Every time I come onto MN I see ads for MN Premium. The clue is in the name - it’s a premium version of a service we currently get in exchange for being the subject of advertising. To actively start parting with my money for it, they need to offer me something special; something valuable. Yet the ad tells us very little about that. Instead, it tells us ‘Mumsnet needs your help’.
This is the kind of language I’d expect a charity or educational programme to use. It’s an appeal to help those who can’t help themselves. MN is not a charity - it’s a multi-million pound business. If they need more income, fine, start a premium service; but why pitch it as the chance to help some very rich people? Tell me why I should pay the service; what it will do for ME as a customer, not why MN wants/needs the money. It’s the equivalent of me going to my boss and saying ‘My mortgage payments have gone up and I’m planning to start a family, so I need a rise’. That might well be why I need the money, but it’s not why my boss should give it to me. I need to prove that I’m worth the money. MN needs to do the same.
Is it just me, or is this a total marketing failure and a complete misread of the mood of the audience?