Mothercare Group is preparing to launch a social media strategy for its Mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands.
The company has appointed integrated agency Diffusion to develop a strategy of engaging the 4.6m UK mothers who spend more than 26 hours surfing the internet each month.
The agency says that key ingredients of the strategy will include actively listening to perceptions of the brand and its products online, and then increasing participation on key parenting blogs, forums and social networking sites.
Brian Curran, head of group direct marketing for Mothercare said: “Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre are brands which over many decades have built very strong reputations for quality, safety and innovation.
“We recognise that today reputations are increasingly being shaped through online channels, and this is particularly true given the explosion we’ve seen in parenting forums and blogs in recent years and through our own site Gurgle.com.
“We will be using Diffusion’s digital integration expertise to develop a social media approach which will allow us to enhance and safeguard our online reputation and increase our ability to listen to our consumers to deliver even better products and customer service in the future.”
Ivan Ristic, director and co-founder of Diffusion, who will be leading the account said: “The UK’s online community of parents is growing in both size and influence and is understandably becoming a major consideration for retail brands looking to reach UK mothers who control household budgets. Developing relationships with key online influencers and working with Mothercare’s brands to make it an active and valued part of these online communities will be central to our strategic approach.”
