Marketers Love ‘Power Moms’
Every once a while, advertisers sit down and decide who the next target demographic will be. I think they throw darts at groups of adjectives and nouns and hope that one of their combinations sounds catchy. I guess they are trying to determine the newest group of trendsetters out there. And guess what Mamas? You’re it! At least for the next couple of months.
According to The Washington Post, marketers newest target audience are mothers, specifically those with smartphones. Apparently, moms are snapping up iPhones faster than any other demographic and they spend more time on their devices than the average user. So the plugged-in mom is now officially a trend.
What’s even better for marketers is that smartphones give them more access than ever before to moms’ browsing and spending habits. Those handheld devices tell advertisers what sites you visit, how long you look at them and what type of money you spend on them. Companies like Proctor & Gamble, AT&T and Disney have all commissioned studies to determine how to capitalize on “Power Moms”.
While the abundance of smartphones is new, the fact that moms control their family’s spending is not a recent discovery. For years now, marketers have switched their focus to mothers who normally control most of the discretionary spending in their household. Utilizing smartphones to gather information is just the next logical step in this process.
So Power Moms, we’ll try not to let this new moniker go to our heads. After all, in a couple years, advertisers will realize that our teenagers all have cell phones. Then, they won’t worry about us at all.