Smiggle – the word is spreading

“Have you been? Your two would love it”

We know there’s nothing more powerful than parent to parent recommendation, the power of conversation between two people who trust each other (92% trust friends and family recommendation over any other form of advertising). And when that power is combined with a fresh approach to the high street and something kids love we know there’s a new hit on the horizon.

 

 (Credit: mallcribs.com)

Smiggle. It’s where a smile meets a giggle. Either that means absolutely nothing to you and I’ve just taught you a new word. Or you’ve broken out in a cold sweat as you know exactly what it means, your kids are obsessed with it and your bank balance is suffering as a result. 

For those not in the know Smiggle are an Australian retail brand that sell colourful stationery, bags, lunchboxes and drink bottles. If you’re a stationery addict you’ll love it, if you’re the parent of a kid who is a collector or loves bright, shiny things then you’re bound to be in store very soon.

I had a teeny stationery habit when I was a teenager (I don't think a collection of 120 rubbers is too much?) which a. may have strayed into my adult life – see picture below and b. obviously is genetic as my kids have the same problem. 

My local store hasn't even opened yet so we’re off to explore the Manchester store next week…I’ve already bumped the limit up on my credit card. 

The first UK Smiggle opened in 2014 and there are now 67 stores in the UK with plans to have 220 by the end of 2018.  But you might be wondering how I heard about Smiggle when I haven’t even stepped foot in one.  It all started with that line, ‘Have you been? Your two would love it’.

Lynne (MumPanel founder) has a daughter the same age as mine and they have a common love of stationery. Lynne mentioned Smiggle in passing a couple of times over the last few weeks and then when we were discussing Christmas trends she said the Smiggle calendar would be the big thing. At this point Smiggle weren’t even on my radar, I hadn’t seen anything online and we didn't have a local store so my trusted mum friends weren’t talking about it.

So Lynne filled me in and as we were going to a meeting she pointed out the Manchester Arndale store (trust me you won’t miss it and neither will your kids!). I immediately knew that my daughters would love it but it would also be useful for me because I could get back to school kit, birthday presents for their friends and cheap pocket money treats.  Win win.

Then the power of word of mouth took over. I had information from a trusted source so I took that and shared it with my friends, who shared it with their friends. And all the time Lynne was sharing it with her friends, who shared it with theirs, and theirs and theirs. Until it’s reached thousands of people. The power of one single conversation is spreading the word about Smiggle. And it’s happening in a natural but trusted way driven by parents desire to share information.

When we work on spreading the word campaigns clients sometimes don’t understand how a small team of well-connected amplifiers can successfully get the word out there. But that’s all you need – if your product, service or concept is good the power of one conversation amplified many times over does the work for you. And although there's a trend at the moment to only talk about online and celebrity influencers you have to carefully consider where you audience are (what about those who don't have a facebook profile?) and who they really listen to. Remember that 92% of parents trust friends and family recommendation over any other form of advertising.

The power of word of mouth can be hard to harness but if you know the right people to start conversations it can create loyal customers and put more money in the till.

We’d love to hear about the products or places you heard about from other mums or your experience of Smiggle.

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.

Who do mums listen to? Mum insight

It’s Mothers Day this weekend and I’ll be spending mine with my mum and extended family. My mum is my first port of call when I have a child rearing question (after all she managed to raise 5 children quite successfully). We also share information on products and bargains we’ve spotted in shops but as we are at quite different life stages I tend to go elsewhere to source my information on products and services related to my children and lifestyle.

Along with 8 out 10 mums in this survey I regularly turn to the internet for parenting advice and to get daily jobs done such as grocery shopping. We’ve already seen a shift in the ways mum shop over the last few years and a recent study has shown that online reviews and experiences are becoming just as, if not more, important than personal recommendation. One of the insights to come out of a brand building in a digital world event held last week at P&G’s HQ in Cincinnati was that 70% of Pampers are now sold online. What this clearly means is that retailers are going to have think carefully about how they appeal to an increasingly digital mum market.

And on the note of appealing to mums, as I strolled around the shops this week I was a bit mystified to see an abundance of pink goods. Valentines is long gone. And I wasn’t in a shop for children. The items on the shelves were in fact presents designed to appeal to grown women for Mother’s Day. Retailers need to remember that women are about more than pink and flowers, you’d only need to look at the results of our surveys to realise how diverse our mums are and that they have very different wants and needs. Last week was International Women’s Day (not a hint of pink anywhere). This was a day to celebrate women’s achievements and inspire young women to be brilliant in what ever they choose to do in their life. It’s also a great opportunity for brands to connect with women (Google did so this year).

And on a final note this week is Yummy Mummy Week, a fundraising week for CLIC Sargent . We’ve worked with bloggers on a spreading the word campaign to raise awareness of the week and the great work this organisation does. So far 80 bloggers have contributed 152 posts – you can read more here. We're were thrilled to see CLIC Sargent and our spreading the word campaigns mentioned as excellent examples of blogger relations in econsultancy today.

Who do you think mums listen to? Their parents? The internet?

By Nicola

What can MumPanel do for your business?

Who does most of the shopping in your house? Who makes most of the buying decisions? Along with most households in the UK it's probably mum.

What that means is that organisations that want to sell to mums would benefit from the insight those mums could offer them - whether that's offering their opinion on a new product they are going to launch or telling a company what they think of a service aimed at mums.

Our recent projects have included accompanied shops for a large supermarket chain, product reviews and spreading the word campaigns for a leading baby retailer and interactive research for a television channel.

On each of these occasions the insight our mums provided information that allowed each organisation to move forward with a strategy that would be better aimed at their target audience.

You can find more information about what we do on our website.