- Della de Lafuente

Kimberly-Clark's Huggies and Pull-Ups are the brands behind a program launched this week, dubbed "De Mamá a Mamá" ("Mom to Mom"), designed specifically for Hispanic mothers seeking consejos (advice).

As part of the program, tried and true parenting tips, traditions and advice from Latina mothers will be shared and passed along to new and expectant mothers via a book deal. Moms can share their tips (to be published in the book) at HuggiesEnEspanol.com and PullUpsEnEspanol.com, and view thoughts from others. The book is expected to be available in April 2009 and will be given to consumers as a gift in select retail stores nationwide, just ahead of Mother's Day.

"De Mamá a Mamá" is a way for the Kimberly-Clark brands to help foster a sense of extended family among new and expectant Hispanic moms, and to provide moral and practical support as their lives change with a baby's arrival, the company said.

"Child-rearing in the Hispanic culture is almost always a collective endeavor involving continuous input, consejos, and support from all female members of the extended family: from mothers and grandmothers to aunts, sisters an sisters-in-law," Isabel Gómez-Bassols, host of Univision Radio Cadena's live call-in show Doctora Isabel, El Angel de la Radio, said in a statement.

Kimberly-Clark has enlisted Gómez-Bassols, a psychologist and child-rearing expert, to oversee the creation of the free parenting advice book. She also is the spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark's multibrand Hispanic initiative, "Madre a Mujer" ("Mother to Woman"), which includes the Huggies and Pull-Ups brands.

As an incentive to visit the Huggies and Pull-Ups sites to share their parenting tips, participating moms will be automatically entered in a sweepstakes, which runs through Nov. 30. The sweepstakes is comprised of five grand prizes: one year's worth of free Huggies and Pull-Ups products, and 10 first prizes of three month's worth of Huggies and Pull-Ups. The winners will be selected in a random drawing in mid-December.

Kimberly-Clark's ad spending on Hispanic network and cable TV for the Huggies and Pull-Ups brands has reached $5.6 million January through July of this year, compared to $7.2 million overall in 2007 and $7 million in 2006, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.