According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the number of twin births increased 74% between 1980 and 2000, and the number of “higher order multiples” (triplets or more) increased fivefold during that same period.
You’d think that with 132,535 live multiple birth events reported in the U.S. in 2002, catalogers selling toys and supplies that can be used by more than one baby at a time would be having a field day. But some mailers targeting mutiples are finding that the market is not as fertile as they’d originally thought.
One problem, says John Zimmerman, who with wife Marsha owns the Dublin, OH-based Twins Help catalog, is that the lists from baby-product marketers don’t help those trying to find parents of multiples. In fact, he says, many databases automatically delete as an error the presence of two or more children with the same parents and birthday. “We contacted every major list company,” Zimmerman says. “They can give you one-armed banjo players, but they can’t give you multiple-birth families.”
“I have found this to be a problem as a list broker,” admits Leland Kroll, president of Plainsboro, NJ-based list management/brokerage Kroll Direct Marketing. Kroll says the names of parents of multiples are out there, and that list companies just need to decide it’s worth it to find the information. “The major compilers of prenatal information could add a field of information to capture this data,” he notes.
During the past two years, renting ineffective lists cost Twins Help $15,000-$25,000, Zimmerman estimates. The company, which sells apparel, accessories, and gifts for twins and their parents, currently mails its print catalog only to requesters and previous buyers. Zimmerman says that to make mass mailings profitable, the company would need at least 200,000-300,000 names; it now has 50,000 names.
Another difficulty in the multiple-birth market, says Angela Pacey, president/owner of Charlotte, NC-based catalog More Than One, is that most associations and online communities devoted to these parents prefer not to share their names. To build a list prior to its December 1996 launch, the multiple-birth products cataloger advertised in publications such as Twins magazine and Triplets Connection, says Pacey, who will not disclose the size of her house file.
Multiples catalogers might want to try affiliate marketing, says Kristen Harmeling, partner with Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consultancy Yankelovich. “Find a partner such as a specialty toy manufacturer to drive people to your Website to proactively sign up to receive a catalog,” she advises. You could also exchange links with an online community for parents of multiples.
Multiple merchandise opportunities
Despite such challenges, marketing to the families of multiples can be profitable, because their needs differ from those of other families, Pacey says. For instance, following its purchase of The Nursing Pillow Co. last year, More Than One manufactures the $42.95 Anna Double Nursing Pillow, which allows the mother to hold both one baby while breastfeeding another. Other products that Pacey has had vendors produce include the $34.95 Leachco’s Baby Bathe Ease for Twins, which allows two babies to be secured in the tub at the same time.
When marketing to the parents of multiples, bear in mind that they often face financial stress from providing for several babies at once. So try to keep price points the same or lower than you would if marketing to parents of single-birth children.
“We try to be fair with pricing,” says Mike Kaczmarkiewicz, owner of Jefferson Valley, NY-based catalog Multiple Trends, which sells gifts for multiples. Many of his company’s products are in the $20 range; the average order value is around $60.