By Lisa Lacy.
From JetBlue, to Apple, to Teleflora, here’s a look at some of the most memorable celebrations of motherhood for 2016.
Forty weeks without chardonnay is no picnic, but that’s just the tip of the maternal iceberg. That’s why, in part, we fete our mothers each year – and why brands are eager to capture the attention of grateful sons and daughters.
Mother’s Day is the third-largest retail holiday in the U.S. (behind Christmas/Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day), with the average U.S. consumer spending about $172 for a total of $21.4 billion in 2016, according to the National Retail Federation
Perhaps not surprisingly, the consumers surveyed by the NRF said they plan to buy jewelry, flowers, gift cards, consumer electronics, and personal services for their mothers.
Here’s a look at 10 of this year’s best marketing campaigns from brands hoping consumers will spend their $172 with them – or at least remind consumers to do something – and, like mom herself perhaps, tug at some heartstrings while they’re at it.
JetBlue
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xQyfu1LrOSMSure, we know flying with screaming babies is tough, but it is actually worse for the mother of said child, who hears those screams better than anyone while simultaneously attempting to soothe said baby amid the angry glares of all those around her.
That’s the concept behind JetBlue’s FlyBabies, a Mother’s‑Day-themed video execution in which passengers on a flight from New York to California were given 25 percent off their next JetBlue flight each time a baby cried, making it what a flight attendant called “the very first flight when crying babies on a plane is a good thing,” and leading instead to claps for each cry and the tagline, “Next time, smile at a baby, for crying out loud.”
The video generated 655,000 views on YouTube in its first three days and has a True Reach – or views across platforms – of nearly 2 million, per analytics firm Visible Measures.
Apple
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NFFLEN90aeITech giant Apple released a 30-second video of moms shot on iPhones, which it says “[celebrates] motherhood through the lens of iPhone users around the world.”
An extension of Apple’s pre-existing Shot on an iPhone campaign, it has nearly 500,000 views on YouTube since it was published May 1.
Procter & Gamble
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MQ3k6BFX2uw%5Biframely%5D%3CSpeaking of strong, money transfer service Western Union has enlisted the help of Denver Broncos linebacker and Super Bowl 50 MVP – not to mention recent “Dancing with the Stars” participant – Von Miller in reminding viewers to thank their moms and to perhaps send their love with a little help from Western Union.
The video has 175,000 views on Facebook.
Teleflora
Flower delivery service Teleflora also salutes strength in its One Tough Mother video, which has 5.3 million views on YouTube and counting.
Set to the backdrop of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi’s What It Takes to Be Number One speech, the brand said, “Motherhood isn’t always hearts and roses. But Mother’s Day can be with a bouquet from Teleflora.”
The brand also noted this is the latest in a series of holiday videos that “captures the sentiment of gifting flowers with some of the most heartfelt and touching life moments shared between loved ones.”
“On Mother’s Day, we often focus on the maternal love and support moms give their children,” said David Dancer, Teleflora’s executive vice president and head of marketing, in a statement. “But there are so many more inspiring motherhood moments – including all the sweat, tears and hard work that moms give their kids every day.”
1–800-Flowers
For its part, 1–800-Flowers has teamed up with wireless speaker and voice command device Amazon Alexa to enable voice-activated flower orders and deliveries for moms this year.
Per a press release, 1–800-Flowers is the first third party e‑commerce retailer to utilize this technology on Alexa-enabled devices. Further, the brand also recently announced the ability to order flowers via bots in Facebook Messenger, as well as the launch of the beta version of an AI-powered shopping experience, GWYN, which taps into IBM Watson and uses natural language processing to interact with users and make gift suggestions.
Michael Kors
Like mother, like daughter: this year, we’re celebrating Mother’s Day with @AlessandraAmbrosio and her darling daughter Anja. #WhatSheWants A video posted by Michael Kors (@michaelkors) on
On a slightly less technical note, the fashion designer has enlisted the help of model Alessandro Ambrosio and her daughter in a series of videos and images on Instagram with the hashtag #WhatSheWants. Each post has averaged about 73,000 likes. The campaign also reportedly included an email with a Q&A with Ambrosio.
Barneys
In the latest chapter of its #InstaBarneys series, which the luxury department store says looks at its stores through the eyes of “stylish influencers,” Barneys featured the mother-daughter duo behind the blog Scout the City as they spent the day at the brand’s flagship Madison Avenue store. The resulting images are featured on Barneys’ editorial site, The Window, as well as on Instagram, and the brand encourages readers to chime in with the hashtag #LoveMom.
California Pizza Kitchen
Finally, pizza chain CPK is asking sons and daughters to post photos and videos of their own with wishes for their mothers along with the hashtag #CPKDearMom for a chance for that wish to be granted.
Which Mother’s Day campaign do you think is the best? Why?
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