Page 180 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

86 GRAB THEM EARLY

Getting to potential customers ahead of the competition is a key
factor in success—the first company into a market can often win a
lot of business before the others are out of bed. Being first in also
carries risks, of course.

One market that is definitely worth getting into early is the mother
and baby market. Babies pass through various stages of development
extremely quickly in comparison with adults—no sooner are they
teething than they are finished with diapers and starting on their
first books.

There is therefore a premium on approaching mothers as soon as
the baby is born—sooner if possible.

The idea

The Bounty Bag is a pack of free gifts supplied to new mothers in
maternity wards. The Bounty Bag is almost the first thing mothers
see after seeing the baby—and it is a very powerful device indeed.

The Bounty Bag contains samples of all kinds of products for
babies, everything from baby formula through to diapers and gripe
water. Almost invariably mothers will try the products and read the
brochures as well—after all, there isn’t much to do while lying in a
hospital, and in most cases new mothers are very aware of their lack
of experience, and will be prepared to read anything that might help
in finding out how to look after a baby.

The Bounty Bag is regarded as a nice perk for mothers, but it has a
great deal of success in getting products to the mothers before they
see the competition.

100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS • 171