You don’t have to be overtly religious with your message—just don’t take away from what mom is trying to do for her family.”

Kara Forney, Vice President, The Bump Media
“The first time mom is the ‘perfect storm’.  She is not only spending more on herself, but her network is spending more on her as well.”

Jaime Berman Matyas, EVP, COO, National Wildlife Federation
“Some say it takes a village to raise a child.  I say it takes a backyard, a playground and a park.”

Laurie Klein, Vice President, Just Kid Inc.
“Moms are concerned with nurturing the whole child—mind, body and spirit.” 

Wendy Clark, SVP, Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities, The Coca-Cola Company
“Moms can powerfully express their brand POV in 140 characters with the best of them.”

Continue following the conversation on Twitter–#M2Moms!