Brands today are chasing after the coveted millennial target: young, digitally savvy consumers who don’t know a life without social media and smartphones. But, what many marketers don’t realize is a large portion of millennials has grown up. According to BabyCenter, millennials were responsible for 78% of the 386,000 annual births last year in Canada and 80% of births globally.
What happens when the world of millennials collides with the world of parenting?
“TransParentcy” is a movement among millennials TrendHunter.com has identified as a desire for more transparency in family-targeted marketing. With most millennials changing their decision criteria when it comes to things like groceries, personal care items and household goods when they’re christened into parenthood, this is a vital segment to understand and speak to.
Here are three ways to help align with millennial parents.
Acceptance
There is a ton of information on parenting out there and it’s easy for millennial parents to get overwhelmed or feel judged. In fact, 54% of moms feel more pressure to be a picture-perfect parent than their parents did, according to Tommee Tippee’s 2015 #ParentOnSurvey. Feeling accepted is key to the new parent mindset, and scare tactics that play up people’s insecurities are only going to isolate marketers from this consumer segment. That’s why campaigns like the Tommee Tippee’s #ParentOn, Plum Organics’ #ParentingUnfiltered and Similac’s #EndMommyWars have resonated so well with parents (and non-parents) alike.
One advertisement from Similac featured the “MotherHOOD,” exaggerating different types of parenting styles and beliefs by having groups such as working mothers, stay-at-home dads and breast-feeding mothers converge at the playground. After voicing a lot of judgement towards each other, the commercial ended with all groups bonding and the tagline, “Welcome to the Sisterhood of Motherhood.” The spot received more than 8 million views in a week and sparked online conversation.
Crowdsourcing
According to Google, new parents and expecting parents do double the amount of searching as those who don’t have a baby on board or a little one on the way. Millennial parents are turning to the internet to help crowdsource their parenting style and connect to like-minded individuals. This also explains why Google Data shows searches having to do with babies and parenting have grown by 25% from 2013 to 2014 and 83% of moms are now turning to the web to answer their parenting queries.
What are new moms and dads finding when they’re searching online? Resources that are fun, informative and interactive like WhatsUpMoms, which publishes three episodes per week with recipes, comedic shorts and DIY projects. With over 750,000 subscribers and 15 million monthly views, the three moms that run this channel partner with brands such as Glad and Hot Wheels, garnering these brands millions of eyeballs. They even partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama to help kids eat more veggies.
It’s not just millennial moms getting in on all of the action, though. Dads of this generation are more hands-on and are not always playing a traditional role. Fatherly is one of many websites and social media resources for the next-generation of dads.
Fatherly positions itself as a parenting resource for “men who want to be great fathers without turning into cliches.” The content covers relationships, work, money, parenting and humour, with features like “Everything you need to know about parenting in 24 GIFs” and more serious discussions around parenting with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Google, more than half of men say there is not enough dad-focused content online, so this presents a unique opportunity for brands.
Authenticity
Millennial parents are especially quick to dismiss any brand that doesn’t seem to present an honest portrayal of their values. Dove has done a fantastic job with its men’s care line and #RealStrength campaign, which launched during this year’s Superbowl. The latest ad features home footage of men finding out their wives are pregnant to demonstrate “real strength means showing you care.” To date, it has received more than 17 million views on YouTube.
Millennials may be transitioning into parenthood, but they haven’t lost their identities. They’re still heavily reliant on digital and crave connections with brands that genuinely reflect their lifestyle. Marketers should take note even though millennials now have families of their own, it hasn’t made them any less millennial. On the contrary, having their own family unit actually exaggerates many distinctly millennial traits.
Shelby Walsh is president at Toronto-based Trend Hunter, an online trend community and research company.
