Adweek has an interesting article about niche social networks and how advertisers appear to be using them to test campaigns on. This is similar to more traditional marketing approach where prodicts are tested in smaller markets before being rolled out nationally.
The Adweek article highlights Playskool who is launching a yearlong social-networking campaign on CafeMom. CafeMom is a four-month-old social network for mothers and has about 2,500 members. Playskool is hoping that CafeMom members will share their experiences with each other (and the company). “The great thing is you can get that direct feedback from actual moms,” said Charlie Zakin, director of media at Hasbro, parent company of Playskool.
Why CafeMom and not MySpace? “If you want to sprinkle some dust on 50 million people, go to MySpace,” advised Chad Stoller, executive director of emerging platforms at Organic. But niche networks offer a chance to reach specific influencers, he said.
The ability to reach key influencers is what makes niche networks so appealing to marketers and is at the cornerstone of marketing to the Bubble Generation. Playskool has obviously thought a lot about this campaign, and they seem to be doing everything they can to maximize the likelihood of it being successful.
CafeMom is not the only social network that is appealing to advertisers. Two of the larger niche networks are Dogster and Catster, which cater to the 39% of U.S. households that have a dog and 34% that have a cat. Advertisers have noticed these niche networks. For example Procter & Gamble’s just ran a month long promotion on Dogster for Bounce that included information on using Bounce to cope with shedding animals and this week they are running a promotion for promotion for the upcoming Paramount release Year of the Dog, a comedy about a woman coping with the death of her beloved pet.
Interestingly, the social networking strategy of P&G appears to be trial and error. Elva Lewis, an associate marketing director at P&G, said measuring the effectiveness of social-networking programs is “still tricky.” For now, the company’s goal is simply to “learn how these networks really work.”
{ 1 trackback }