Nintendo’s use of the “Alpha Moms” in “Alpha Moms Pitch Nintendo’s Wii”as part of the marketing campaign was truly ingenious. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all released their next generation systems this past season. Of the three new systems released, Nintendo’s has by far the most interesting approach to the future. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 all tote high-definition capabilities, the Nintendo decided to go for revolutionary game play with their gyrating controller. The goal was to get the controller into the hands of individuals and let the interaction between gamer and let the system win the customer over. Targeting the Alpha moms turned out to be just the correct method to allow Nintendo to penetrate a market not necessarily known to be into gaming.
The uniqueness with the Alpha moms is their ability to spread the word about new knowledge to the other mom’s that they meet with. I believe every neighborhood or community has an Alpha mother in their midst. They are usually those moms that are into throwing large gatherings at their homes where many families are invited. They are outspoken and active in the community and have gained respect from her peers. These mothers are extroverted and willing to learn about new ideas and products. I believe a key aspect to their status is their willingness to learn their children’s interests. Especially in the case with the gaming system, these mothers were able to dive into a realm usually reserved for the kids and embrace the technology behind it. This trait sets them apart from other mothers. A key assumption would be that younger mothers would better fit this role by being closer to age with their children and thus better understand their desires. However, I do not think that age limits the Alpha mothers. They are usually perceptive enough at all age levels to understand what their children, family, and community wants. In some cases, the Alpha mother might be the matriarch of the community, the wisest mother that other mothers go to for advice. These moms are well connected and able to quickly transmit new information throughout their mom network. This is truly a segment that can help with marketing a new product.
These mothers need to be the center of attention. They thrive on the ability to pass information down through the ranks and influence others. With that said, they need to be on top of the newest products and ideas so that they can spread this wealth of knowledge. These alpha mothers also are on the top of their game when it comes to parenting. They are probably the moms that all the kids love. The motherly instinct is taken to another level with these parents. They wish to provide everything their children want and do probably have a tendency to spoil their kids. However, despite this tendency to spoil, they have done extensive research into their children’s desires and understand their reasons. These alpha mothers utilize insight and awareness to the current environment to make their consumer decisions and need to pass the word out to others in similar situations.
I believe the activity of identifying unique segments is an important aspect of marketing. By isolating certain groups, companies can better tailor their goods and services to fit these specific groups. A better satisfied customer has a higher tendency to repeat their business. By tailoring ideas to fit the needs of different segments, companies gain an advantage of flexibility and allow them to increase their chances of gaining a customer for life. However, this process can not be used for every single segment identified. That just would not be practical. Targeting the major segments and identifying segments that can provide free marketing would be the surest way to succeed. I believe that I, personally, am able to identify segments with relative accuracy. It is not extremely difficult to isolate a consumer’s needs and their tendencies. By working with the needs of individuals, companies can improve their position and offer superior products. Segmenting can be seen as a form of stereotyping but I believe it is not stereotyping in the negative sense. It is more identifying tendencies and traits that groups have and addressing these tendencies. By effectively doing so, marketers are doing their job correctly.
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