Posts by Ann Oliver
There is 1 comment »
I had the pleasure of attending the sixth annual Marketing to Moms (M2Moms) Conference in Chicago last month. This is the third time I’ve attended the conference, and, as in past years, I did not come away disappointed. Over two and half days, there were 21 sessions with presenters from some of the top consumer brands: [...]
April 5th, 2010
Babysitting. There’s an app for that?!
Using Mobile Technology to Reach Moms in New Ways
My daughter was growing bored sitting, once again, waiting for her brother’s baseball practice to wrap up. The usual distractions and games had grown tired, and I was running out of tricks. I checked the time on my Blackberry, noticed the icon for Pandora and had an idea. In less than 90 seconds, my daughter [...]
We’ve all heard the impressive statistics about women and the online world. Women are the majority of internet usage now – 53% The fastest growing group on Facebook is women. Women who are on the internet trust the internet information more than other sources I attended BlogHer ’09 in Chicago and the focus of this conference [...]
We recently launched a new campaign for Balloon Time Helium Balloon Kits. We started the project by laying out our communication objectives, and then talked about strategies that will help us reach these goals. Sounds pretty traditional so far, right? But connecting with moms and reaching moms during the party decoration purchasing cycle has led [...]
May 22nd, 2009
Inspiration – 40 Under 40
Last evening I had the pleasure of attending the Columbus Business First Forty Under 40 Awards
which recognizes “players in the business community under the age of 40 who show professional drive and community involvement.” The emcees shared a brief summary of each honoree’s professional accomplishments and community service before bestowing the impressive award. As I listened to each of these stories, I was inspired by the hard work and focus each one of these professionals [...]
I’ve been asked this question nearly every day for the last ten years or so (prior to that, dinner was complimentery appetizers at happy hour). It’s a challenge to constantly come up with tasty, easy, and economical recipe ideas. Lucky for me I discovered AllRecipes.com about eight years ago and it’s been one of my favorite go-to sites ever since. [...]
December 9th, 2008
New Clipping Paths
I was in the Gap yesterday, scooping up the latest round of markdowns. When I got to the register, I paused and tried to recall if I had coupon for my purchase-it seems EVERY retailer these days has mailed me a coupon. Rather than make my purchase and regret it later. I had the clerk put my items on hold until I could check. I'm not the only one focused on saving money this holiday season. One of my co-workers started a holiday coupon swap; share the coupons you won't be using and swap them for ones that you can redeem. The basket is full of $10, $15 and $25 savings cards. Is anyone else "clipping" coupons? The New York Times calls coupons, "this season's must have for marketers." According to the 2008 Industry Trends Report from PromoMagazine.com, for the first time in 16 years, coupon redemption did not decline. 2007 saw a six percent increase in the number of coupons offered over 2006-that translates into 16 BILLION more coupons than the previous year. CMS, a leading consumer packaged goods coupon management company, noted that the quality of the offer (discount amount) has also increased over previous years. No kidding--$10 off ANY purchase (Victoria's Secret), $15 off of a $30 purchase (Express), $25 off of $100 (Macy's), this adds up to some serious savings. Women are responsible for most holiday spending decisions-and we are looking for ways to save. More than two-thirds of US online females surveyed in October 2008 by SheSpeaks said they would try to use more coupons and coupon codes this year, and nearly as many said they would spend more time online looking for bargains. And you know, we like to share the bargains with our friends (see coupon basket above). Two-thirds of poll respondents said they forwarded online coupons, and nearly 80% said they had shared a coupon with a friend during the past three months. Taking coupons to another level The specialty retailer Lucky Brand understands the power of the "forward" command. They've launched a consumer-generated coupon and online promotion for the holiday season. Check out LuckyBuckOff.com and try to "buck off" various holiday characters for discounts-the better you are at the game, the greater your discount, up to 30% off any one item. I can't seem to get beyond 25%, maybe I need a little more practice. (more...)
October 2nd, 2008
Out of sight, out of mind?
Even if they're out of sight, for mothers, the kids are never really out of mind.
On Saturday mornings, I often wake up before everyone else to quietly sneak-out the door. Not for a solitary morning run or a clandestine affair, but to simply grocery shop in peace. Instead of the running through the aisles at break neck speed, with the kids at home, I can take my time. I leisurely [...]