The Pull-Ups brand has always been deeply rooted in consumer empathy. We understand the ups and downs of the potty training journey parents go through like no one else. This empathy has led us to a few key insights that have pushed our content and channel strategy towards a mobile first approach and brand architecture. This approach has allowed us to create an always on platform, The Pull-Ups Big Kid Academy, that delivers content, products, and utility to parents when they need it most, on the go. Our greatest success has been delivering a responsive mobile site combined with a focused and purposeful native mobile app that has increased our customer database and CRM enrollment by 700%.
As consumer expectations have increased and access to information has become ubiquitous, brands must deliver higher quality experiences that go beyond just access to brand or product information on smaller devices. Rather, brands must understand user intent and context todeliver streamlined, personalized, and contextual experiences to address that intent and context. This understanding can be a competitive advantage and a brand differentiator.
A streamlined user interface tailored to the smallest screen is an important aspect of mobile marketing. Leveraging best practices and mobile design expertise minimizes a user’s effort and reduces friction when accessing brands on a mobile device. While mobile first or responsive design is often thought of as a commodity or cost of entry, if done poorly it can create a barrier between a brand and consumer. When the frustration of potty training setbacks happen, the last thing a parent wants is to dig, pinch, and zoom their way to finding relief.
Personalization is another aspect of mobile marketing that, if executed properly, can provide a deeper connection between brand and consumer. Using a consumer’s personal behavior, data, or preference when deciding which content to deliver can be powerful. It can be the difference between knowing a parent is potty training their second child and more likely to look for new and unique ways to celebrate potty training successes, versus the information and reassurance a first-timer needs to get started.
As organizations had to do when digital moved from being an emerging media to being an established and integral part of the marketing mix, mobile acumen now needs to integrated into marketing organizations. Mobile expertise can reside within a brand structure, or can compliment a brand team from internal or external specialists. For Pull-Ups, we have had success p artnering with vertical experts, such as Organic—to gain specific knowledge and expertise—while leveraging our strong, strategic brand marketing team's deep understanding of the business objectives and consumer need states. Marketing organizations also need to embrace a more iterative process during design and development to improve speed-to-market, user experience, and build quality.
Content strategy and architecture are impacted greatly by an increasingly fragmented channel ecosystem. This, of course, isn’t limited to mobile. Content demands have expanded exponentially to satisfy consumer appetites across paid, earned and owned platforms. Marketing organizations will need to budget, plan, execute, and distribute new forms of content segmented by channel, platform, and users.
Recently Pull-Ups launched a native iOS app called Time to Potty. The application delivered a beautifully simple, new take on the potty timer. Essentially, Time to Potty helps parents and big kids become more consistent with one of the most critical habits of potty training, the potty break. To ensure parents were armed with the right tools for training, they were required to scan a pair of Pull-Ups training pants each morning to unlock the over 40 celebrations and games. By listening to consumer feedback and completing rounds of internal tests after the initial launch, the team quickly learned that scanning wasn’t aligning with the app’s overall vision of making potty training easier. It was becoming a cumbersome barrier for parents during an already frustrating experience. The brand team and digital partner Organic, acted quickly to release a new version of the app that did not require scanning. The effort, collaboration, and continued focus on listening to customers deserves a round of applause and is a great example of the importance Pull-Ups places on consumer empathy and a mobile first marketing approach. Great Job team.
