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NEW YORK -- There's a new mom in town.
If a decade ago was the age of the soccer mom, the past year has marked the birth of the mommy diva.
Mothers have ditched frumpy clothes, minivans and cropped hair for couture fashion, high-end crossover vehicles and trendy locks. The singles of Sex and the City have become the Desperate Housewives of Wisteria Lane.
And marketers are hot for them:
*McDonald's recently created an advisory council of nine global moms to help build a networking site for digital mommies.
*Book publishers have released a spate of new books for style-conscious moms. The Hot Mom's Handbook: Moms Have More Fun by Jessica Denay includes a chapter: Ditch the Sweats.
*Today's parenting magazines focus as much on moms as on kids. A recent issue of Cookie magazine includes a story on planning "an adults-only soiree" and "handling pint-size crashers."
Unilever's value-priced brand Suave is riding the popularity of pampered moms. This summer, a relaunch of the hair-care line brought bolder and more contemporary packaging, new ads and an increase in the suggested retail price to $2, up from $1.50.
"What we're finding is that once you attach this emotionally relevant message to your brand, people are willing to spend more on it," says Ami Striker, Suave's brand development director.
The ads use the line: Say yes to beautiful without paying the price.
Marketing-to-moms expert Maria Bailey says it's smart to mix style and value. "They are speaking to value but realize these are the women who in high school were drinking $5 lattes and carrying Coach bags."
Print ads show moms caring for their kids at home and on the go.
TV ads dig deeper into Mom balancing time for herself and her kids. One shows an invisible mom healing "boo-boos," serving dinner and grocery shopping. The announcer says the "invisible mom" feeling doesn't have to apply to your hair. Moments later, the mom appears. In another ad, a well-coiffed woman enters a boxing ring to face off against herself -- unshowered and unkempt. The announcer says, "Every mom has an internal fight" over caring for others vs. taking care of themselves.
Unilever research with 1,000 women found that new moms often sacrificed beauty care for hectic schedules.
"It used to be that (moms) had to decide whether to say no to beauty or to say yes," says Donna Charlton-Perrin, creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, who helped create the ads.
A mother of two, Perrin knows, "When you first have a baby, beauty is off the radar. Then you look in the mirror and say, 'Oh, what happened to me?' We're not saying wear stilettos; we're saying take care of the you before you had kids."
That message was a bigger hit with women than with men surveyed by Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly poll. Overall, 14% like the ads "a lot" compared with Ad Track's 21% average. But 18% of women vs. just 6% of men gave the ads the top rating.
The ads are boosting Suave sales, which are up 3% for the 12 weeks ended in August.
"We've really just started to scratch the surface," Striker says.
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