MumPanel Approved - new parent stamp of approval

This week we are officially launching the MumPanel Approved quality mark.

Most parents struggle to choose between the vast array of products on the market - how do you know what's best for your child, what product offers the best value, is it a quality product?









What most mums do is ask friends and family but we wanted an additional, independent way to help parents when they are stood in a shop puzzling over what to buy. The MumPanel Approved mark will show parents if products or services are of high quality and good value and if other parents would recommend them.

Each product will go through a testing system and will be assessed on criteria including price, value, quality and level of customer satisfaction. To be awarded MumPanel Approved brands must score highly in all areas.

Brands and products that have already achieved the mark are Australia’s No1 Suncream brand SunSense and Soreen’s Lunchbox Loaves. Other well-known brands are currently within our entirely independent testing process. Testing is carried out by the thousands of mums, dads and grandparents who make up the MumPanel.

If you'd like to know more about MumPanel Approved email lynne@mumpanel.co.uk

The Big Mum Opinion sneak peek – the changing shape of shopping

After weeks of gathering information we’ve now closed The Big Mum Opinion. 3000 mums gave us their opinions on shopping, spending, social media use and how brands can best communicate with them. We also did in-depth research with hundreds of mums in their own communities to give us a balanced view of the world of mums in 2013.

We’re now analysing the data which confirms some of what we already know from talking to thousands of mums over the last three years. There were also a few surprises in there and we know this insight will be vital as brands try and find ways to connect effectively with mums.

We thought we’d offer you a peek into the kind of issues that mums discussed and some of the hard facts that came out of the study.

Do you think price promises and loyalty cards make mums shop in one place?

Despite the best efforts of the supermarkets mums are still shopping around.

 

• 78% of mums use more than one shop (including online shops) to buy their grocery shopping in a typical week.
• 28% of mums use three or more shops for their grocery shopping in a typical week
• 51% of mums do one big grocery shop and go to shops for other items (usually something specific like meat at a butchers or vegetables from one particular place).

Two main reasons emerged – 78% mums said they did this because of offers and 39% said it was because of better quality fresh food. And these two things aren’t mutually exclusive – many mums mentioned Aldi’s fruit and veg as being both of better quality and cheaper.

It doesn’t follow that mums who like offers and low priced products are willing to compromise on quality. They want both.

We have also seen confirmation of a pattern that we identified about two years ago. Mums are loyal – but not to one store or brand. They’ll own loyalty cards but often for several supermarkets. They’ll be loyal to a brand, but only buy when it’s on offer.

Here’s what one mum said:

“I go to Sainsbury’s for some of the brands I can’t get in Morrisons (and their own brands) and also to get the price promise voucher for next week. I shop in Morrisons for location, fresh produce quality and build up their weekly offer voucher scheme too. And then I go to Aldi for fresh fruit and veg when I am in the village. Sometimes use bargain stores for cleaning products and kids sweets.”

If you’d like to know more about what mums think and a copy of the full report (due out July) email nicola@mumpanel.co.uk (cost £495). 

Holidays - time to think about mums and dads

We’re now in a world where information is available at the click of a button, just a quick surf to a web page on our laptop or smartphone. It’s something that’s particularly useful when you are planning a holiday, or so you’d think. In our experience planning and enjoying a holiday can still be very hit and miss and that often comes down to a lack of vital information that mums (and dads) need when planning a break.

I’ve just returned from Menorca and on reflection I can see it’s the little things that made the difference – knowing what food my daughter would have access to, what hours the kids club would be open. I’d done my homework, visited travel agents, and scoured the internet forums and Trip Advisor for insight. It should have been enough but the stuff I really wanted to know was missing. I could pick out some bits from the varied reviews online but the problem with reviews is that we don’t know the reviewers and what makes one person happy can be a nightmare for someone else.

As a mum and marketer I’d like to see holiday companies (and that includes airlines) think about the small stuff that makes a difference to parents so I don’t have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Here are just a few things that matter to mums and dads and could well influence their buying decisions:

Pool depths. I have a five year old who is way too cool for the baby pool. She wants to be in the big pool but I’m only happy to for her to be in there if there is a graduated depth. That way I can watch her, she gets to have fun with newly made friends and I get an extra few minutes on the sun lounger. 

Food. With kids you need specifics – what times can they eat, what will be on offer (especially important for babies and those weaning) and what is on the kids menu? If you offer self catering then where are the nearest child friendly restaurants. 

Kids Club. We need to know if it will be open and when. Otherwise you can end up with very disappointed kids and angry parents. What activities will be on offer – how about showing us a typical week’s itinerary? 

