Pregnant Pause: Experiencing (and Relearning) PR from the Consumer Side

Because we forget, don’t we? 

Working in PR or marketing, or running a company, we think about the consumer all the time — but in ways that make them the other. Year after year, spreadsheet after spreadsheet, our clinical distance grows. We are savvy. They are just the folks that our savvy is aimed at guiding, motivating, and inspiring (to spend). You know… the civilians, the targets, the demographics. 

Off in our offices, we can’t help but lose touch, forgetting what it’s like to have fresh eyes on the receiving end of the PR and marketing/branding we help to create.

Well, let me tell ya: there is nothing quite like a first pregnancy to plunge you directly into a vulnerable consumer mindset. Yes, it’s been done, I know, but I’m having a baby! A baby due super soon, actually.

Pretty much overnight I became 110% that wide eyed civilian, inundated with a head spinning number of options alongside major stakes. I was now consuming for two — literally — and genuinely needed to know what to do, what to buy, and who to believe.

The only distinction: sometimes after researching my way to the seemingly perfect option, I would feel a tinge of paranoia. What if this is all just the spellbinding gymnastics of some brilliant publicists? (That’s one competition category you will not see in Paris — though maybe on NBC/Peacock ad blocks between events.)

Otherwise, my pregnant pause was a vital refresher. I wasn’t just thinking strategically and clinically about what works and why in terms of PR and the customer journey; I was now down in the center of the maze, starting from square one, traversing the terrain on far more visceral and emotional levels.

Here’s a rundown of key insights the experience delivered…

The reorienting value of being overwhelmed

In a way, you experience your first pregnancy twice. First, when you learn about it. Second, when you tell everyone else. 

Announcing it triggers an avalanche of family, loved ones, and friends giving you their opinions and advice on everything. And I mean everything. Email chains and Excel spreadsheets come at you from all directions. What you need to do, and buy, to be prepared. For labor, for the baby, for postpartum. For basic things you knew about (e.g., diapers, cribs). For exotic things you didn’t know about and never imagined. And for many things you would rather not have to think about right now. 

It’s like, What?! Oh, my gosh… can’t we pace this out a bit? 

Yes, I'm excited. I know this is happening, and I know all these people mean well. But it’s like you just opened the door to say hello and instantaneously you’re kidnapped and tossed into this massive consumer market of a bajillion different pregnancy, baby, and parenting purchases — with everyone swearing by a different recipe for the perfect new mom soufflé.

How massive?

The broader Baby Care Products industry was estimated to generate an annual $98 billion in 2022, and is forecast to tally $168 billion by 2032. Put another way, before I’m looking at high schools, the industry will have doubled in size.

I see three expansion trends at work. Yes, expecting moms are probably more neurotic than ever before. (Though compared to some past eras, that’s surely not all bad.)

So, sure, marketers are going to exploit anxious vulnerabilities to introduce things we probably don’t need. (What else is new?) 

But on the other side, principled experts, advocates, influencers, journalists, and consumers are going to fight back in an information PR war of attrition that, ultimately, will favor brands that invest in playing the long game with integrity. (More on that point coming up.)

Because moms don’t forget, moms talk, and — trust me — they keep receipts and hand them down like baby clothes.

Secondly, and an entirely good thing in my book, expecting moms have to think about the future environment their kids will live in — which has triggered a booming emphasis on eco-friendly and sustainable baby care solutions (e.g., biodegradable diapers, reduced packaging waste, more sustainable fabrics and materials, etc.).

Big growth categories along those lines include natural and organic baby care products, organic baby food, chemical-free skincare, and BPA-free feeding items. All good.

And thirdly, there is what I would loosely label the vanity status trend — the one that gives us, for example, the first electric-powered stroller, the Cybex e-Priam2, adorned with golden wings from ultra hip designer Jeremy Scott. (Yes, when he’s not collabing with Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Cardi B, Jeremy is all over the baby strollers.)

What? You don’t have one?!

It will only set you back $2,199.95.

So yeah, there’s that. (The U.S. Baby Stroller Market totaled around $1.55 billion in 2023 on track to an estimated $1.8 billion by 2029.)

