Media Post ran an article last week touting the power of the ‘Mommy Bloggers’. The argument was that, according to uncited research, a large percentage of mothers in the U.S. use the web to give and seek advice on products and services for their children and families and that this group should be respected for their influence. Is anyone actually surprised that women today still hold purchasing influence in the home or that they consult each other for advice? Does the addition of the Internet really make this something we haven’t seen before? It seems more likely to me that creation of the ‘Mommy Blogger’ is more about collective advertising and less about collective bargaining.
It only makes sense that the media will want to classify on-line patterns into easily digestible generalizations because when they need to market themselves to advertisers they have only so much time to make their case. A website that covers teen celebrity is indistinctly after a different demographic than one that chronicles the latest senate changes in Medicaid reimbursements. The first might be self-labeled a ‘Tweener’ site while the other may pitch itself as a ‘AARPaphile’, and they will each use these terms to preen for the advertisers interested in capturing eyeballs in their respective markets. The unfortunate consequence for us comes when those same media sites take those generalizations that they have invented and bleed them on into their own content, dispensing adhoc marketing shorthand as actual class systems. The term ‘Mommy blogger’ has become a Bona Fide marketing demographic like ‘DINKs’ and ‘YUMPies’ a decade before. While the Gen Xers and the Gen Yers get to fight it out over who’s group is more disenfranchised, the new kids on the block are taking over the hearts and minds of the advertising intelligentsia. It may sometimes be nice to be advertised to in a targeted way, being a demographic is a far stretch from being an organized community with clear objectives and goals. The latter is a conscious choice, the former is not.
Two weeks ago I was a senior member of the highly coveted 18-34 year old male target audience, courted by razorblade manufactures and game developers and mens fashion designers. I was loved by all. Then last week I past beyond those golden shores on into the 35 – 49 year old middle-aged demo, a muddled mix of male enhancement pharmaceuticals and retirement consultations. Its like the island of misfit toys over here. My spending habits haven’t changed much in two weeks, but my statistical significance has taken a nose-dive. There is a danger in thinking that demographic has any real influence when a single day can separate the top of the world from the bottom of the barrel.
Photo attributed to russelljsmith