Over the past few years, mommy bloggers have established themselves as a powerful force on the Internet, receiving a great deal of attention from the media and becoming major targets for brands. Well respected and valued, those social mommies are one of the most influential groups on the Web and a must-know constituency for any consumer marketer.
I first heard of dad bloggers when Sony launched its digidad project in 2009. Since then, I’ve been following the evolution of this growing phenomenon, which, to my surprise has been received with mixed feelings.
I, personally, am a big fan. I think it is great dads want to talk about their take on being a parent and shows fatherhood in a completely new light. That’s why I was thrilled to find out that dad bloggers not only had their own panel at SXSW but they have their whole own conference – Dad 2.0 Summit happening at the same time as SXSW here in Austin!
I am a fan but not everyone is or has been from the start. I’ve seen mommy bloggers complain about dads trying to play on their playground, brands that refuse to acknowledge them as influencers because, as opposed to mommy bloggers, they don’t get time on national TV, fawning attention from media and they will never be able to create a kind of community mommies have. Dads are not important. Moms have the spending and decision-making power anyway.
First of all, the fact that they are uniting right now and right here in Austin proves that they are able to build a community. When it comes to buying decision power in the home, moms might have it but not in all product categories. Think consumer electronic brands, cars, razors – for them, it would make better sense to go after dad bloggers rather than mommy bloggers. And no, dad bloggers might not have the same kind of attention from media and TV yet, but they do have the readership. And it’s not only male. Jason Avant, founder of DadCentric, confessed at the panel that 60% of his audience is female. So before you exclude dad b
loggers from your next campaign, think twice.