Case Study : Advertising

MAKING MOTHERHOOD THE STAR

Situation: Mothers Work, Inc., the leading maternity wear retailer in the United States with 1,540 retail outlets, was stuck for an advertising campaign for their Motherhood® line of maternity clothing. With competition heating up from traditional retailers like The Gap, they needed a print advertising campaign that truly positioned Motherhood in a new, fresh way that connected with younger mothers.

Agile Action: AgileCat quickly identified where Motherhood’s current advertising was missing the mark and honed in on what needed to be said about Motherhood (and motherhood!) that wasn’t being said by them or any competitor. To AgileCat, the advertising was playing it too safe, when one look around at mothers-to-be, and conversations with them, from city streets to beaches, showed that these moms, in all reality, were “stars of the show.” From being approached by strangers asking “boy or girl?” to feeling better than ever about their growing bodies, AgileCat developed an advertising campaign that touted the line “Motherhood: It’s Hot!” with attractive, real moms proud of this exciting new stage of their life.

Agile Result: The ensuring advertisement, which has appeared in magazines from People to Glamour, positioned Motherhood as forward thinking and true to the street for the moms they wanted to impress. The CEO of Mothers Work, Inc. has called the copy for the advertisement “the best writing for maternity wear I have ever read.” The advertising campaign became a central theme for hundreds of Motherhood stores and departments across the country.

The Numbers: Net sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2006 increased 7.9% to $459.9 million from the same nine months of fiscal 2005. This increasing sales trend continues for Mothers Work, Inc. as the advertising campaign continues to elevate the overall brand.