Court Them Early and Well

IT IS THE few hushed moments after the birth of a new baby. The parents, their happiness sharp and perfect as a crystal in the snow, examine the mysterious face of this person long-imagined, count her tiny toes, fall in love with her, coo.

Outside the birthing room awaits the true story of parenthood, which is, in practice, a sometimes stormy marriage of the miraculous and the mundane. This couple’s new role as parents has as much to do with the purse strings as with the heart strings. A giveaway bag next to mom’s hospital bed is chock-full of coupons for baby-care necessities. Soon, a photographer will appear to offer a first picture of the newborn and serve up more free products and offers of same. At home, countless buying decisions have been made and have yet to be made.

And DMers know it. This major life-change event has always been an intense draw for selling products direct because when a new baby comes, there’s nearly no consumer area that parents aren’t deciding on-beyond baby things-from fluoride toothpaste to financial vehicles.

Now, however, say list compilers and brokers who work with direct marketers, the new parents area is hotter than ever for marketers.

One explanation is the field of names is small. The birth rate is the lowest it’s been in two decades, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. List professionals have to make the most of few births. For example, only 3.9 million babies were born in 1996, the smallest number recorded since 1987.

Experian, a leader in the new parents’ field, with 30% to 35% market share, collects about 3 million names a year, plus or minus 300,000, “but it is very competitive,” says Dennis Kooker, director of product marketing and development for the direct marketing units of Experian, Orange, CA.

Another explanation for the boiling market is that parents’ demand for products has become more urgent. They are making purchasing decisions in an era of time-starved, dual-earner households, where the goal of giving your children more than you had is compounded by a drive to make up to them with material possessions. These parents want their children to have everything. “Your first-time mothers are like your junkies. They don’t know what not to buy. The educated mom who works in a professional [position] and has her baby in a private hospital is the best buyer of all. She must have it all,” observes Bob Perlstein, president of Lifestyle Change Communications, Atlanta.

In this hyper-competitive market, timing is the key issue. Some marketers, such as magazine publisher the Parenting Group at Time Inc., New York, try to make an impression before the baby’s birth They want to increase list size by reaching mothers-to-be in their childbirth classes.

Others, such as First Foto, a St. Louis outfit that photographs newborns in the hospital, sticks primarily to appeals after birth, while working to expand its market share.

“During a pregnancy, marketers’ focus is capturing the emotion and excitement of that particular household,” says Kooker. “Once the baby arrives, [the marketing] is more reflective of what the needs of the baby are, [and for the parents] what the guilt level is, because they can’t spend as much time with the child as they want.”

The power of the prenatal files can’t be underestimated. For products that have to do with being prepared for the birth, list clients “want to get their hands on the [parents’] names before the baby is born because they want to establish the relationship with the mother,” explains Lori Collins, director of lists and data at Harte-Hanks in Billerica, MA. Otherwise, they could miss a crucial window of opportunity. The “mother wants to get as many of the [physical necessities] out of the way as possible before she has to give this baby 24 hours a day,” she adds. Also, from a vendor’s point of view, the earlier it gets a name, the fresher it is.

But there are pitfalls. The average monthly hotline file for a major list player would be between 100,000 and 150,000 names. Sources are much more limited than with postnatal names, restricted to survey information and response cards from giveaways in doctors’ offices. The names cannot be cleaned and verified the way they can after birth. And the time available to make that first impression is tight: Just the last three or four months of the pregnancy. Finally, only name, address and estimated date of birth can be selected on prenatal files.

However, using these files is worth it. “I’ve not seen any studies that say you have greater loyalty in appealing to them prenatally. But it is intuitively obvious that getting in and making an appeal, depending on what you’re selling, can be very important….In her first trimester, I could make that appeal, but [the baby’s] not real to her yet. If you wait until the baby is born, it’s going to be too late to set up the nursery,” says Kooker.

Making an early appeal is exactly what the Parenting Group had in mind when it acquired First Moments Inc., a sampling company that targets new parents and newlyweds. Although the group reaches 12 million parents each month through its magazines Healthy Pregnancy, Baby Talk, Parenting and a host of other publishing products, the acquisition increased the group’s list for its own use and for rental.

The First Moment kits include sample products, magazine copies and response cards that are handed out to 2 million expectant parents in childbirth education classes. A major goal is to “get a point of contact with mom in childbirth class,” says John Brink, vice president for consumer marketing and business development.

For marketers that specialize in postnatal files, the challenge is better list targeting. Once the baby is born, prenatal files are folded into postnatals. “The market is small. So, people who buy from one market usually buy from a few. There’s a crossover of names on the lists,” observes Heather Martin, broker at ALC of New York, which handles several children’s catalogers. The result is more data and better list hygiene.

But the competition is intense, too. “You probably have 30 seconds to catch their eye. You are also competing with five to 10 mail pieces a day. [But] this is a group that has to consume. [That should make] programs, if targeted correctly, successful,” says Monica Smith, executive vice president at Novus Marketing in Minneapolis.

First Foto, a leader in newborn photographs with an estimated 85% share of the market, is an example. The 51-year-old company assembled a database of 2 million new parents’ names over the last year, as well as 10 million names of new parents, collected over eight years.

The company has exclusive, $10-million-a-year revenue-sharing deals with hospitals nationwide to visit the mother’s room after delivery to photograph the newborn. In September, the company began handling out a sample bag with products of a few partners, along with response cards. The opt-out rate on the cards is less than 5%.

Most mothers sign up for the photo and for additional mailings over the next year, according to president/CEO David A. Van Vliet.

“There are about 4 million babies born each year. We get 1 million calls from new mothers each year. When parents call about photos, the conversations naturally drift to some other areas mothers are interested in,” he says.

First Foto has forged agreements with a few select companies-including Time Inc.’s Parenting Group, Procter & Gamble and Sears Portrait Studios-in which, he says, parents have shown interest.