And as much as I kid the Malibu moms pushing a souped up Cybex for the five yards between their Mercedes G-Class SUV and the pediatrician's office, you better believe I was suddenly noticing and studying every stroller on the street, then researching them online.

It’s not like iPhone, Galaxy, or Pixel and then pick a color, folks. 

Stick your toe in the proverbial waters and you’ll discover the stroller options, variables, and accessories are insane! 

And while that’s just one of many expecting mom must-have items, it makes for a good customer journey case study. I started with stroller shopping before pretty much anything else.

Pregnant pause takeaway 1: “earned” comforts

So, what kind of stroller mom will I be, I wondered?

Personally, I care deeply about safety, ease of use, and sustainability (in that order) — but, sure, I also have preferences around what it looks like. Do I need a customizable Mima Xari like my close personal friends Mila Kunis and Kourtney Kardashian, so I can choose seat fabrics, leatherette colors, and frame colors to match my personal style? 

Nope. 

[Will I accept one as a gift? You could always try me!]

But what I do need in my life is cardio to stay sane, so I entered the market looking for a reliable jogging stroller that is not completely uggo.

Meanwhile, virtually overnight, the ads started coming at me Vin Diesel style: fast, furious, and largely intelligence-insulting.

To borrow the ubiquitous term of this political season, it was weird. And that’s even though I know exactly how the adtech works given all the advertising I do for Press Hook!

Farewell cool clothes, jewelry, and travel destinations. The apps digitally deduced I was pregnant and overnight my Instagram feed went full baby. 

They even knew exactly what trimester I was in. 

Well, guess what expecting moms aren’t so entirely in love with, folks? 

Stalking. (Or maybe it’s just me?)

But look, did an Instagram ad or two work its magic? Sure. A cute cotton maternity dress — no problem. Low stakes and low investment. But there was absolutely no way I was going to let some stroller ad, no matter how dazzling, roll me to a purchase.

Conversion came only after heavy research. (My child will be in this vehicle!) I’d typically start off by Googling the company. Are they legit? Have they been around for a while? Have their products collected some good press and positive reviews along the way?

You start reading as many of those “top ten” and/or “best of” articles as you can find. And, of course, this activity hits home, since so much of what I do with Press Hook is help clients get placed in these pieces. 

Along with pickles and ice cream, I craved consistency. Meaning: I wanted to see brands and stroller models that got repeat rankings across different credible outlets. That also allowed me to spy price discrepancies and take advantage. Of course, while Google was helping me, I was likewise helping Google understand my consumer circumstances and sell me to the adtech wolves.

Fair enough.

But here’s the thing: smart people somewhere in all likelihood are going to:

• See that I was served an ad for the stroller I eventually purchased

• Link that ad view to my purchase

• Conclude that their snazzy ad worked

• Show everyone at the company how their snazzy ad “worked” and ask for a raise

But what they don’t realize — in no small part because it’s not in their interest to realize it — is that they’re looking at marketing correlation, not causation 

In other words, I also saw a ton of other stroller brand ads besides their stroller ads. In fact, it’s quite likely that I only saw their stroller ads because I was already circling and scrutinizing the item based on other, far more impactful inputs — e.g., verifiable user reviews, advice from friends and loved ones, and most of all: earned media coverage from trusted sources.

Believe it or not, even more useful for me than a lot of the conventional women’s publications and baby media outlets was Forbes.

I may have noticed the cool targeted ads tracking me, but that experience could be a little creepy whereas the product validation of earned media was comforting. Critically comforting.

Comforting and decisive.

For in the absence of earned media product validation, no quantity of cool could bring out the ol’ credit card.

Pregnant pause takeaway 2: enhanced sense of smell

I’m going somewhere with this, so stick with me.

But one of those pregnancy things no one adequately prepared me for is the sudden superhero-level enhanced sense of smell.

Can’t even begin to tell you how glad I am not to be in New York City for this pregnancy. No amount of money could get me on the subway in this summer heat. I probably wouldn’t even make it down the street. Even smells I used to like are overwhelming. My favorite restaurant? Can’t. It’s just too much.

