It’s not news to us that moms are a powerful consumer group – but that was the talk of the town at this year’s CES MommyTech Summit. The presentation focused on what’s new in tech for the mommy market, and tried to answer the question of how marketers can deliver the right message to this audience.
Although I wasn’t able to make the trip to Las Vegas this year, I’ve enjoyed reading what my fellow bloggers on the scene had to say. In post after post, there seems to be an interesting theme emerging, that of “tech-equality.”
According to one report, Becky Worley, Good Morning America contributor, discussed the “technology inferiority complex.” She asked that rather than creating products that are nearly impossible to figure out, companies should spend their effort on making products that are easier to use – an undertaking that would benefit not just moms, but all consumers.
On BlogHer, Susan Getgood posted interesting comments about the potential stereotypes involved in targeting certain electronics products to moms, citing the industry perception that “Dads like the biggest, bestest, baddest stuff. Moms, well, we like the appropriate, nurturing stuff. And cleaning products.” She pointed out that when it comes to electronics, many moms like their “toys,” too.
This discussion definitely isn’t new, but CES brought it back into the spotlight. I remember when Dell released the “Della” line. There was a lot of hubbub about how it was patronizing toward women, and the nerve of a company to assume women needed their own pretty laptops.
As more tech companies target “moms,” what will be the features that really appeal to women? Will it be simpler, easier to use technologies? Or will women prefer to be marketed to in the same way as men?
thanks for referring to my ces recap, stephanie!
to answer your questions, i think we’ll see both — that is, products that are designed for and marketed specifically to women (fashion-oriented netbooks like hp’s vivienne tam line, mom-specific iphone apps, etc.) as well as those that have equal gender appeal — in either case, the products must:
- be easy to set up
- be easy to use
- deliver rational and emotional benefits, and
- come with great service.