Jessica Gottlieb - How Twitter Mums Took on Big Pharma

Heard the word 'mummy blogger' and just dismissed it as novel? Doubt the power of the blogger and their tribal voice? Some claim, bloggers are the most powerful thought leaders of today.

• A blogger with 5000 followers can have more reach than the CEO of a major corporation
• They are not just powerful because they have thousands of followers within their  communities, they are powerful because their followers are listening to them
• They make recommendations and suggestions to armies of followers every day
• They can literally switch thousands of consumers on or off your message with one casual comment
• When the blogger has a comment to make about your market segment, topic or health product, their followers will read it.  That gives you astounding reach if you use it wisely and listen to the sentiments of these bloggers. 

One of the keynote speakers at the forthcoming Health Activist Bloggers Conference, Healthivate in Sydney next year is Jessica Gottlieb, one of the world's most influential 'mom bloggers' with a million page views per month. That's more influence online than many very large brands. She was named the #1 US Twitter Mom blogger for 2012 by Klout score.

Back in 2008 she and a group of mom bloggers online dished out to the maker of painkiller Motrin a painful lesson in the power of online social networking. They took issue with Motrin's ad campaign.

In a bold, very alienating move on the part of Motrin, they had launched an ad campaign targeting baby-sling wearing moms. As it happens, this new campaign was apparently intentionally launched to coincide with International baby-wearing month.

The ads, launched in magazines and online centered on new moms who carry their babies in slings (and might need Motrin). They likened the sling to a fashion accessory and said that while toting the baby can be tough, it "totally makes me look like an official mom."

The backlash to the campaign forced Motrin to pull their news ads after an outpouring of negative "tweets," or postings, via Twitter, video on YouTube and postings on other social sites.

Some moms saw the ads as snarky pokes at motherhood. Backlash hit a boiling point quickly and the agency behind the campaign McNeil, was forced to send an apology to bloggers over the weekend it erupted and then post a separate apology on Motrin.com. "We have heard your concerns about the ad," says a statement by Kathy Widmer, marketing vice president. "We are parents ourselves and take feedback from moms very seriously. We are in the process of removing this ad from all media."

The McNeil ad, spoofs of it and consumer video responses can be found at YouTube by searching under keywords "Motrin" and "mom."

BTW - many of these 'mummy, mom, mum, bloggers' hate that title so beware. It is all about respect, they are a powerful audience, so value the connections you make.

If you'd like to learn how to connect with this powerful online audience come along to Healthivate. There are limited tickets for corporate communicators who would like to participate.