PR, Daddyblogging and the Long Road to Equity
Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by Brian Reid.
A bunch of people have asked me what I think of Caleb Gardner’s post at the Edelman Digital blog last week on the topic of daddyblogging. In the post, Caleb makes a spirited defense of fathers — and fathers who blog — as a real, important and emerging force that public relations and marketing types should not overlook. He goes so far as to suggest this will be “The Year of the Daddy.” The reaction in the comments is uplifting and nearly unanimous: dads are thrilled to get some credit.
This is a big deal. Edelman is no second-tier PR shop. They are big, smart and forward-looking, and there’s no doubt that Caleb’s piece will be looked back on as a signpost marking the point at which it was officially declared that dads are excellent targets for corporate America.
And therein lies the rub. Dadbloggers are increasingly being targeted by marketing and PR folks, to the point that I’m spending a growing part of my day deleting e-mails from people I’ve never heard of, pitching me all manner of products that I’d never use and will never write about. And I’m a small fish in this pond. I can only imagine how much e-mail deleting goes on at GeekDad or DadLabs. Let me be clear: I don’t think these pitches are intrinsically bad or that the idea of targeting dads is not a sound strategy. But sending me an e-mail letting me know about a product or a company costs nothing, and it doesn’t change the reality on the ground: that dads are still not thought of as primary caretakers.
When I have a news week like we’ve had this week — with AT&T poking fun at fathers and Babble going to a single-gender focus — it’s a reminder that just because a PR firm has some dads on its pitch list (or even a dedicated dad project), doesn’t mean that we’re in “The Year of the Dad.” If companies were actually serious about targeting fathers, they’d be less likely to advertise with Babble. They’d be less likely to portray iPhone-toting guys as incompetent parents. They’d be less likely to assume that diaper-club members are automatically moms. Heck, even Jif — which made the single most encouraging (for dads) TV commercial of the last decade — is back to mom-centrism (“Choosy Moms Choose Jif,” says the website).
So even though PR pros now see dads as consumers worth spamming, I haven’t seen the corporate culture (or the culture in general) change so radically that I’m ready to suggest we’re anywhere near “The Year of the Dad.” But I am always prepared to be pleasantly surprised, so let me know when dish detergent commercials start including folks with facial hair and Parenting starts reviewing men’s razors.
(Full, ironic disclosure: In my other life, I do PR. I have even pitched dads in a limited and — I hope — thoughtful way. In general, they are dads I know and who I have read for years. I’m not sure that’s exactly industry standard.)
(UPDATE: It strikes me that if you’re in marketing and want to show a commitment to fatherhood, you should click on over to the At-Home Dad Convention and help sponsor that event. That would be a step in the right direction. I’m happy to make introductions.)
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Urban Baby Doesn’t Get It, Either
Posted on 13. Apr, 2010 by Brian Reid.
Thanks to DadWagon, I went back and looked at an extensive Q-and-A the New York Times Cityroom Blog did with Erin Sheehan, community editor of major parenting site/forum urbanbaby.com, back in February. Here is the part that caught my eye:
Q: Where are all the stay-at-home dads in this city? How come we don’t have a support group? — Twowheeler
A: As a stay-at-home dad you are part of a growing breed. Fathers today are spending more time with their children whether they are working fathers or stay-at-home dads. There are even those men who work with their employers to create a flexible arrangement so that they can make up for some child care during the week while the mother works. I personally know of two fathers in my extended family who have chosen to be stay-at-home dads.
Companies and media seem to have picked up on this growing population and have been marketing specifically to these dads. Their offerings of more macho looking diaper bags, “outdoorsy” baby gear and attention in parenting magazines support the fact that it’s not just the woman who shops for or uses the baby/children items.
As far as finding a support group, ask around. Word of mouth can often get your far. Many dads are blogging to communicate their experience and share resources.
Also, the “At Home Dad Network” has a “playgroup search” on its Web site. Good luck!
While I am all for shout-outs about involved fathers are “a growing breed.” But the answer makes it sound like dad groups are hard to find in the Big Apple (“ask around”? *That’s* the advice?). In fact, there is a hugely successful NYC group already out there. They’ve been on TV. They’re a top Google hit for “NYC at home dads,” “NYC stay at home dads,” etc. They’re not exactly hidden.
But Sheehan didn’t bother firing up Google. Instead, she linked to a near-defunct site with an out of date playgroup list.
Sheesh …
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Dads Get Driven Out at Babble
Posted on 13. Apr, 2010 by Brian Reid.
If you are quick, and you go over to Babble.com *right now* and look at the top of your browser, you’ll see the site’s tagline: “The Magazine and Community for a New Generation of Parents.” If you’re not quick, it might not be there. As you’ll see when you look at the page, Babble.com is now “… for a new generation of moms.” And thus the most promising parenting site of the past decade put up the white flag and totally mom-ified.
If you’ve been mucking around on the Internet long enough, you may have stumbled on Babble in its early days. The site, launched in 2006, was designed as an edgy, anything-goes kind of site, without the soft-focus and inane topics that tend to dominate parenting mags. It was the epicenter of the hipster parent trend, and though it could be at time as insufferably cool as an ironic tattoo, it was — thank goodness — different. But now it’s not. It’s just another parenting site for moms. According to Jeremy Adam Smith, the new mom-focus goes beyond just the appearance on the home page: at least one dad writer has been let go from a place that used to be a haven for smart fathers.
But that’s not all. Per Jeremy’s post on his Facebook page:
Also, Babble’s early brand was built on the idea that gay and lesbian parents are also parents. In fact, I once pitched an idea for an essay to Babble on what straight parents can learn from gay and lesbian parents-to which the editor (now departed) somewhat haughtily replied, “We don’t recognize a distinction between gay and straight parents.” Uh, OK, I guess that might sound sort of progressive in the same way “I don’t recognize race” once sounded kind of progressive before most thinking people realized it was delusional. Regardless, now Babble is strictly a site for white straight moms who sport fading tattoos. And I’m not even sure about the tattoos.
At some point, I have to bow to the powerful market research (and even more power market forces) that makes publications like this shy away from what I see as areas of huge parenting growth. I’m sure they have their reasons. But — for the record — if you’re a marketer and want to reach me (I spend a fair amount on kid stuff, for what it’s worth), don’t bother with Babble. I’m not really welcome there anymore.
(Hat tip to Jason Sperber)