• by Aaron Baar , July 8, 2010

It may be hard for some to believe, but it's not too early to begin thinking of Millennials as parents. Evenflo -- maker of child car seats and other baby products -- has already begun targeting them with a new Internet campaign, "The Savvy Parent's Guide."

"This is a very different cohort than we've marketed to in the past," Chris Craig, chief marketing officer of Evenflo, tells Marketing Daily. "It's not so much what you say or how you say it, but where you reach them."

Noting that Millennials are the first generation raised on digital and online communications (and coinciding with the release of its Momentum 65 convertible car seat), the company has created a humorous series of short online videos depicting an overprotective dad trying to install a car seat and wrapping every piece of furniture and the inside of his car in padding. A third video, coming next week, will depict the things you do or don't say in front of your children.

"Parenting is serious work, and the risk is you get so caught up in it, you're not enjoying it," Craig says. "We wanted to lighten things up a bit. I do find a refreshing sense of humor among this group."

Craig admits the company is "feeling its way" a bit with the online campaign, but he notes the overarching goal is to position the brand as a trusted (and entertaining) source of information, particularly for new parents. "Evenflo makes a wide variety of products that help make parenting easier. The idea is to extend that equity into discussions online," Craig says. "Our belief is if we can combine the education with the entertainment, we can increase the engagement."

The company has been reaching out to blogs and other new-parent information sources, and will soon begin a "hyper-targeted" banner advertising campaign and social network advertising in the coming weeks, Craig says. In the meantime, the three videos will run in rotation on the company's Web site.

"Our whole goal with this is to get the conversation started," Craig says. "We'll transition to other subjects later."