The Marketing to Moms Conference in Chicago from October 22-23, 2008 featured over 50 speakers discussing topics related to marketing to mothers. Some of the most prominent speakers included executives from Nickelodeon, American Baby Group, and About.com. Key discussions focused on understanding the needs of different types of mothers, including second-time moms, moms of special needs children, and grandmothers, as well as the importance of high-quality online content in reaching mothers. The conclusion was that while many companies aim to market to mothers, specific groups of mothers including those with special needs, second-time moms, and grandmothers are often overlooked.

1. The Marketing to
Moms Conference
Chicago
October 22-23 2008
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
www.fattoremamma.com

2. M2Moms is a two-day conference featuring a series of general sessions, keynotes,
workshops, and roundtable discussions about moms and marketing to moms topics.
This conference will help companies to share best practises and relevant marketing to moms
campaigns and, in the meantime, it will help moms to maximize their networking and peer-to-
peer learning opportunities.
Online moms are moving the conversation about products and services from the kitchen table
to the Internet and successful companies are now beginnig to take note.
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
There will be over 50 different speakers and among those we find different CEOs from huge
global companies like Nickelodeon, About.com, MTV Kids, American Baby Group etc.
There will also be some Hollywood celebrities speaking at the conference about their
experinces with their family and kids – such as Holly Robinson Pete.

3. Why M2Moms?
Women today are busier than ever. Multi-tasking has evolved into multi-minding as women
mentally juggle the multiple dimensions of their robust lives. That leaves little time for
commercial messages. But successful marketers are engaging multi-minding women in a
variety of ways that result in rewarding relationships for the female consumer and the
marketer.
The 4th Annual Marketing-To-Moms Conference in Chicago is the premier national
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
conference for business and marketing professionals looking to increase their emotional,
cognitive and financial share of the lucrative women’s market. The 2008 conference will
feature speakers and presentations that will address such areas as launching new women’s
marketing initiatives, understanding word-of-mouth marketing with female consumers, and
reaching women online strategically.

4. Sessions/Speakers:
Although over 50 speakers were attending the M2Moms Conference, some were more important than others.
Among those we found Tanya Van Court, SVP from Nickelodeon, MTV Kids and Family Group, who hosted a
panel discussion about the importance of marketers reaching parents in each part of their lives. Tanya was joined
on stage by several, senior-level marketing and communications executives whom we found very interesting:
- Norma Blatto, VP and Executive Director, American Baby Group.
- Laurie Klein, Vice President, Just Kid Inc.
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
- Nadine Vogel, President, Springboard Consulting LLC.
- Peter Weingard and Tracy Chapman, VPs, About.com and JAAW.
- Jerry Shereshewsky, CEO, Grandparents.com

5. Tanya Van Court
SVP, Nickelodeon, MTV Kids and Family Grop
Parents are people, too!
When kids arrive, the lives of Moms and Dads are unquestionably changed. Suddenly
they have a new role to add to their lives. A parent is an individual, a wage earner, a
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
spouse/partner, a household manager, in addition to being the mom or dad. For
marketers, it's important to understand how each role fits into a parent's daily life and
how to connect with parents on each level. After all, parents are people, too. In her
keynote address, Tanya Van Court discusses the importance of marketers reaching
parents in each part of their lives. She discusses how ParentsConnect has been able to
strike a balance between the personal and parental needs of Moms and Dads, and how it
can offer marketers the same opportunity. She also showed new research from the
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group which speaks to this dynamic.

6. Norma Blatto
Vice President, Publisher/Executive Director, American Baby Group
Second Time Moms
Although much focus has been placed on marketing to first-time mothers, they represent
only 40% of all births. Wwe are missing nearly one-third of the birth market if you do not
target second-time moms. Not only is this a growing proportion of women, they are a
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
unique group to get the messaging right to, as they are both experts (at infant care) and
novices (at toddler/preschool care) at the same time. Recognizing the importance of the
second-time mom and her value to marketers, American Baby is undertaking a major
survey of over 15,000 moms who have a toddler and are also currently pregnant or mother
of a newborn. Norma Blatto dicussed and explored these topics:
• Psychological and emotional changes, including self-identity and values
• The impact of second-time motherhood on their daily routines
• New needs and issues arising from their growing families
• Purchase behavior and motivations regarding the product choices she makes
• Sources of advice and information these second-time moms turn to
• Interactions with their peers and role as info source/advisor to first-time moms

7. Laurie Klein
Vice President, Just Kid Inc
Parents As Peers
Laurie Klein dicussed a new phenomenal trend. A new trend spotted by Just Kid Inc. that
will create a 180° in all things traditional about marketing to moms. Today's parenting
flip
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
style has evolved from being an authoritative figure, as in the Leave It To Beaver days, to a
new type of relationship where the parent is not the dictator but a collaborator and a friend
to her child. Moms are actively seeking more shared experiences in the current family
dynamics and a new relationship is emerging. There are amazing implications for how this
trend is significantly impacting all areas of family life - recreations, vacations, food
purchases, media consumption and more. She invited everybody to a round table
discussion afterwards – which came out with amazing results for Just Kid Inc.

