CANNES – Who else can better talk about what mothers want than a mother herself? Merlee Jayme, chairmom at Dentsu Jayme Syfu in the Philippines and mom of four girls took over the Health in Action Stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Sunday to talk about how brands can best sell to the one person at home who mostly decides on which household products to buy.
Jayme starts off by emphasizing one of the skills that mothers are really good at–spotting a liar. Moms have a knack for being able to tell if her children are lying. It’s the same with the products they use around the house and brands they choose to patronize. Mother’s instinct applies to just about everything.
“Moms are a tough target market but you really have to understand them and you really have to be genuine when you talk to them,” said Jayme. “So, they don’t really feel that you’re fake or you’re just saying something to them that’s not true.”
Some of the things that brands need to work on when talking to mothers, according to Jayme, is to try to ease her worries but without failing to recognize the many roles that she can do. They are ‘slashers’, at home she’s not just a mom, she’s also chef/doctor/teacher and the list just goes on. Ads targeted toward moms should never seem like they’re talking dumb to them, they must be approached with guidance.
With the advent of social media, especially Facebook, mothers have become very social and digital but in terms of communicating with them, Jayme says that nothing beats being personal.
“It’s a bit complicated to talk to moms. But for me, you have to touch their hearts, because when you touch their hearts they become loyal.”
Jayme showed some of the agency’s works for formulated milk brand Anmum and laundry detergent Breeze that touched mom’s hearts which translated to real results.
Though these tips are tailored for talking to moms, Jayme pointed out that being genuine should apply to every marketing campaigns regardless of the audience they are talking to.
