April 6, 2018
These Women Are on a Mission to Change How Millennial Moms of Color Are Perceived by Brands
When Ghanaian publicity pros Simona Noce and Nikki Osei met on social media, it forged a purposeful partnership and mission to increase the representation of millennial moms of color in the marketing industry. Through this connection, DistrictMotherhued was born.
“We initially planned to throw one event for all DMV (DC, MD, VA) based millennials moms,” said co-founder Osei. “Then we assessed local mom groups and noticed that black, millennial moms weren’t represented. We screened social media, post-event imagery and there was a glaring observation. I get it; you create for your demographic and most groups in DC, MD, VA wasn’t checking for us but there weren’t any brown faces. I’m not saying black moms were intentionally overlooked, but we weren’t kept in mind. So our inaugural event, “The Mom Loft” evolved from just a party for millennial moms of color to a full-fledged organization.”
BE: Since launching DistrictMotherhued in 2016, describe the work that you are most proud of?
We encourage and champion mompreneurs, and regularly highlight our moms’ initiatives, celebrate their successes and promote their businesses. Through District Motherhued, many of our moms have secured TV spot and speaking engagements and introduced their products to larger audiences resulting in increased revenue. District Motherhued is about more than just wine night and playdates; we provide opportunities and resources and position our #DMVMomtribe for personal, professional and economic growth.
We’re also really proud of our #DMforHarvey give back! After viewing the devastation in Houston due to Hurricane Harvey and seeing imagery of mothers lacking basic supplies to care for themselves and their children, we took to social media, tapped into our supportive #DMVMomTribe, and through donations we were able to raise funds to ship 10 extra large boxes of necessities collected amongst our moms to our on the ground contacts in Houston, Dallas, and the surrounding areas.
BE: Reportedly, moms control 85% of household purchases and have a spending power of $2.4 trillion, what should companies that are looking to target millennial moms keep in mind when marketing to this group? What do you think companies overlook (or get wrong) when marketing to this group?
When marketing to our hugely influential and widely represented demographic, brands should include us in the marketing materials! So often we receive inquiries from brands interested in collaborating with District Motherhued because they’ve observed the genuine engagement amongst our audience, but when we visit their websites and social media pages they’re completely void of all things melanin! Like, how? You see our impact, understand that we’re consumers but fail to incorporate us in marketing materials. How can I post about your amazing brand when you’ve only provided fliers featuring white moms and children using the products?
BE: You also have an upcoming Momference with panels focused on everything from mommy’s mental health to how to raise future leaders, and navigating non-traditional family structures? How did you choose these topics?
Yes! We’re so excited about The Momference™, a full-day conference geared toward magical, millennial moms of color taking place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland. When choosing topics, we put out feelers on social media/via our newsletter to gauge topics of interest and received hundreds of responses. We couldn’t cover every topic mentioned, but the conference will address topics that were most popular.