Musings from a contemplative mom

Mothers and Daughters– The Age Old Dilemma

by Cathy Nave

Am I the only one out there who has a twisted relationship with her mother? Who can go right back to that 8 year old girl place in a matter of seconds when visiting mom with the kids for a Sunday night dinner.

I guess part of this ongoing relationship re-definition and deliberation is coming to the realization that I may never have the wishful relationship with my mother that some gals appear to have. Take Sally Fields as mother on t.v. show Brothers and Sisters, for example. Now, that is another version of twisted but at least the relationships are for the most part… adult.

Maybe it’s because we come from an Italian family. The role of the mother in an Italian family is different. Mothers are the head of the household. The revered and respected. The dominant force as long as they live.

I understand my responsibility as her child is not to speak or have an opinion, or be a friend, but do my duty, help her when she needs it. Check on her. Bring her grandkids to see her. Take her guilt and move along my merry way.

I can’t spend too much time with my Mother. I have been trying to change her for years now but that isn’t going to happen. I know it intellectually. Must move through this and create my own version of mothering.

Fortunately for our generation we have more information available to us, we are open to more, or so I’d like to think. Thanks Oprah! In the end, the only thing I have control over is my own behavior and I choose not to be like my Mother. I am sure my kids will thank me one day!

Not invented here

Desperately seeking originality in a commoditized world? When seeking out that terrific gift for your best friend you want to find something that is new, different, original, artistic, meaningful, special. Where do you go? What do you buy?

Great ideas and originality are hard to come by. In the online world where short form communication and voyeurism are common place we are losing the meaning in thoughtful exchanges, creations, ideas. Your idea becomes my idea.
Oh, did I steal that? Can't remember.

Blogs are out, twitter is in. When and where do we express a full thought and put things in context? Self expression and original ideas are worth fighting for, protecting, honouring ..... not replicating or simplifying.

And, if you are looking to use your inventer brain check out http://www.innovationexchange.com/ a cool place to channel your creative idea energy. You may even get paid for your greatness! Companies are finally getting smart about open innovation. Ideas come from everywhere!

Naomi Wolf takes on Michelle Obama

In Naomi's book review article which ran today in the Washington Post she looks at Bad Girls Go Everywhere, The Life of Helen Gurley Brown, by Jennifer Scanlon. She points out the Michele Obama's recent rise to fashionista role model and demure sex object all at the same time as an example of where we are in feminism today. Her question and my question is have we finally come to a place where women do not have to conform or be relegated into a box that they cannot break out of, or else? Can we be sexy, feminime, smart, influencial leaders all at the same time. Are we there? Michelle Obama, America's Sweetheart or Diva?

The quintessential mom: Kelly Ripa or Michelle Obama?

What are our quintessential mom role models today? We know what it used to be with images of June Cleaver who had command over the kitchen and the household. But, what does the modern day June Cleaver look like?

When Electrolux launched its most recent campaign with spokesperson, Kelly Ripa, running around the kitchen looking glamourous while seamlessly juggling the hosting of an adult dinner party and a kids sleepover-- while of course thanking Electrolux for making it simple (and fashionable!)... we have to question the creative minds behind this strategy and who they were trying to attract as their target audience. How many of us actually aspire to this and what message is it sending for those of us that are never going to be quite that organized, glamorous or in control?

The closest I can come to the modern day mom who embodies style, grace, strength, intelligence, compassion, authenticity and warmth is Michelle Obama. Heck, she is out-rating her Presidential husband! But, a realistic everyday role model she is not. A shout out to Electrolux... I wonder if Michelle is available?

Blog or vlog?

Are we ready for video online? How is video adding to the social networking experience for women? As the world catches up to the concept of blogging we are now experimenting with new forms of social and professional networking with micro-updates at www.twitter.com and video-blogging.

Video adds a further level of personalization and context to the Internet experience but are we ready for it as a communication tool? For women, video adds a more visual experience to the communication mix which gives us a sense of familiarity and safety when connecting with others online. Adding video to your blog can be very effective depending on your objectives but here are some basic 101's to keep in mind;

-know what you want to communicate and why
-keep it short
-edit wherever possible to ensure a well-articulated point of view
-be honest and authentic in your delivery
-make it web-streamed, avoid downloads if you want it to be seen

We have been studying online video for three years with our www.defineyourself.ca campaign and learning about the magic formula for delivery online. Consumers will watch it if their 'equipment' allows and if you make it easily watchable.

