It was once standard information that men solely made the buying decisions about the family car, but now marketers and the automotive industry itself understand that women are key influencers on car buying decisions. In fact, women now make up over 50%* of all new car purchases and 80%* of women say they are involved in car purchasing decisions. No wonder the automotive industry is serious about reaching mom bloggers!
How serious is the car industry about reaching mom bloggers? This week I took part in the Lexus Family Safety Camp in Pasadena. I will blog about what I learned about Lexus and their safety initiatives on my other blog, TheMomSalon.com next week. Chevrolet has also been working with Blogher for the past few years and Toyota also brought mom bloggers out to test drive their new Sienna in California recently. Equally, Ford has cemented a strong presence in the mom blogging community, ushered in by Jessica Smith when she pitched them about driving their Ford Flex for a year and they agreed in 2008.
I love to see marketing practices change when industries understand women really do hold the purse strings on large and small purchases. I wish the financial industry would get up to speed because whether they know it or not, women are also huge influencers on everything from where we do our everyday banking to who we choose to handle our stock portfolio.
Do you know another industry that is missing the boat on not working with mom bloggers?
*NBC/Universal
PHOTO CREDIT: Me looking into a Lexus and learning about booster seat safety at Lexus Family Safety Camp. Copyright, Lexus, 2010
Yes, car companies are all over mom bloggers right now. There was the Lexus event that you attended. then there was the Toyota Sienna event in CA last month (one of my writers attended). The last week alone, I have received invites to a VW sponsored event AND a Honda sponsored one. It’s so wild how things go in waves. Now, if I only liked to drive :-) It’s smart though. Even though my husband does the (vast) majority of the driving, when we bought our car, I was the one who had to give it a “thumbs up” before we bought it!
VW AND Honda? I keep seeing the ads about the Honda Sienna, so I know they’re pushing that big time!
Thanks, as always, for your comment :)
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I was at the Lexus event (morning session) and just received an email about a Honda Odyssey one. I think it’s very smart because most of the women I know make all the buying decisions.
Oh, the Odyssey! Cool. Hope you have a great time. The Lexus camp was really fun and informative. I learned a ton.
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Jennifer,
I know Ford has sent me to the auto show and that other companies try to do this as well. I personally would love to connect with car seat safety manufacturers and car companies.
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