Part
01
of one
Part
01
What are the main challenges of marketing to modern parents?
Hello! Thank you for your question about the challenges of marketing to modern parents. The most helpful resources to answer your question were blogs from trusted media sites and YouTube for examples of good advertising. The bottom line is that modern parenting is different from parenting of the past and therefore needs to be addressed differently through technology, authenticity, diversity, advertising to dads, and preserving Millennial's identities. Below, you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
According to a 2015 study by Baby Center, 80% of new moms are Millennials. Therefore, similar rules of marketing to Millenials apply to marketing for modern parents. To find information about marketing to Millennials, we searched for blog lists, and then found the studies cited by those blogs. We failed to find an exact percentage of how many brands fail to market to modern parents, but we did find some interesting data about what is attractive to Millennial parents. We also made a list of five advertising pitfalls and how brands have overcome them.
WHAT IS ATTRACTIVE TO MILLENIAL PARENTS
1. Contributing to causes or charities:
When shopping for products, 50% of Millennial parents say they try to buy products that support causes or charities. Examples of this are Nike, which works with the Better World Initiative and Apple, which is an active member of Product (RED).
2. Decent price:
Millennial parents are pragmatic and care a lot about price. Before they were parents, their buying decisions were 57% based on quality. After parenthood, they buy just over 50% based on quality.
3. Being innovative:
According to "Millennial Marketing Guy" Jeff Fromm, "innovation is probably most important for most brands trying to reach [Millennials]." Things that save time, money, or provide adventures are all popular ways to market to Millennial parents.
TOP FIVE REASONS FOR MARKETING FAILURE
1. Not using technology: Millennial grew up with technology and are applying it to successful parenthood. For example, 86% of Millennial dads turn to YouTube for guidance on parenting like preparing meals, using a product, or assembling gear. 72% of Millennial parents agree that they use YouTube to make better purchases for their child.
Millennial parents are also using smart devices. 80% of Millennial moms use their smartphones to help them shop by finding coupons, reviews, and prices while in the store.
2. Not targeting dads: Dads are playing a larger role in parenting than previous generations. In fact, only 35% of Millennial men without kids believe in traditional gender roles. For those men with kids, 80% of Millennial dads handle the grocery shopping or share it equally with their spouse and almost half of Millennial dads are given the responsibility of organizing play dates.
3. Being 'fake': Millennial recognize pictures that are 'too perfect', especially when it comes to families. They appreciate and trust authenticity, knowing that parenthood isn't perfect.
4. Not respecting their identities: Millennial like to preserve their identities instead of changing them. They like to be 'more than' moms and dads, so respecting that they are individuals with passions outside parenting is important.
5. Lacking diversity: Millennial families are more diverse than previous generations The white mom, white dad, 2.5 children model is no longer a majority. In 2017, 67% of Millennial moms are multicultural and by 2020, 50% of U.S. children will be non-white. Besides just racial and cultural diversity, the Millennial family structure is different from previous generations. 61% of births to Millennial moms are to unmarried women, and 4 out of 10 Millennial moms are single parents.
COMPANIES THAT OVERCAME THESE CHALLENGES
1. Technology
Target's Cartwheel app adds coupons to your cart while you shop in-store and scanning a barcode at checkout processes all the savings at once.
2 "Dadvertising"
3. Authenticity
Johnson & Johnson: Their "So Much More" campaign captures 'real life' moments that Millenial parents can relate to, instead of fake simulations.
4. Retaining identities
Minute Maid: Made a series with stories from real parents and their struggles with parenthood, including how they remained true to themselves.
5. Diversity
Honeymaid: Their "This is Wholesome" campaign released a short documentary series about blended families.
CONCLUSION
In short, marketing to Millennial parents is different than marketing to parents in the past. Technology, diversity, authenticity, identity, and advertising to dads are all new areas of branding and need to be utilized for successful marketing to modern parents.
Thank you for using Wonder! If you are wondering about anything else, please let us know!