'Mom bloggers' are new online influencers

Baby care products, too, have been luring bloggers in the US, with Procter & Gamble's Pampers inviting as many as 15 top "mommy bloggers" to the company's Cincinnati headquarters later this month.

The trip appears to be the company's biggest effort yet to reach online influencers. "It's official: mom bloggers are the new influencers," said Bryan McCleary, Director of External Relations for P&G Baby care, as reported by Adage portal.

Bloggers weren't really "on the radar screen in a major way" when P&G first began focusing heavily on "influencer marketing" more than five years ago. But at least in baby care, he said, the company is elevating them to the level of celebrities, mainstream media and health professionals in terms of influencer importance.
It's hard to put a precise number on the audience size represented by the invited bloggers, he said, "but it's substantial and growing".

P&G is not the first baby care marketer to notice bloggers. Johnson & Johnson's BabyCenter unit entered a partnership last year with Federated Media to form the BabyCenter Parenting Federation, a hub featuring 17 mom blogs.

"In and of themselves, they're not huge websites," said Tina Sharkey, Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter. "But they were voices we felt were representational of the different moms online. BabyCenter partnered with them so we could have a blog network not just for our consumers but also for marketers who wanted to get the reach of the influentials."

Bloggers, however, pose a few controversial issues, mainly the credibility of people who have been invited on promotional grounds to report positively about the product.

All-expense-paid trips, however, have been controversial in the blogosphere, such as when Microsoft brought tech bloggers to Redmond, Washington, to meet Bill Gates, or when the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions brought bloggers to Amsterdam.

As for P&G, "we've made it clear that this is not really about pitching products per se," McCleary said, "but exploring areas of common interest, such as baby development and how to help moms in this topsy-turvy time in their lives."

"Bloggers are humans like anybody else," he said. "There's a possibility some bloggers will be affected by the trip. But I think most will remain authentic in their writing and their audience won't be affected."

Another issue is the fear from being unable to control negative feedback.

"We agree that there is a fair bit of care that should be taken when tapping the power of social networks, as messages communicated by consumers using this medium cannot obviously be controlled. Online, word whether good or bad, factual or inaccurate, can and does spread much faster than in traditional media", said Benson from Ford.

"It has been our experience, however, that the key to addressing a "bad experience" or incorrect information that may be raised on a social networking site is to ensure an immediate response is provided – a hallmark of good customer service", he said. (With Agencies)

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.