Mom’s the word!

Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States according to a report released by the National Retail Federation this week.

An Average spend of $219.40 on gifts for mother, $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.

Wow… Time to re-think the power of family!  Mom is most certainly the word this May.  South African brands could sure look harder to weave family values into their brands over such engaging calendar happenings.

The UK were all over Mothers Day this year –  London-based department store Harrods promoted its luxury products via a Mother’s Day-inspired email newsletter; Coach asked customers to share the story of’ you and your mother’. Fans were able to share a story, along with a photo, for consideration in the campaign.  http://www.facebook.com/Coach. EBay looked after Mom’s by giving away week-long spa getaways, 64GB iPads and $100 eBay gift cards and Michael Cors http://www.michaelkors.com/  created a video contest on Facebook where customers could upload a video telling the story of why their mothers are so special to them. Winners receive the Joan Bag – An ode to mom’s everywhere.

In SA, Crabtree & Everlyn ran competitions on FaceBook & YuppieChef seems to have their SEO marketing in order for the special day. Good on you guys!  But no one quite as game to deliver ‘Nando’s style’ on Mothers Day this year. The Print Ad titled MOTHER’S DAY was done by TBWA Hunt Lascaris Durban advertising agency for product: Chicken Fast Food Outlet (brand: Nando’s). It was released in the Nov 2001 & still delivers quite the punch!

As a mother, all I expect is a loving hug & perhaps a flower from my garden. But dad’s feel the pinch when it comes to the expression of thanks which provides the perfect nesting ground for brands to build harder connections & rekindle the emotional values built around such a warm and thankful time.  Whilst commerce attached to the endearing love of a mother seems wrong, it’s still viable and invariably effective, so pull on those heart strings and love the occasion. Mom’s the word!