Flights. Make it clear what the situation is with pre-booking (or not) seats. Is there any chance we could be separated from our children/partners? A policy that keeps families together (and occupied!) is a great idea. Make information on car seats and prams (additional costs) clear. 

Mums and dads. Make it clear before we get there what trips and activities are on offer to the adults. At our hotel there were archery and table tennis competitions, I didn’t know this beforehand but for some of our party it definitely enhanced their holiday experience. 

Size and beds. Make it clear how big the apartment is (truthfully!) and whether the beds are doubles or singles squashed together. If you have family options (adjoining rooms etc) then make this information easy for families to find. Remember that if you offer one-room apartments to families and their children go to bed early then mum and dad could be sat in the dark staring at their sleeping children.

Hygiene. How often is the apartment cleaned? How often are the towels changed? Should we take beach towels?

Since I had children my criteria for holidays has changed, I now look at things like transfer times from the airport (two hours in a hot coach with a child is a nightmare) or closeness to the beach (small legs can’t walk very far). This information can often be hard to track down without trolling through but it would be easy to make it more visitor centric. 

The holiday experience should start at the searching stage and we shouldn't be left hoping for the best on arrival. I think holiday firms have to ask us the tourists about what we want to know and realise the some of the little holiday nuances make a big difference.

Lynne

Is in house research enough?

We approach companies to talk to them about research, innovation and product development. One regular reply we hear is ‘we do all our research and development work in house’. It’s a reasonable response, after all who knows your products, processes and customers better than your company? You probably think in house R&D is easier to control, cheaper and gives you the insight you need. 

Of course we’re going to disagree with that because we’d like to work with the companies we’re approaching. But there is a very important discussion that should take place around whether in house research is giving you what you need to push your company forward. 

We see lots of brands setting up their own research panels and groups to work with mums and we think that’s a flawed way of doing research. Why? 

If you’ve asked mums to sign up to test your products (especially if that’s done using social media where they might already follow or like you) then you are testing people who already like your product. To gain real insight and get a more balanced viewpoint you need to ask consumers who might not even know or yet have an opinion on your product.  We also know that certain brands might attract a certain demographic and provide you with skewed results that will only appeal to a narrow audience. MumPanel consists of all kinds of mums, from all kinds of backgrounds (and was grown organically) which means our research takes into account the views of lots of different kinds of mums. We’re also impartial, no one wants to please us but we know mums might want to ‘please’ a brand because they like them (or hope they might get something out of it). 

One of the great things about internal research is that you are totally immersed in your product and probably know a fair bit about your competitors.  You can add to this by using an external agency that is completely immersed in the world you want to speak to (for example mums) because they can reference not only your industry but also other things that affect consumer decision-making and buying decisions.  We have been working with mums for over three years and as professional researchers and mums we know how to connect and ask the right questions to get the most rich and rewarding replies. 

Often it’s the little nuggets on information gathered during insight that can be the most significant and make the most difference. Sometime in-house research is so focussed on a specific answer that they miss the ‘background chatter' or key decision making points. In our experience innovation often comes as a result of an offhand comment by one mum. Because we have an overview of the mum world and an objective perspective we can spot these comments and then go and sense check them with other mums. 

And our final piece of advice if you are going to do in house research is to make sure you understand the ins and outs of research. It’s vital you know what influences respondents, how to ask the right questions to get the information you want and to know which answers have meaning. 

If you’d like to know more about mum focussed market research will MumPanel then email lynne@mumpanel.co.uk

The Baby Show - what's changing but really staying the same

This weekend saw The Baby Show hit Birmingham so Lynne and I went down to see the latest innovations and trends in the baby and mother world.

The show was very busy and we managed to squeeze in a chat with Mamas and Papas who were showing off their fantastic prams including the Urbo and Mylo (we worked on a spreading the word campaign for these two pushchairs last year and it's great to see the changes suggested by our mums being implemented).

The biggest thing to come out of the day for us is that although there are always innovations and new products coming to market things essentially stay the same for mums - we want to feed, clothe, protect, entertain and care for our kids. And mums will find the best products for that.

It's always interesting as both a mum and a marketer to watch buying behaviours at the baby show, as it is an environment where mums are exposed to so many products and ideas in one place. It's very clear from observing mums on the stands and watching their shopping bags that what works for one mum won't work for all mums. In my case I made a beeline for the Close stand (makers of the newly branded Caboo carrier, formerly the Close Baby Carrier).

