I didn’t like telling the Marketing Director the idea wasn’t sound; but I had to be honest, even if it meant putting a possible new business win at risk. Someone had hatched an ill-advised scheme for an SMS campaign to first-time mums, and here I was persuading the client against it.
Baby food is a fascinating category. Brands are bought by people who will never benefit from them, who nevertheless believe they are making the best purchase possible. Purchases are made on behalf of people who have no say in the purchase, and have no means to convey dissatisfaction! This presents marketing people with a unique challenge, especially with regard to marketing communications. Some see this as an opportunity to test novel ideas.
This was the idea: send first-time mums an SMS everyday pointing out special deals, price-offs etc. on the client’s baby food brand; helping mums make the right decision. The media agency said they could get the phone numbers of first-time mums, and other details were taken care of. All that remained was to phrase the actual message, finalise selling price with chains and stores, and schedule a campaign. It all seemed deliciously simple, and the Marketing Director was intrigued.
I remained unconvinced. The phrase ‘first-time mums’ kept popping into my head, and I wondered what her world was like and what she would be concerned about. Her baby’s health would be top of the list – and nutrition is a key part of that, true enough. But I was uncomfortable sending her a purely commercial message. I felt if a brand was to interrupt her day and her time with her baby with an SMS, that message had better be important to her; otherwise that brand would risk being perceived as selfish.
Furthermore, she (and indeed any mum) would prioritise a food brand’s quality over its price. That was my back-up argument with the client. My objective was to dissuade the client from proceeding with this crack-pot scheme in the first place. That time with baby is precious to her, I said. She’d want to be with her baby and ensure she’s looking after it. Any contact with her would be an intrusion, I persuaded. The brand would need her permission to enter that space and she had not welcomed the brand, I added. I felt these were strong reasons, but the client was not swayed.
I then used logic, and said mum would want to be convinced about the brand’s quality and not be pestered by a price based message. She would see no merit in that. My suggestion was to use the SMS medium to convey a message in which she would find immediate relevance and use. As an example, I suggested a quick weather update at 10:30 every day, supplemented with something along the lines of “Likely to be windy today, so bundle up junior before taking him out. Signed, Brand.”
By empathising with mum’s concerns and aligning the brand with her priorities, the brand would endear itself to her. She would probably become more receptive to other messages from the brand in the future. Engagement – the key word the media agency kept using – was up to her, not the brand. If the brand desired it, it would need to be on her terms and her schedule. Engagement is not every brand’s automatic entitlement.
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