The New American Family

Society is fascinated with the ever-changing face of American families and brands and marketers should be paying attention to this evolution as well. As Bonnie Ulman, principal of The Haystack Group, prepares to moderate the dynamic M2Moms® brand panel, “The Evolution of Today’s American Families and What Marketers Should Know to Connect,” we asked her to give us some insight into how the makeup of the traditional family has changed and how these changes are affecting the way brands market to moms.

Q: How has the makeup of the traditional family changed over the years?

Bonnie Ulman: The American family has changed in size, composition, and focus, bringing a swift conclusion to the era of Leave it to Beaver. Families comprised of married opposite-sex couples with their own children are shrinking, as the number of single-parent, step, blended, foster, and same-sex households increase. Factor in the exponential growth of culturally diverse families and you have a mosaic that reflects a wide definition of ‘family.’

The United States has experienced enormous growth in the number of nontraditional families during the past 40 years. By the year 2000, the percentage of traditional families comprised 24 percent of American households, down from 40 percent in 1970. During that same time, the number of unmarried couples living together increased tenfold; about 8 percent of U.S. coupled households are cohabiting with a partner of the opposite sex.

Single-parent homes increased from 11 percent of all U.S. households in 1970 to 16 percent in 2003. However, in the past five years, the proportion of single-parent led families has stabilized and in fact, some experts would argue, is declining. While single-mother families are still more predominant in single-parent homes (10 million in 2003), single-dad families increased 15 percent to 2.3 million from less than 500,000 in 1970.

Another important demographic shift that is recasting the “traditional” family is the impact of aging Baby Boomers, the significant number of younger women who are having fewer children, and one of the most severe recessions in our history. The result? A decrease of 1.2 million households between 2005 and 2008 in spite of a population increase. More young people are boomeranging back into their parents’ homes and postponing the establishment of their own households. The economy impacts more than Millennials joining already formed families – it also affects family size. When cash-strapped couples feel the economic pinch, they are likely to have fewer children or even none at all. As an example, in 2008, about 35.7 million families (46 percent) had children under age 18 at home, down from 52 percent in 1950.

Interestingly, multi-generational family households are making a comeback. As of 2008, a record 49 million Americans, or more than 16 percent of the total U.S. population, lived in a family household that contained at least two adult generations or a grandparent and at least one other generation. “Traditional” families are taking a cue from Latin American and Asian families, who are more inclined to live in multi-generational family households.

The traditional family has always been in the eye of the beholder. We tend to think of the family unit as a reflection of our own cultural heritage. That reflection is changing though, as the percentage of interracial and interethnic marriages increases. According to Pew Research Center, a record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States in 2008 were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. To put this in perspective, the year President Obama’s parents were married, less than one in 1,000 new marriages in the United States was a pairing of a black person and a white person. That figure had risen to one-in-sixty by 2008.

Finally, cultural shifts that are fueled by younger Americans’ acceptance of open lifestyles are setting the stage for a greater number of same-sex households with children. The 2000 U.S. Census indicates between six to 14 million children have a gay or lesbian parent.

Q: What are your biggest tips for brands looking to connect with today’s more diverse American family?

BU: There is no secret bullet for connecting with today’s families. What is most important to recognize is the definition of diversity: “variety, assortment; the inclusion of diverse people in a group or organization.” The U.S. has long been a geography attractive to a wide assortment of cultures. It would be a mistake to confuse diversity with divisiveness. Particularly with an economy that is as stressed as ours is now, the goal is to find the intersection of a brand’s assets with the universal needs of any family. At the end of the day, any parent – white, Hispanic, Gay or Single – would tell you that the well-being of their family is of paramount importance.

Clearly, some brands may hold greater or less appeal to certain cultures or lifestyles. If you’re marketing a food product, for example, you’ll want to become very familiar with unique associations diverse families may have with that item. Consider where, when or how they might enjoy that food that is unique to their culture. That understanding might generate an interesting in-market strategy.

Take time to consider important, but often overlooked nuances, like parenting style or culturally generated attitudes about healthcare, for instance. Consider whether a single Dad might treat a child’s cold the way a Hispanic mom would treat the same or whether the family automobile is better-suited for two female drivers.

Q: What brands are getting the messaging right – why?

BU: Actually, a lot of brands are getting the messaging right. The secret is to be able to speak to the family as a unit without alienating a particular member. Carnival Cruise Lines is an excellent example of a company that masterfully shows the positive transformation of a family from stressed out parents and sullen teenage daughter to fun-loving family unit and individuals. The television spot does a great job of letting Dad take center-stage and evolve into the hero – and all from the viewpoint of the daughter. Volkswagen’s “PunchDub” campaign is a well-crafted integrated effort that leverages the legacy of the “punchbuggy” game that many of us remember from our childhood family vacations by car. The brand has put a brilliant contemporary spin on the ads and the game so that kids today are playing “punchdub” in the car and yelling out “white one” just like we did decades ago. The Tide brand has set the bar high with its community-focused “Loads of Hope” program. Helping communities impacted by natural disasters through assistance in laundering their clothing is a straight-forward, meaningful platform to set the brand aside from its competitors in a competitive commodity space.

REGISTER NOW for Bonnie’s in-depth M2Moms® session on the evolution of today’s American families which will include panelists Nadine Vogel, president, Springboard Consulting; Lee Gaither, president & CEO, Basil Street Media; George E. Bardenheier, EVP-general manager, Partners Marketing, Inc.; Betsy Helgager Hughes, president/CEO, BLH Consulting, Inc.; and, Jackie Bird, CEO, Redbean Socieity, LLC.