How exactly am I supposed to prepare a presentation on a subject that's evolving every minute? Well, I'm going to start by providing the audience of khaki-pants-wearing brand managers with a brief history of the sometimes graceful (Leapfrog and Graco jump to mind) and more often awkward (Nestle, Motrin) middle school dance between mom bloggers and brands.
I want to get people thinking about who's leading us across this crowded dance floor. Is it the global corporations, who can wine and dine a stay-at-home mom, getting her to pimp their product in exchange for a box of frozen meals? Or is it the influential mommyblogger, who can bring an appliance manufacturer to its knees over a couple of angry tweets? How do the new FTC regulations come into play? Is the FTC an effective chaperone, or it it just moving the hanky-panky from the wide-open blogosphere to late night Twitter parties?
What does the future of marketing to and with mom bloggers hold? Will there be a retreat from blogger retreats? Could contests and giveaways go away? Will the stream of poorly-targeted "Dear Blogger" spam-pitches ever abate?
Can we look forward to an era when marketers and mom bloggers can work together in a way that both fosters connections among a community of moms and helps marketers deliver solutions that moms want to buy? Will more marketers hire moms to bringing their authentic voice to brand sites? Will the moms who jumped on the blogging bandwagon for free stuff abandon their sites when the freebie train leaves town, or will they focus their blogs on their passions and build an audience of fellow moms of toddlers, crafters, Crock-Potters or working mothers?
