Companies Woo Potential Customers With Online Contest

By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Mar. 6–Ellie Grossman was a little mortified when actress Leah Remini, who was re-enacting the Grossman family’s disastrous camping trip, pulled her aside and asked: "Did you really go wee-wee in the woods?"

Grossman, 43, ‘fessed up. Yes, she did borrow a potty seat from her daughter and found a way to answer nature’s call in the wilderness. She just didn’t expect the incident would be remade by Hollywood and posted online today for the world to see.

Grossman, of Wildwood, is part of the coveted mommy market that companies are trying to reach. And, by winning an online contest for outrageous parenting stories, she’s also part of a growing trend in how to reach the mothers. She read about the contest on "In the Motherhood," a website sponsored by Suave and Sprint, which aims to produce an online community for mothers and posts short, humorous ‘webisodes’ with subtle product placement. Users submit their personal stories, which are voted on by viewers and judged by a panel. Each season’s winners are flown to Hollywood for a makeover and get to watch a short script based on their story acted out by either Jenny McCarthy, Chelsea Handler or Leah Remini.

Grossman, who writes a parenting column for the St. Louis Jewish Light, described her family’s attempt to rough it on their first camping trip with her son’s Boy Scout troop.

"We woke up before the sun rose in our heated minivan," she remembers. They snuck away from the chilly tent. "I’m Jewish. I’m spoiled. I thought, ‘I can do this.’ Turns out, I couldn’t do this."

Her story joins previous winners such as the mother who discovered her son was using her Chapstick to moisturize the cat’s behind — right after she had layered it on her own lips.

The stories and videos are used to hook the women and build a positive association with the brand.

Anita Bajaj Newton, a vice president with Sprint, said mothers were going online in droves and were one of the fastest-growing online groups. They’re going online not just to buy stuff but to connect with others. Piyush Jain, Suave senior brand manager, said that the first season of "In the Motherhood" drew 5.5 million video views and that the second season had already reached 7 million hits. Their studies showed that after mothers used the site they were more likely to say they would purchase the sponsor’s products.

David Lang, president of the MindShare Entertainment agency that produced the webisodes, said interactive web-based marketing was "growing exponentially" for many reasons: increasing broadband Web access, more clutter and noise in the world of marketing and the rise of DVRs, which allow viewers to skip commercials entirely.

Other companies such as Nike, Oral-B and Dove have also used Web-based entertainment to draw female viewers.

Grossman, whose episode will makes its debut today on the website, was even interviewed by Access Hollywood and In Touch magazine, which happened to be on set that day.

She says her trip to L.A., watching the filming and meeting the actresses (who she describes as "funny as hell") was an experience of a lifetime, which is exactly what Suave and Sprint were hoping for.