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On Mother’s Day weekend, I got to do one of my favourite things.¬† Shop.¬† Not grocery shopping, not schlepping around with the kids to buy running shoes, not running errands at the mall for every member of the family.¬† Real shopping.¬† With my mother and two sisters,¬†I headed to the¬†downtown Toronto Eaton’s Centre.¬† It was the perfect formula for guilt-free buying – women shopping together on Mother’s Day weekend.¬† While I felt compelled to send my husband a text warning him that I was about to assault our charge cards, it was less to receive permission and more to prepare him for the aftermath.¬†

As it turned out, none of us spent too much money. Instead, we balanced our sky-high desires to have it all with our realization that we still wanted to afford groceries for our kids in the upcoming week.¬† Our spending habits that day, in fact, were representative of a huge proportion of today’s shoppers – women consumers.¬†

A new book from Boston Consulting Group called Women Want More forecasts a new “female economy” that will create $5 trillion in global spending over the next few years.¬† The research is backed by a survey of more than 12,000 women across 22 countries and is compiled to help businesses cash in on this growing market of spenders.¬† If you ask me, the creation of Spanx was¬†one of the earliest¬†indications that women¬†had more power than ever in the marketplace.

Much of the information presented is nothing new for most mothers, today.¬† Not surprisingly, women feel they have too many priorities, are too pressed for time, and are challenged to find time for themselves.¬† The publication lists six “female archetypes”:

• Fast Tracker: A perfectionist driven to get the most out of every task.
• Relationship Focused: She spends most of her time with her romantic partner.
• Managing on her Own: A divorced professional who enjoys her independence and hopes to marry again.
• Pressure Cooker: A married mother who works full-time and is pressed for time and resources.
• Making Ends Meet:¬† A woman on a low income who struggles with debt and, in some instances, health.
• Fulfilled Empty Nester: a married homeowner whose children have grown and moved out.

The research discovered that women consumers are most frustrated with financial services and health care.  They care little about complex money-making programs and want simple solutions that help them manage their household finances.  While health is highly valued by women (second only to love), they are unhappy with healthcare.  They spend too much time trying to book and attend appointments that they feel are a waste of their time and often not necessary.

So – what does this mean to moms, such as us?¬† Well, don’t underestimate our power as consumers.¬† This book is marketed to businesses who want to earn our dollars and they’re listening to what we want now more than ever.¬† Women have an opportunity to raise the bar by¬†fastidiously expecting good value and good service every time they loosen their purse strings.¬†

I’d personally like to champion an¬†end to low cut tops (I’m so sick of wearing tank tops under everything), Jessica Simpson shoes (well, Jessica Simpson everything), Grapple, Black tights that pass for pants (they’re stockings, girls!), and candy bars sold in the grocery store line.¬†

Now, is that too much to ask?

This commercial for the Toyota Sienna is priceless.   I always explain to other parents that the only people impressed by a nice minivan are other minivan owners.  (That’s why I’m okay driving one of the ugliest minivans on the market!)  Non-minivan drivers (especially the childless ones) dismiss the big metal beasts as ugly and something to pass as quickly as possible when on the highway.¬†¬†This commercial brings to light the reality of minivan owners.   We still hip, yeah.  We still hip.   Power to all the minivan ma’s and pa’s out there.   Watch the video and enjoy.

Time spent deliberating over what Lego set to purchase may get a lot lengthier for kids when the building toy company rolls out its new digital boxes.  Lego stores, such as the one at Orlando, will feature boxes that use augmented reality to enable a child to hold up a box to a kiosk and view the 3D model of what the set will look like when built.  While this will seem super cool to kids as they grab one box after another to view its model on screen, the question remains as to whether this new gimmick will entice kids (or rather, parents) to cough up more cash. 