8. Nadine Vogel
President, Springboard Consulting
Reaching the Largest Untapped Market in the Country
What segment of the population is large, loyal, has significant spending power and is
screaming to be marketed to? It’s the tens of millions of moms who have a child with
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
special needs. The disability community is now considered to be the largest minority
market in the country; a market with incredible spending power but largely ignored by
Corporate America. These moms have the same income, assets and home ownership as
the general population but they have unique needs and interests and want to be spoken
to in a way that conveys their needs are understood and their business is wanted. For
the business, it will mean revenue; for the moms and their families, it will mean the world!
Following that session attendees got these main points:
• Identify “low hanging fruit opportunities”
• Understand the various segments within this population
• Learn the most successful strategies for reaching this community
• Seamlessly integrate this segment into a overall marketing strategy

9. Peter Weingard
Vice President Marketing, About.com
Tracy Chapman
Vice President Marketing, Just Ask A Woman
Content, Content, Content
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
There are 30 million Moms online! They shop, email, play games, watch videos and
research everything from product prices to vacation destinations to family health issues.
But with millions of sites to choose from, how do they separate the wheat from the chaff?
About.com, one of the largest producers of original content on the Web, partnered with
Just Ask A Woman, a leading women's marketing consultancy, to find out exactly how
active web users explore and evaluate online content. From health to food, travel to
parenting, they asked moms where they go for trusted information online and what
matters most when they get there. Tracy Chapman of Just Ask A Woman and About.com
shared their findings and explained how with internet real estate, its not Location,
Location, Location, but Content, Content, Content.

10. Jerry Shereshewsky
CEO, Grandparents.com
But Grandma Said I Could: Lessons in Lifestage Marketing
Getting the attention of a prospect and holding it is the single most difficult task in
advertising. Being highly relevant to the target is critical. That’s why search works so well.
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
But you can be highly relevant in other forms of advertising when you know and
understand the particular lifestage of your audience. Grandparents are in an amazing
lifestage. They are wealthy, well-educated and fanatical about their grandchildren. Jerry
Shereshewsky will explore the general theory and practice of lifestage marketing and
then focus on the grandmother and grandparent market as a prime example.

11. Conclusion and Result
Everybody is marketing to moms, but three key groups of mothers are being
ignored: moms of special needs kids, second-time moms and grandmas.
Nadine Vogel of Springboard Consulting emphasized that reaching mothers of
special needs kids requires sensitivity and etiquette i.e. do not kneel or stand
when you are talking to someone in a wheelchair, but sit down next to them.
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
They are fiercely loyal to the companies that reach out to them with solutions
and communications that demonstrate compassion and an understanding of
their and their children's particular needs. She was followed by Gianna Locasto,
Sephora's Director of Store Marketing, and they gave the moms of special
needs kids some much deserved pampering and treated disabled teens and
adults to make-up lessons and beauty consultations in a private, supportive
environment. What they got, in addition to the warm fuzzies, was new, loyal
customers.

12. Conclusion and Result (continued)
Norma Blatto of American Baby talked about second-time moms. Even though
they're spending a lot of money on cars, home improvements, home electronics
and additional baby gear (double strollers, clothes for a child of a different
gender) and their established status in the mommy community means they're
responsible for generating a lot of word of mouth, most brands are so wrapped
up in their efforts to reach the first-time mom that they miss out on the
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
opportunity to make a connection with this bigger community of women
pregnant for the second, third or fourth time.

13. Conclusion and Result (continued)
The award for most memorable speaker of the day (according to one of the
attending moms) goes to Jerry Shereshewsky. The CEO of
Grandparents.com, he made the point that today's Boomer grandmas and
grandpas are healthy, wealthy and very generous with their grandkids. They're
funding 529 college savings plans and helping their children furnish nurseries
and buy clothes for the babies. Not only that, they're buying high chairs and
games for their own homes to make the grandkids feel welcome. Yet aside
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
from a handful of companies who are embracing this demographic (one
standout example was Pepsi, who encouraged Grandparents.com members
to give their free Pepsi song downloads to their grandkids) - most marketers
leave this group out to dry. And that is a shame since, unlike Gen X and Gen
Y moms, they're easy to connect with: just address them as grandparents.

14. Fattore Mamma
Via Guercino 9
20154 Milano
Tel. 02.314639
© FattoreMamma – www.fattoremamma.com
E-mail: info@fattoremamma.com
www.fattoremamma.com