Brands are worlds apart from the pregnant women and mums they are trying to
engage when it comes to the way they represent their target audience in
advertising and marketing, according to the latest instalment of BabyCentre’s
flagship annual research for marketers.

Despite expecting and new mums
placing great importance on being portrayed realistically in ads, brands are
alienating them by sticking to stereotypes rather than listening to real
women.

BabyCentre’s report shows the problem is set to become worse as
more and more millennials become pregnant and enter
motherhood.

BabyCentre’s new report Mind the Gap: the Disconnect
between Mums and Marketers, which profiled more than 1,000 UK women who
were either pregnant or new mums, reveals that just 14% of new mums and 26% of
pregnant women think the way the audience groups they are part of are depicted
by brands in advertising and marketing is realistic.

Seven in 10 pregnant
women and mums say it’s important to them that brands portray these groups
realistically in ads and marketing (67% for both mums and pregnant
women).

When BabyCentre looked at what makes certain brands a favourite, understanding what it’s like to be a mum scored highly with almost three
quarters of mums (72%) saying it was important to them and over a third saying
it was very important (35%).