Right idea…wrong gender
October 24th, 2007 by Allen VoivodI’m going to limit the number of crusades I go on about the assumption in the world that 98% of all things parenting are read and consumed by mothers, to the specific exclusion of fathers. But because this one actually made me laugh, I thought I’d share it here.
So I signed up at Huggies Baby Network because, in all honesty, you spend a pantload on diapers in the first year of a baby’s life, and I’m happy to give up my email address in exchange for the occasional coupon.
This puts me on their email mailing list, and they’re doing just about everything right. They’ve got great educational content, they’re referring me to great online baby resources like BabyCenter, iParenting, and a few other places I hadn’t heard of before. The advertising for their own products is discreet and well-integrated with the design. And they even personalize the email with my name, which I gave them when I signed up.
Unfortunately…they also think that if I’ve signed up for their email, I absolutely MUST be a mother:
“Welcome Allen! These life lessons come from the real-life experts - moms like you! Our Mom-to-Mom Tips let you share your wisdom or just learn from others.”
The confidence with which Huggies assumed my gender is both amusing and astounding.
Hey, I can’t bond with my baby the way my lovely wife and biz partner can. But I can do the next most important caregiving task, and that’s changing the diapers. I’m no model Dad, but I’ll change every dirty diaper I can, because that’s how I can make my presence consistently felt in my baby’s mind, right from the start.
It so happens we’re already brand-loyal to Huggies, so the fact that I can’t even find a reference to fathers at all on their site isn’t a deal-breaker. But there hasn’t been an immaculate conception in over 2000 years, folks…
It’s no secret that our society has trended toward Dads becoming way more involved with the kids than fathers of previous generations. The baby-focused company that finally “gets” that trend, and does something to interact with Dads in a meaningful way, stands to get a huge bang for their marketing bucks.
And as for the non-diaper set out there - what trends are emerging in your industry? Are your competitors all wooing one client base, when there’s another one out there that’s dying for some attention?
Hi Allen,
A new client of ours (and yours) is a great example of this gender-switching trend. Coming up in the next week(ish), at Yasharians.com, is a new site that was formerly oriented to the traditional blue-collar, general contracting, home addition, construction project crowd. The new slant is a MUCH softer approach that will appeal to the ladies in the home, and who will appreciate the new services of home decor, staging, home organization, etc. Of course they’ll still service the longer standing construction needs of the man of the house. It’s a first in the Lakes Region of NH and I think it might be a sign of things to come in that industry.
Kevin Skarritt
P.S. Do you think Huggies may have confused your gender because of the swagger you have while you type?? Just a thought.
Comment by Kevin Skarritt, The Brand Strategy Dude — October 26, 2007 @ 12:55 pm