http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/
"Disney Moms" know best.
I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea from The Walt Disney Company to promote its theme parks like Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Instead of just a website or cheery Disney cast members telling you all about the park, restaurant and hotel options to experience, Disney set up a "mom's panel" via social media platform. The panel answers all kind of questions from potentiasl visitors.
The "moms" (and a couple of "dads") seem like regular folk, not Disney employees, who love the theme parks and have years of experience visiting by themselves, with kids, family and other guests. They are set up to offer "real world" advice to people who write in with a question. Food, tickets, what to do with a kid with a scratched knee - the questions run the gambit.
I'm sure the site is monitored by Disney but they seem to have trained the "moms" to be appropriate online in terms of the level of advice offered. "Mom" advice, aka third party advice, is probably seen as more credible, less manipulative that if it came directly from The Mouse. Who can argue with what mom tells you.....
This is really interesting. I agree that "moms" in the market have a huge share of the wallet when it comes to travel and purchase of most of the goods for a family's home. Additionally, "mommyblogs" have become a huge market in the on-line community. I found this article on mashable that discusses the misconceptions and success of some of these writers.
ReplyDeletehttp://mashable.com/2009/01/16/mom-blogger-misconceptions/
This was a great way for Disney to add credibility to their marketing program in a non-threatening way!