The single biggest motivation for buying lego sets¬†is, and always will be,¬†the quality of the product.¬† Watching a child toil over a 300 piece lego project for an hour elicits a strong sense of pride for any parent.¬† Even more so, when the child covetously displays their finished product.¬† While so many traditional toys collect dust as kids rush to the newest digital craze, Lego maintains its top spot as one of the most beloved children’s toys. One can only hope that this new display technology isn’t a precursor of a more digitized version of Lego. ‘Cause this is one toy that seems to get better with age.

There’s something about Beyonce’s hit, All the Single Ladies that makes the boys go wild.¬† Well, the under-ten year old set, anyways.¬† I try not to chuckle when I hear my nine-year-old belting out the girl power tune as he listens to hear his earphones.¬† “All the single ladies.¬† All the single ladies.¬† Now put your hands up!”¬†

It’s¬†too cute.¬†¬†And, I cannot bear to tell him that this kind of song isn’t meant to be celebrated by¬†the male species.¬† He’ll figure out all that complicated stuff soon enough.¬† While I’d never humiliate my son and film him in action, other parents feel less inhibited.¬† This video of a toddler boy rocking to the song is absolutely hilarious – especially when his father instructs him that he is not, in fact, a single lady.¬† Not something any young boy wants to hear!¬† The video has, not surprisingly, gone viral.¬†¬†Luckily, the little boy is too young to feel the shame that a ten-year-old would feel if caught on camera doin’ the Beyonce thang.¬† I wonder if the parents feel any shame, though,¬†in allowing their kids to be¬†featured in a video viewed by thousands of strangers.¬† Any other parents willing to sacrifice their childrens’ privacy for a short stint of fame?¬† Now put your hands up.

More than ever, I am asked by¬†moms and dads what is the whole point of Twitter?¬† Two years ago the big question was: are you on Facebook?¬† And, as that behemoth social networking site graduates from public confessional to¬†valid business tool, expect Twitter to progress in much the same way.¬† First, a quick definition for the newbies out there… Twitter is made up of users who have followers, as well as, are followers, of other users (you follow?)¬† Each “twitterer” submits status updates called “tweets” that are made up of short messages a¬†maximum of 140 characters.¬† Tweets often include urls and therefore have huge potential to send a video or post viral (the ultimate digital marketing goal.)

Like Facebook, parents are well-advised to jump on the bandwagon and familiarize themselves¬†with Twitter.¬† That’s because it’s more than¬†another cyber-waste of¬†time that provides a¬†person’s household play-by-play (Baby’s crying now!… Just made homemade broccoli soup!… I’m watching Oprah at 4!)¬† While the online socializing aspect will not fade, the greater potential for Twitter will likely be its ability to influence people and outcomes.¬† And what stakeholders are most interested in affecting an outcome?¬† Large corporations, of course.¬† As Twitter (and Facebook) grow increasingly accessible to our kids, their exposure to marketing campaigns will expand.¬† The upside to this is that a growing population of users can just as effectively create an outcome that they desire, simply by trading honest feedback about certain products or services.

Researchers Asur and Huberman of HP Labs have discovered that Twitter can predict a movie box office success in the first weekend it is released, as well as the following weekend.  By reviewing almost three million tweets that mention particular movies prior to release, they were able to forecast this with greater accuracy than the typical method used by Hollywood Stock Exchange.  The implications are immense for all businesses looking to better understand how a new product will fare in the marketplace.  Furthermore, the researchers conclude that their methodology can eventually be utilized to determine election outcomes. 

No doubt, there will be a race by corporations to manipulate the twittering of the masses to turn marketing campaigns in their favour.¬† But the question remains – who has the greater power? The people or the marketers?¬† Parents who are willing to better understand the power of social networking technology can pass along their knowledge to their children and in turn, empower kids to withstand the manipulative forces of marketing while standing up for their own beliefs and opinions.¬†¬†Encouraging kids to bring positive change¬†with their collective digital voice?¬† Now, that’s something every internet-exhausted parent can stand behind.

Interesting Links about this:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1604125/twitter-predicts-box-office-sales-better-than-anything-else