(We really have a pregnancy theme here: overwhelming.)

It’s the evolutionary might of mother nature, survival of the species-type stuff. I have never had more respect for what women go through, and what they can do, than after becoming pregnant. I’m starting to understand instinctively how, say, a mother could suddenly lift a car to save their child. 

And I’m also noticing, along those lines, an enhanced… how should I put this?

I can smell bullsh*t like never before. 

Call it a mother’s intuition. Call it common sense. Call it a game changing new level of responsibility in life. But earlier in this piece, when I talked about that information PR war of attrition, where principled experts, advocates, influencers, journalists, and consumers will battle the bullsh*tters, those battles actually apply to many product and service categories. 

It’s just clarifying to have the heightened stakes with pregnancy, motherhood, and kids.

While I surely let a paid influencer or two bend my ear about, oh, say, the best resorts in Bali without objections, the instant I see someone talking about a baby product and they don’t really mean it… I can just tell.

I can tell and I’m out.

Seriously, I can smell it.

And it does not smell good.

Integrity matters. And not only that… I truly believe that integrity pays. Big time. I really do.

Pregnancy put the foundational point into clearer focus (enhanced vision too!), but make no mistake: authentic, helpful, and positive products that come from a real need and really deliver will break through. 

And publicists should think about their own brand when it comes to who they work with. Think about not only how to make them successful, but how to also make them better.

Pregnant pause takeaway 3: some products need more PR than others

Baby industry products that need more PR to fortify their credibility are food items, vitamins and supplements, beauty and health products, diapers, creams, and fabrics (e.g., clothing, bedding, play mats).

Or anything where safety is critical (cribs, strollers, car seats).

Basically: anything the baby or mom touches.

Lesser anxiety items like nursing gowns, maternity clothes, baby room decorations… those are things I’m going to use but can consider fundamentally more superficial and disposable. They aren’t going to be research-heavy purchases.

The core takeaway is that brands need to consider where they sit on that spectrum and invest accordingly.

And, again, this lesson applies to products and services outside the pregnancy and motherhood lane as well.

Product stakes should direct your PR/marketing balance and strategy.

The snazzy, cute professional Instagram influencer with hot takes on everything… they won’t be able to compete with a genuine mom-centered narrative, a brand origin story that resonates as true and compelling because it is true and compelling.

Is polishing that narrative to a sparkly shine easy? Nope. That’s the work and art of PR. But listen, I just spent nine months allowed only one cup of coffee a day (!!!) — and somehow survived without committing a single felony.

So now I know that anything is truly possible.

And if someone out there can come up with a healthy prenatal coffee substitute that tastes even just halfway decent, a) you’re going to own a private jet and b) I’m ready to lead your PR campaign.

The final imminent mommy takeaway

Until fairly recently, I was still dragging myself to spin classes, where the looks from fellow cardio junkies evolved gradually from impressed nods to wide-eyed alarm. But very soon (yet not soon enough! oof!) it will finally be time to slow down.

Way down.

Maternity leave will kick off with a bang (read: birth) and then, though I’m sure I will check in from time to time, I’m very much looking forward to letting my team run the ship while mama rests and resets.

As with pregnancy, I imagine there will be special rewards in taking life slower and seeing things from a fresh perspective. (A new kind of Netflix and chill, if you will.)

And one can also think about it this way: 

Imagine spending all your working hours (plus some others), high up on a scaffold, painting a massive mural aimed at reaching a large audience. You’re right up close, pouring over every detail based on your carefully constructed outline. You see everything with pinpoint precision — everything, that is, except how the mural looks to the audience down below, viewing it from a distance.

Being dragged away and forced to look from afar is a gift that we can all benefit from. 

While it worked for me, you don’t even have to get pregnant! Just remember to step back from time to time and internalize this indispensable lesson: 

When it comes to consumer hearts, minds, and wallets, paid media gets attention, but earned media gets results. 

And finally, never, ever forget the oldest marketing/PR trick in the book. 

When you really want to capture and hold people’s attention, the only hook stronger than babies is babies with puppies and kittens.

Meanwhile, any pro tips for a new mom CEO? Drop me a line!