All mothers are obliged to be hardworking multi-taskers. But the 65% of Canadian moms who also hold down jobs are veritable whirling dervishes from sunrise to sunset and then some.

That’s why they’re about as tough for marketers to track and capture as the ever-elusive sasquatch. And that presents a paradox.

As a demographic, working moms are logically the most desirable sector of all. Their personal income alone represents enormous purchasing power, especially for the 34% of Canadian business owners who are female.

But the prevailing estimate is that employed women actually influence a whopping 95% of all household buys. That’s everything from big-ticket items, such as homes and cars, to nearly every morsel of their family’s food and every stitch of their clothing, leisure activities and gear, vacation choices and everything that goes into every room in their homes.

Yet as a market sector, these veritable buying machines are glaringly underserved. Why? Probably because it’s such a daunting challenge to grab the attention of anyone whose average day is a frantic marathon.

‘We constantly have to do three or four things at once, with everyone vying for our time. In my case, that’s a husband, three children, a boss, colleagues and friends who tell me I never call anymore. So breaking into all that with marketing messages isn’t easy,’ says Debra Sharp, associate CD at TBWAToronto.

Sharp’s frontline insight informed a current ad campaign for Nissan Canada’s newly redesigned Quest minivan. It broke in July and includes print and O-O-H components pinpointing multifaceted mothers.

It’s the TV commercial that really nails the proposition. It features various women loading their Quests, not with adorable tots, but with items signifying the non-motherly aspects of the women’s lives: a surfboard, a saddle, a guitar, golf clubs. Tagline: ‘Moms have changed. Shouldn’t minivans?’

But campaigns as intelligent as Nissan’s are few and far between, says Joanne Thomas Yaccato, president of Toronto’s Thomas Yaccato Group and author of The 80% Minority.

‘The companies that do get it understand that women wrestle with the fact that they not only have jobs but are also required to do the vast majority of the child and home care as well. Statistics Canada’s latest report said that mothers do two-and-a-half hours more work per day than [employed] fathers.’

What are mothers starved for in that equation? Time. And understanding that reality is where you must start if you want to connect with them, says Yaccato. An exemplary champ at this, in her opinion, is Toronto-headquartered Grocery Gateway, one of Canada’s first online shopping and delivery services.

‘But in its pitches, Grocery Gateway never talks about saving time because that’s an impossibility that women see right through,’ Yaccato explains. ‘The minute we find ourselves with three extra seconds on our hands, we remember the laundry that needs to be done and we’re off.

‘What Grocery Gateway talks about instead is time shifting, getting to control when you do what you need to do. So food shopping, which is one of the most important things a mother does, can be done in a home office with a cup of chamomile tea after the kids are in bed while laundry is in progress and a casserole for tomorrow’s dinner is baking.’

A new psychographic study entitled ‘Insights on Mom’ concurs with Yaccato’s contentions. Steve Meraska, SVP/director of business development at Toronto-headquartered Starcom Worldwide, which conducted the study, says a key finding was identifying a move away from the ‘Supermom syndrome.’

‘Mothers prioritize their families first and their personal needs afterwards,’ he says. ‘What we found out in our discussions with mothers is that today it’s not so much about having it all as it is about doing it all with balance. They now recognize that they can be good mothers, have jobs and be involved in their local communities, but not with the same set of sacrifices that probably came 20 years ago.’

So how do you put insights like that to work to bag those sasquatch-like working mothers? Check out these tips from Meraska and a variety of other savvy professionals.

Timing is key

‘Whichever medium you select, you’ve got to find the sweet spot when you can communicate with these women on a personal level,’ says Sunni Boot, president of Toronto’s ZenithOptimedia. ‘It might be morning radio, when they’re in their cars, or taking a run, or maybe working out at the gym.’

Or it might be an afternoon buy for those who listen to radio at work, or a drive-home-time buy, ‘because that’s when mothers are making their dinner decisions,’ says Teresa Savile, media manager at Toronto-headquartered OMD Canada. ‘We often run spots for KFC buckets then, for example, which we know skew female.’

As for television, the post 8 p.m. placement of that clever Quest minivan spot is anything but random, says TBWAToronto’s brand manager Sharon Smyl. ‘That’s when the kids are in bed and the mothers can finally settle down to watch some TV.’

That’s a ‘key time for message receptivity,’ says Meraska, ‘because what we found is that there are points in a mom’s day or week when she needs to take some time for herself. And whatever media she chooses to interact with then can have a great opportunity to resonate.’

Television is a fave

When that ‘me time’ does appear in a mother’s schedule – after dinner and homework are over and the kids are asleep – Starcom’s study concluded that television is her favourite relaxation choice and that she is more likely to pay attention to commercials during her favourite shows.

Conversely, says Boot, earlier spots can be effective on Sundays because ‘that’s a prime time for family co-viewing.’

Strategic timing is also a key part of the HEReport recently produced by Corus Entertainment’s Toronto-based W network, says general manager Wendy Montgomery. Leveraging its findings has increased viewership by more than 60% over the past year.

‘We’re creating a destination station so that when mothers can finally flop down at the end of the day, they don’t have to surf the channels, they can trust that they’ll find the shows they want to watch on W.’

How’s this playing with advertisers? Great, says Montgomery. ‘Our sales are up significantly, with both new accounts and increased commitments from older ones.’

Exemplifying marketer enthusiasm about the niche W is offering, says Montgomery, was Kraft Canada’s sponsorship of the network’s premiere showing of Bridget Jones’s Diary on Thanksgiving night earlier this month. ‘Kraft wanted to target working mothers for its Philadelphia cream cheese, which it’s positioning as an indulgence for time-starved women, so we built an event opportunity for them.’

In addition to running commercials, Kraft Canada found a way to connect with TV viewers while they’re checking out what’s on the tube. The company runs a weekly half-page colour ad in the Toronto Star’s program guide with recipes featuring Kraft ingredients. The ad also publicizes Kraft’s interactive Web site and its personalized e-mail offerings.

Instil interconnectedness

Kraft’s Toronto Star ads – which depict smiling ‘kitchen experts’ eager to dialogue with busy working moms – tap into a major psychological key, says Ania Russocki, president of Toronto’s Gee Jeffery & Partners Advertising, because ‘they want to feel a personal relationship with a marketer.

‘When they do pay attention to media, they’re very particular and very discerning because they’re constantly seeking information on how to be a better mother, whether products are good for their children and even if they’re environmentally friendly.’

In this context, says Meraska, ‘the role of community in a mom’s life is hugely important. They want to have a solid understanding of their local community in order to provide a better life for their family and themselves. But they’re also interested in what’s going on outside their local environment and that opens up a lot of interesting media opportunities that are not necessarily mom-focused. She doesn’t solely identify herself as a mother, so it’s important to talk to her on both of those levels.’

Above all, don’t induce guilt

But Yaccato says that using ‘pester power,’ such as that touted in Corus Entertainment’s recently announced ‘kidfluence’ strategy for YTV, may backfire if its basis is making mothers feel guilty.

Example? Yaccato says she saw red when, of all companies which should know better, Betty Crocker ran a TV spot in which a boy said: ‘Us kids know our mothers are too busy to cook.’

‘Every day of the year, women struggle with guilt that they may be short-changing their families because of their jobs,’ Yaccato fumes. ‘So the messaging needs to be respectful and say: ‘We understand the challenges you face and we can help.”

A final thought from Starcom’s Meraska: ‘Media companies that want to be in the forefront need to engage in the kind of very specific research we did on working mothers. I think this is the future of media/communication companies because understanding and developing consumer insights against any particular demographic shouldn’t be the sole domain of branding agencies.’