Waking Up Hannah Appealing to online Ladies

As we are transitioning into winter and the evenings are becoming cold and gloomy I find myself watching a lot more t.v.. In between the celebrity dance-offs and police dramas, are commercials for an online show called “Waking up Hannah”. So I was curious and went onto the website to see what the hype was all about. It is a show sponsored by Dove, (really these days, what isn’t sponsored by Dove) and it is a ‘choose your own adventure’ romantic comedy geared to the 20 something’s where we get to decide what happens to Hannah next. It’s a cool concept. It builds on the reality t.v. show audience participation overlayed with the gritty dramatic acting of 90210, cleaned up ever so nicely by refreshing Dove.

This show is intriguing because it’s a brand that now is associated with real women on an emotional side. Women become brand ambassadors because they think the brand represents something more than just keeping clean. It’s about being part of community, of understanding, of belonging. What is great about this is that they aren’t hiding the fact that it is from Dove. They are very open with their sponsorship which to me, allows for the transparency of the brand and creates an even stronger loyalty. Waking up Hannah is essentially a big long commercial. But it’s interesting, so we watch.

This isn’t Unilever’s first stab at this targeted approach. They debuted “In the Motherhood” another online tv show, which is a Suave haircare initiative, designed to capture the attention of moms. Clearly this consumer giant is seeing that women are online, and they are spending their time and money there. It is a great space to create content, promote products, be entertained and interact all at the same time.

Megan Greysmith in "Waking Up Hannah" Dove Trailer from Megan Greysmith on Vimeo.

A different view from a Motrin mom...

Ok gals. So, for all of you Motrin moms out there who have had a negative reaction to the recent Motrin ad I say-- stop taking yourselves so seriously! You have to be able to laugh at this-- albeit poorly executed. I can understand if you take it at face value with provocative statements like 'official mom' and the poor transition from 'wearing your baby' to 'but what about us moms?' but the message could have been funny if it had been expressed differently. The whole mom universe and all of the over commercialization of the mom brand and mom experience has taken over. I mean really, I wore both of my collicy kids for 10 months and it nearly broke my back! So, yes, a little Motrin would have helped.

Here's the outcry response:



Now, for the marketing part. This ad was poorly executed. The tone was wrong and the tongue and cheek humor just did not come across. If you are trying to do this well you really need the mom community behind you and from what we can see, Motrin's agency did not test this throroughly enough with moms. I do want to say congrats for doing something different though, and it is not always necessary to please all audiences all of the times and clearly it is paying off from a visibility standpoint right now. Take it from an 'official mom'. I saw through it for the funny. Next time, call us if you want to connect with your consumer community before launching a new campaign.

This will take you to the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY

Gen Y and bringing back face time.

With the growth of social media on the web and new communities springing up – particularly for the gen y demographic -- we are missing out on socializing in the real world. Somehow our reliance on those communities has meant that we don’t need or want to continue to connect outside of the basement – where entire dramas can unfold without moving from the couch. But by doing this are we really trying to avoid that face to face time?

In the new Dentyne gum campaign, which is both print and tv ads, they are targeting Gen Y and their socializing patterns and highlighting the shift from electronic communications to “Making Face Time”. I was really taken by the print ads as I made my way home on the subway. I was like, “Yeah, I do want more face time.” Which is, I am sure, so different from what everyone thinks Gen Y wants. We want to connect with people. Online, at home, on the train, in the pub. When I investigated more about the new Dentyne campaign I checked out their website which continues to reinforce the brand. It has a counter on it to limit the time you spend on it , promoting more face time. One interesting feature is the smiley chamber of doom, where emoticons which we all used are destroyed using interesting tactics like being squished, inflated to the point of explosion, you get the point.

With social networking uptake by women evidenced by recent Facebook statistics and what we know about women and their need to nurture relationships, are women less likely to fall victim to the online social vacuum and maintain their face to face time? Hard to say, I know that I am with Dentyne and want to go back to where you actually have a physical conversation with people. Face time is back! Woo hoo.

Cadillac and Kate Walsh, firing on all cylinders!

Critique: Cadillac CTS ad with Kate Walsh, when you turn your car on, does it return the favor? Now here is an ad that I can get excited about! They creators of the ad may have had the Kate sex appeal in mind when developing this creative for the male market given that the CTS is a model designed for the male market, however, it gets A's all across the gender board in also appealing to women. This liberated and luxurious female message hits all the right chords with women and goes further beyond brand to extend to product appeal. I found myself considering what it would be like to drive a Cadillac even though this is not my auto brand of choice.

SWING gives this ad top marks for smart marketing with women!