News

Last month I briefly introduced the MumSpeak program and offered a discounted opportunity to those interested in trialing it. Due to the interest in MumSpeak, I'll be extending the offer for another month. For anyone making a MumSpeak booking during August and September you will receive a 40% discount. Instead of the usual $495, for only $297 you will receive:

• A 30-minute marketing coaching session to determine your information needs
• Assistance with determining the key topics for discussion in the focus group that will satisfy your information needs
• A facilitated focus group conducted with 4-6 mums and/or their children
• A report highlighting the outcomes of the discussion
• A 20-minute marketing coaching session to discuss the results of the focus group and how the findings can be implemented in your business
   

To make a MumSpeak booking contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

MumSpeak is relevant to any business that sells to mums or where mums directly influence the purchasing decision. Mums control 80% of spending in a household and influence a lot more. The range of MumSpeak programs include:

MumSpeak Focus groups – a group of mums work with a facilitator to provide answers to your most pressing marketing problems, whether it’s developing an understanding of how mothers’ shop for  your products or whether you want ideas for product innovations.

MumSpeak Marketing Makeovers – a group of mums work with a facilitator to give your brand a makeover. The group looks at your positioning in the marketplace in relation to your competitors and comes up with ideas to increase your brand awareness and preference amongst your target market.

MumSpeak Product Playgroups – product playgroups are conducted with mums and their children to give you feedback on everything to do with your product, including colour preferences, durability, “pester factor”, pricing, advertising, distribution and much more.

Tools, tips and techniques

Tool: Using special days to get media coverage?

Theming your media release around special days or holidays might help to get them noticed. For example, at Christmas businesses often close, government departments take a break and the only real news is about whether spending is up or down from last year. The media will be looking for Christmas themed stories that are fresh and take a different angle. For example if you are a hardware store, you could write a media release that highlights the growing trend towards women being more involved in DIY and how a perfect gift for the wife this Christmas is her very own toolbox.

For a list of special days visit http://archive.edna.edu.au/edna/noticeboards?sort=dateasc&show=all&nbpath=1981&date= 

Tip: What comes first, PR or advertising?

With regards to branding, your best bet is to use PR to build your brand and advertising to maintain it. The reason for this is that extensive media coverage is not likely to be sustainable. You are more likely to arouse media interest when you are starting out as you will be providing the public with a new idea, product or place to shop. Once you are more established you will need to rely more on events and media stunts to get media coverage. At this point you need to be maintaining brand awareness with a comprehensive advertising campaign.

Technique: Using the size of your target market to determine media choice

You can use the total size of your market segment and all the people in it as the starting point for media choice. For example, if your target market is only 10 people you are better off using personal selling than advertising in a magazine. Below is a table that can help you to evaluate the range of media in relation to size of your audience.

A good book to read if you need help choosing which media to use is "Business to business marketing communications" by Norman Hart (1998).

Top