Ambush Marketing, Tennis

The Science of Effective Mommy Blogging…The USTA and Mother’s Day.

It has long been known that the female head of household is the decision maker on products, and the brands that can effectively communicate to those decision makers through sports or entertainment are often the most effective. Of course in sports the challenge has always been how to keep women interested and engaged in activities that might play more to the male demo. That problem has waned in recent years as girls have become more active, the head of household has shifted and women take a much more visible role in the overall positioning and delivering of kids to sporting events and choosing leasure activities to attend. NASCAR and soccer have been two of the leaders in connecting brand loyalty and women to their overall experience and choice of where their families spend their time and dollars. However with the advent of social media, new challenges have arisen as to how to capture the head of household and the decision maker in the right environ. Enter the mommy bloggers. The mommy bloggers, literally in the thousands, have become a huge voice in the decision making process of the household and a great source of information, especially for young families looking for all sorts of options in challenging times. Like so many other aspects of social media, the ability to exchange ideas, tips, product leads and thoughts amongst peers gives the group a very special cache for those who enter the mix. Since a good part of mommy blogging is also about lifestyle and health choices, as opposed to viewing or attending events, the opportunity for lifestyle sports to penetrate and activate in this space is both a huge challenge and a golden opportunity. The bloggers can be an insular group and really have to experience product in order to validate its usefulness so like any other pitch, taking the time to know the writer and her audience is critical. Also, the viral nature of blogging can give the right products or activities a huge boost if pitched and placed effectively. So how can sports brands effectively activate in the Mommy blogging world? A great example of success was demonstrated by the USTA and Coyne Public Relations, who were able to get the right kits to key Mommy Bloggers and have them validate all the claims of the USTA’s grassroots programs as fun and friendly and healthy family activities to their readers around Mother’s Day. The results may not have produced over the top clips or national show headlines, but for this project, delivering effective messaging to the decision makers, the payoff was very strong. Is using this core grassroots approach the best for all activities? Of course not. Extolling the value of Mixed Martial Arts may not be the right fit here. However as a smart, effective, well thought out plan, the Mommy Blogging route can add great value to a campaign or a brand in sports, like it has in many family-friendly non-sports brands. It is a great example of alternative support for a program in this digital age, and one that has yet to be fully taken advantage of by the sports community.