• by Rodney Collins , April 26, 2013

Next month, mothers in more than 80 countries around the world will be celebrated, and consumers in all of these markets will be in search of the right way to express their appreciation for mom. Pioneering brands and companies have a great deal to gain by facilitating that effort. In its 99-year history as an official holiday, Mother’s Day has grown to become the fourth most lucrative holiday in the United States, with consumers spending $152 per person on mom, according to the NRF. 

From Anguilla to Zimbabwe, many countries have adopted the version of Mother’s Day that we Americans know today. But as early as 1920, just six years after the U.S. Congress granted the holiday official status, the holiday’s founder was opposed to its wrongful interpretation. Ann Jarvis died impoverished and unsuccessful in challenging the holiday’s increasing commercialization as well as the neglect of its rightful roots in pacifist and humanitarian wartime efforts. 

Of course, the aspirations and values of moms have also changed since the date of the earliest Mother’s Day celebrations, but the wish to teach children the difference between right and wrong remains at the center of many mom’s ambitions. In fact, when we conducted our “Truth About Moms” research, we found that 20% of our American moms believed this to be the strongest indication of a good mother. And we learned that when children demonstrated mastery of this lesson, the most likely treat to be provided by one out of four of these moms was more time spent together. 

The desire for family-time in a world where many of us are time-poor has been articulated to us by consumers in a variety of ways. In the course of our most recent global study, the “Truth About Connected You,” we invited respondents in our qualitative online discussion boards as well as members of our network to propose dream mobile devices. We received hundreds of entries, with a number of them featuring functions that help people to maximize their emotional connections with family members. 

Our favorites include the “Tummy Talkie” which allows family members to communicate remotely with the baby in a mother’s tummy; the “Automatic Pilot” which uses words and phrases from previous calls to build responses to one’s mother (or mother-in-law); and, the “Callback” which records every interaction that a child has with her parents over the course of a life and when the time comes those recordings can be accessed for guidance or support. 

Until these devices are realized, the mobile phone will have to do, and 8 in 10 of our American respondents agree that these devices have already improved the quality of family life. Respondents in our “Truth About Wellness” study agreed that spending quality time with people who they love goes a long way to promote wellness. Family-time was among the top five activities that respondents selected to achieve wellness. Further, 68% of our respondents are most likely to turn to family members – ahead of doctors – for support when it comes to leading a more “well” life. 

Brands and companies that are able to facilitate our need to express our appreciation for mom in authentic and meaningful ways will be champions on Mother’s Day. Innovative companies that think like mobile phone companies and develop tools that enable each of us to increase the quality and the quantity of our family-time will only lend further support to mothers everywhere. And, if in the process, these brands and companies are able to assist mom’s lessons in right and wrong, the celebration of Mother’s Days to come will only be that much more honorable.