Appropriately titled “Mom’s the Word: Marketing to Moms in the New Normal,” the Albright Creative Research Experience (ACRE) project completed by business/communications major Natasha Halulakos ’23 and Jayanthi Rajan, chair and instructor of business at Albright, explored how top brands successfully communicate to moms during COVID-19, on social media.
The student/professor pair narrowed their research after finding that 99% of Millennial generation moms visit social sites on a weekly basis.
“We found that 99% [of Millennials] are social media users and visit social sites on a weekly basis, which supported the notion that brands targeting this audience should have a social media presence,” said Halulakos.
“By conducting brand case studies and buyer personas, we were able to identify the top social media communication strategies that worked for all brands targeting moms during COVID-19,” she said. Those strategies aligned with 2020 consumer trends outlined by global market research company, Mintel, which included support and empathy for social justice, utilization of “mom influencer” marketing, authenticity and transparency.
Though COVID-19 changed the education landscape, students like Halulakos have continued to push forward.
“I was thrilled to be able to dive into research during a time of such uncertainty,” she said. “It was valuable to get to work one-on-one with a professional in the industry of my research and I learned so much from the experience overall.” The experience also cemented Halulakos communications and social media career outlook. “Ten years from now, I see myself living in a city, either working in marketing or public relations for myself or a corporation. I also hope to be utilizing my minor in women’s and gender studies to either ethicize the marketing industry and/or help empower future women in business.”
