Baby Formula Goes Mobile

“When we first started working with Enfamil, we were looking at creating a digital strategy, and as we dug into it, it was clear that moms have moved to the post-PC era ahead of the rest of us,” said Chia Chen, mobile practice lead at Digitas. “Mobile is their primary way of connecting to digital, and the other part is it marries nicely with wanting to connect mom to resources to support her throughout the day and through the first two years of the child’s life.”

Moms are busy. When they are not at work, they are busy taking care of the kids, the house, dinner, you name it. There isn’t always enough time to go on the computer to look stuff up or shop online. According to Digitas, more than half of today’s moms (53 percent) purchase their smartphone once they have children, and moms are 18 percent more likely than the general population to own a smartphone. When planning a mobile strategy, it is important to look at the moments in people’s lives when the brand could have an impact, said Chen.

“With mobile, you have this opportunity to address people’s lives in the moment, which you did not have before,” he said. “You can provide value in the right context and at the right time. With Enfamil we knew we needed to think of ways to break down the moments in moms’ lives by figuring out what they care about in the first few months after the baby is born. For example, what things are important and how to play a meaningful role.”

Enfamil’s competitors have launched their own post-natal apps to track infant milestones. For example, formula brand Similac’s Baby Journal app helps mothers track their baby’s feeding, sleeping, diaper changes and growth.

Enfamil is complementing its app strategy with a mobile-optimized site, which provides moms with nutrition tips, newborn safety guidelines, a store locator and expert advice. Today the mobile site drives more than 12 percent of overall traffic to http://www.enfamil.com.