MotherProof – the mother of all consumer plays?

Mother Proof is based in Castle Rock and was formed by a young mother and entrepreneur who was fed up with the lack of pertinent information about automobiles available to people like her: Mothers. She wanted to find out real world things about cars like how easily car seats can be installed, how many car seats fit in the car, how much storage the car has, etc. But this real-world “Cheerio testing” was nowhere to be found.

To fill this gap, Mother Proof started using press fleet vehicles for two weeks at a time, and delivering informative (and witty) reports via a syndicated print column and the MotherProof.com web site.

One thing is for certain: Mother Proof‘s founder Kristin Varela is a PR natural. The impressive list of Mother Proof sightings makes that obvious. Next Wednesday Kristin is appearing on The View, and has been seen on the likes of the CBS Early Show and CNN Headline News.

In another of my now all-too-familiar Starbucks 30 minute meetings, Kristin told me that she feels that the Mother Proof brand is beginning to grow more valuable. Manufacturers are beginning to approach her to license the Mother Proof “seal of approval”, for example.

According to Varela, “Women purchase 52.5% of new cars and influence 85% of all car sales. This adds up to an 83 billion dollar industry.” Clearly, women want to know. The Mother Proof web site has seen steadily increasing traffic as women everywhere are coming to check it out (if you’re a man, don’t let that stop you. Think of it as counter-intelligence for daddy-mobiles).

If you’re going to spend thirty grand on a new car, perhaps it makes sense to spend a few bucks to see what Mother Proof has to say about it.

Mother Proof is now forming an advisory board and will be seeking angel investment in the near future to ramp up marketing efforts and to continue to improve the web site.

file under: Blog, Startups