Contacts

Nan McCann (860) 724-2649 Ext. 13
Liz Fongemie (860) 724-2649 Ext. 11

Marketers Seek $1.7 Trillion in Moms’ Spending Power

Social networks, word of mouth crucial to bottom line
Thought leaders to unveil strategies at 5th Annual M2Moms® Conference

CHICAGO – September 21, 2009 - With $1.7 trillion in spending power at stake, top brand marketers are counting on American mothers to survive and even prosper in the current economic slump. And, they’ll share their winning strategies here at M2Moms® – The Marketing-To-Moms Conference, October 21-22, 2009 at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Celebrating its fifth year, M2Moms® – The Marketing-To-Moms Conference brings together top brand leaders and marketing executives to explore the increasingly important role mothers play in the U.S. economy.

“As the chief purchasing officer of the household, moms account for 85% of the buying, including cosmetics, auto, tech, travel, fashion, food, finance and everything in between,” said conference speaker Carolyn Kremins, VP/Publisher, Cookie magazine. “Moms have an instinctual passion for spreading the word about the brands they love.”

At the conference, Kremins will unveil the results of a brand-new survey of 2,300 Cookie magazine readers, “Worth of Mom: The Financial Impact of Influencers, Peers and Social Networks,” which demonstrates how word of mouth impacts retail sales and the bottom line – what she calls “from buzz to buy.”

“Marketers are being more strategic about focusing on consumers who will guarantee a return on investment,” Kremins said. “Mothers are thinking twice before purchasing something for herself or for her family. Even historically male-focused tech and electronics companies are realizing mom not only needs their state-of-the-art products to manage the chaos, but that she’s controlling the purse strings.”

Stacy DeBroff, CEO/Founder of Mom Central Consulting, said leading brands and companies are turning more and more to social media to boost sales and forge closer connections to their mom consumers.

“Rather than summoning moms to a corporate web site or a highly structured corporate message, brands have reached out to find moms where they hang out – places like Twitter, Facebook and mom blogs,” said DeBroff, who is also a conference presenter.

“Instead of the traditional ROI, brands have plunged into the brave new world of direct conversations with moms,” DeBroff said, “and in the process, these consumers become marketers for the brand, serving as powerful brand enthusiasts. These moms each reach a large national or local audience who rely on them for key product advice and information.”

With more than 40 speakers and presenters scheduled, this year’s M2Moms® – The Marketing-To-Moms Conference promises to be the biggest and most informative conference in the show’s five-year history, offering an impressive array of top-notch presentations, case studies, original research, solution-based workshops, drill-down discussion groups and unique networking opportunities.

“Year after year, M2Moms® brings the best and brightest together to share and discuss new research findings, creative campaigns and exciting opportunities for helping companies reach today’s busy moms,” said Liz Fongemie, VP of Sales, PME® Enterprises and Project Manager, M2Moms®. “This conference has sold out since its first year and is attended by a ‘who’s who’ of mom brands.”

Associate Sponsors of M2Moms® are Ketchum, Draftfcb, The Bump, Cookie magazine, General Growth Properties, Catapult Marketing, Mom Central Consulting, Destination Maternity Corporation, Shutterfly, BARKLEY and MomsLikeMe.Com; Showcase Sponsors are School Family Media, Win/Win Radio and New Mom, Inc.; Workshop Sponsors are 360 Public Relations, Sittercity and Fleishman-Hillard; Hospitality Sponsors are VehicleVibes.com, National Wildlife Federation, Scholastic Parents Media, imc2, Luth Research, The Motherhood, Inc. and SheKnows; SNiPPiES is the conference Video Journalism Resource.

For complete conference schedules and registration information, please visit www.m2moms.com.