I was a bit of a sling addict with my two, purchasing and trying about half a dozen before I found (and loved) the Caboo. I'd tried so many different slings because I'd taken advice from different places, other mums, friends, internet forums and review sites. At MumPanel we know if brands want to influence a mum's buying decision it's important to connect with her in these different places. But as well as connecting you need to show mums WHY your product is right for them and that's about understanding a mum's journey and creating appealing messaging.

We spotted some products that we thought would have mass market appeal - the compact, mobile Milton dummy steriliser, for any mum that has ever recovered a fluff covered dummy from her handbag (excellent gap in the market identification by Milton). We also thought the VeraTemp no contact thermometer (initially developed by a pharmaceutical company for healthcare industry use) was fantastic - no more messing with in-ear or forehead thermometers, plus it works alongside a mother's natural instinct to check a child's temperature by putting their hand on their forehead.

As mums we were particularly impressed with The Gro company. They had lovely products to buy but also offered helpful safe sleep advice, making the shopping and brand experience about more than just buying another piece of baby kit. We'd love to see Gro develop sleep sacks or another sleep bag solution for older kids.

And while we're on the subject of stands, it was great to see stands staffed by team members from the actual companies (Superdrug instore staff were particularly lovely and introduced me to their own range of nappies, which I didn't even know existed). Sometimes companies have no choice but to use outside staff or PR companies to man exhibitions but it's worth bearing in mind that a mum to mum (or parent to parent) connection that's honest is incredibly powerful.

Finally a big thank you to Plum for supplying my ticket for the day (and for the very friendly welcome on their stand).

Spreading the word campaigns

When we talk to clients about spreading the word campaigns we like to be clear about what we’ll achieve by the end of the campaign. Spreading the word is just that, getting a message out there through word of mouth. Because of the advent of the internet and social media that might also now include Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest and other networks that pop up and create communities around them.

Social media is in essence just a way of amplifying what you might say to one mum at the school gate or to your neighbour over the fence. The message is the same but you can now say it to thousands of people at the same time instead of just one. At MumPanel we think it’s important that any spreading the word campaign takes account of a mum’s natural journey, so if they’ve never used facebook then we just want them to concentrate on the places they do speak to other mums – playgroups, their gym glass or their kid's swimming lesson. It’s also worth keeping in mind that different mums have different paths – some of our mums will never use social media, some practically live on it. If you want to market to mums then you have to speak to all influential audiences, not just the ones who are part of the latest marketing channel.

So where does spreading the word fit into marketing? If we hand out samples and use our hub mums and bloggers to talk to mums about a product will there be a sudden rush to the shops? Maybe. We need to positively impact customer behaviour so they take action and buy – we can do this by creating brand awareness and flagging up information for mums as they move towards their purchasing journey. Spreading the word should happen pretty early in the information giving cycle and continue so mums are constantly kept aware of a product in a very human way. But spreading the word shouldn’t happen in isolation – the best campaigns are part of an integrated approach (with clear objectives). After all what’s the point of spending time and money spreading the word about a great product only for our mums to be unable to find it in the supermarket because of poor point of sale? That’s an easy way to make mums instantly forget about your product. If you want to create a strong spreading the word campaign you need to start with objectives, be clear about what you want from it and then back it up with a great product or service and clear messaging.

If you’d like to know more about spreading the word campaigns with MumPanel then leave a comment below or drop us a line.

Mum insight round up

So what’s been happening in the world of mums and marketing in the last week?

Today we’ve been hearing about the problems mums are having when they want to return to work because of the crippling cost of childcare in the UK. Although there are some regional variations, the average cost of a full time nursery place is around £11-15,000 a year. This has a significant impact on a mum’s decision to return to work, especially if she works in a low paid profession where her childcare costs could outweigh what she earns. Wondering what that has to do with marketing? Whether a mum works, or doesn’t, affects household income and buying decisions.

We also got an insight into the future a baby born in 2012 might face. Apart from the startling fact that they’ll probably need between £60,000 to £123,000 to get through university (financial services companies marketing to parents take note!) it reveals some insights that may help with product development – for example we’re moving towards a cashless society.

And Facebook made a bit of a boob when it removed photos of mothers breastfeeding.

Finally if you haven’t had a chance to catch Pregnant in Heels on Bio channel then we can highly recommend it. It’s all about New York maternity designer and concierge, Rosie Pope and her very demanding and very pregnant clients. As hilarious as it is to watch their insane demands (9 months pregnant – plan me a wedding! No godparent – I want Lord Wedgwood to be the godfather!) it does show you what a very busy mum has to juggle.

We’d love to hear any interesting mum related info you’ve found this week.