secretgardin, I used to be a marketer. If I had been in the formula industry this is how I would market:
Let's say for every 100 leaflets I give out, 90 mothers bin them. 8 mothers decide to switch formula brands because they like the organic angle, or they just happen to be in the market to try a different formula because their current formula is not satisfactory.
But one struggling breastfeeding mother thinks, "oh, bugger it, bf is so difficult at the moment and everyone keeps telling me formula is just as good. Why am I beating myself up to do this? Besides, this Hipp company is organic. Maybe formula is just as good. can't hurt to try..." and they succumb to that 'final straw'. And for them, that's that, curtains for bf.
And as for me, well, I've nicked some market share from my competitors, lovely, but I've also grown the market too - winning one brand new customer who no longer breastfeeds.
Now I haven't in truth got a clue exactly what conversion rates are like for the leaflets we are discussing here, it's an entirely different field to the one I know. I mean, a leaflet that falls out of a magazine advertising say, vertical window blinds, (not my area either, still) will be utterly redundant to huge numbers of people, who have no interest in reviewing their current window dressing situation How often does one even think about a decision like that?!
However, an educated guess tells me response rates to a campaign such as this one targeted at new parents, might actually be very good, because you can guarantee that every recipient of that leaflet WILL be a parent who WILL recently have made, or still be in the process of making a feeding choice. That's a marketer's dream - the PERFECT market audience. I won't do the maths, but you can imagine if we are talking about a million leaflets, not a hundred, and a much higher conversion rate than 1%. And that is just ONE form of media within a multi-faceted marketing plan, for ONE formula company.
In fact, I sometimes muse about what I'd do if I was a ff marketer. Given free rein I would specifically and personally target every new mother at about 3 to 6 weeks post birth, and my marketing would be designed to play up on bf insecurities and challenges, and sell the image of a wonderful, positive, easier ff experience. I'd also offer a time-limited incentive such as free samples or money off, also something cute like a cuddly toy. I'd maybe also link in with a worthy cause, perhaps vaccines or healthcare to children in developing countries, with a donation for every purchase made. I'd also market heavily to the healthcare providers to develop a brand loyalty, expecting an uplift from the effect of their influence on new mothers.
I could obviously go on and on (sorry), and it's fun to play the game. I'd love to be a fly on the wall of a marketing planning meeting for a formula company.
The point is, of the tactics I've listed, some are in fact ILLEGAL. Because our government, along with so many others around the world, have recognised that formula marketing destroys breastfeeding for some mothers and babies. There is no doubt at all that this is true.
You were unaffected by any formula campaign - great! You HAVE to see that others ARE affected, and they are the people the law is trying to protect.