For the Love of Moms
With Mother’s Day this weekend, we found it apropos to focus on how brands capitalize on this holiday to generate buzz and attention.
First off, a little history about Mother’s Day: 150 years ago, Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of the poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by moms. When she passed away, her daughter began a campaign to memorialize the work of her mom and lobbied prominent businessmen and politicians to create a special day to honor mothers. Nine years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.
From its humble beginnings, Mother’s Day has grown into a commercialized, branding free-for-all, and it has become the second most popular holiday for gift-giving, following Christmas. With 85 million moms in the U.S., this influx of gift-giving equals huge market potential and exposure for brands.
So, how are brands leveraging Mother’s Day? Well, most obviously, the sheer amount of promotions, giveaways, deals and sweepstakes being offered this week by florists, jewelers, greeting card companies and restaurants is staggering. But what’s really fun to see are brands joining the conversation in creative ways:
- Building on its recent kid-focused advertising campaign, AT&T has created a microsite allowing people to create a Mother’s Day video card.
- Coach has also introduced a card-making app on its Facebook page.
- Disney/Pixar has released an adorable, Mom-focused trailer for their upcoming “Monsters University” release.
- Planet Fitness is donating its enrollment fees to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (May 8-15). They are also running a Best Mom on the Planet sweepstakes for a chance to win a year membership.
Finally, we love when companies effectively use nostalgia to tell a story – and Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion. These examples show exactly what we mean, and make us love their brands even more. Enjoy!
- Google: Here’s to the Moms
- Publix: Making Pinwheels
- Procter & Gamble: Thank You, Mom
- Johnson & Johnson: You’re Doing OK, Mom!
Sources
Hallmark, U.S. Census Bureau