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Family Diversity is the New Norm:

7 Best Practices for Brands to Connect With

Today’s Parents

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MARCH 2016

© BabyCenter LLC. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents | 2

Table of Contents

Introduction:

The Changing Family Landscape and the Imperative

for Brands to Evolve With It

In Our Own Words:

Statements from BabyCenter and YouGov

Methodology & Acknowledgments

Best Practices:

No. 1 Be Authentic: Reflect Your Audience’s Real Life

No. 2 Do Your Research: Go to the Source

No. 3 Stay True to Your Brand

No. 4 Match Brand Actions to Communications

No. 5 Feature Universal Truths to Unite All

No. 6 Inclusivity Should Drive Your Media Strategy

No. 7 Be Brave in the Face of Naysayers

Conclusion:

The Important Role Brands Can Play in Promoting Tolerance

Appendix:

Featured Campaign Descriptions

3

5

6

7

20

21


Introduction | 3

The American family is no longer the Norman Rockwell, cookie-cutter, nuclear-family

norm—and the images of this antiquated ideal no longer interest the majority of parents

today. Marketers who wish to maintain and develop trusting and lasting relationships with

parents must respond to this historic shift.

“In order to resonate with today’s families, a brand has to hold up a mirror on the real world

and be the truest reflection of its consumers. The days of single-income dad, stay-at-

home mom, two-and-a-half kids, dog, and white-picket fence has definitely passed us by,”

says Manoj K. Raghunandanan, Senior Marketing Director, Johnson & Johnson (U.S. Pain

Franchise), who helps lead the Tylenol brand.

Introduction

The Changing Family Landscape and the Imperative for Brands to Evolve With It

80% of parents say they like

seeing diverse families in

TV shows, movies, and in advertising

66% of parents say a brand

that respects all types

of families is an important factor in

their purchasing decisions

FIGURE 1 True Stories of the Modern Family:

How Brands & Media Navigate the New Normal,

BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series,

in partnership with YouGov, March 2016.

Today, non-traditional families are more prevalent than ever before.

Single-parent households, co-habitating (non-married) parents,

LGBTQ parents, mixed-race parents, and households with stay-at-

home dads are replacing the standard of the traditional working dad

and caretaker mom. BabyCenter research shows 4 in 10 families

include these “modern” family types.1 Pew Research Center, which has

been tracking family composition for 50 years, echoes these findings,

and shows that the proportion of traditional family types is shrinking.

While its definitions are slightly different than BabyCenter’s, Pew

arrives at the same figure—4 in 10 children, or 38%, do not live with

two married parents, a dramatic change over the last half-century. In

1960, only 13% of children did not live with two married parents.2

The identity of the primary household caretaker itself is changing.

“For marketers [to reach the lead parent], the definition of ‘mom’

needs to be more fluid to include everyone instead of just a young

woman who can ovulate,” says Michelle Lynn, Chief Insights Officer,

Dentsu Aegis Network.

Marketers who want to connect with parents today cannot afford

to ignore this shift. Parents want to see themselves and their real

lives depicted in the advertising of the products they choose to buy.

SEE FIGURE 1


Introduction | 4

And, by far, Millennial parents are the most progressive,

demonstrating that this is a shift toward acceptance and tolerance

for the future. SEE FIGURE 2

For marketers, acting on this new imperative is not at all easy.

It begins with examining the brand and its audience to decide

whether or not they should update the way family is depicted. And

this is the simplest part. It’s a yes or no question, and most, if not

all, marketers are likely to answer “yes.”

Modernizing the brand’s definition of family is harder. It’s more

complex than diversifying casting and waiting for the collective

thumbs-up on social media. Marketers must ask themselves: How

can I be true to the brand and yet change with the times? How do

I show diversity without appearing disingenuous and alienating

audiences? How do I reach parents when demographic is no

longer a telltale qualifier?

This report aims to help marketers navigate the new reality of

the American family—to help them make stronger connections

with today’s parents, and tomorrow’s parents as well. Leaders of

top brands, creative agencies, media agencies, and an executive

from ABC Entertainment Group, the television network lauded

for its diversity of characters, candidly share the wisdom they’ve

gained from the field. BabyCenter and YouGov provide powerful

observations from their extraordinary access to parents and

consumers. Taken together, a call to action and a clear roadmap

for response has emerged, culminating in seven best practices for

brands to successfully build relationships with parents today.

1 True Stories of the Modern Family: How Brands & Media Navigate the New Normal,

BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series, in partnership with YouGov, March 2016.

2 Pew Research Center “Parenting in America” December 17, 2015.





41% of Millennial parents

agree that they are

more likely to purchase products

from brands that use more diverse

family types in their advertising


have NOT purchased

something because they don’t believe

in what the company stands for


In Our Own Words | 5

“It is clear that diverse families are becoming the new

norm in the U.S. The transition has many marketers

unsure of how to mirror this shift in their advertising,

and several of our own brand clients have come to

us for guidance in walking the ‘new modern family’

tightrope. This report is a direct response, providing

real world advice, supported by hard data, to give brand

marketers a guidepost for successfully connecting

with all the different kinds of families that make up

the mosaic of this country.”

“With the paths through adulthood, relationships,

and parenthood so diverse and potentially fluid, the

time is right for brands to recognize and celebrate

that diversity. This, though, is easier said than done.

Marketers must change with the times, and yet stay

true to themselves. They must be authentic to their

audiences, while strategizing this shift in a business

environment. Through the insights in this report,

marketers can better understand the way families

are changing, how to navigate between popular

opinions and business imperatives, and most

importantly how to thrive.”

Julie Michaelson,

Head of Global

Sales, BabyCenter

Ted Marzilli, CEO,

YouGov BrandIndex

In Our Own Words


Methodology and Acknowledgments | 6

Methodology

The research for this whitepaper included qualitative, quantitative, and syndicated

research conducted by BabyCenter and YouGov. Consumer research included 18 in-home

focus groups with moms and dads in Chicago, San Diego, and San Francisco. A variety

of family types were represented in these groups. Survey research was conducted using

BabyCenter’s proprietary 21st Century Mom® panel as well as Research Now’s panel of

1,000 parents with children under the age of 18. YouGov, in cooperation with BabyCenter,

fielded a survey among its national panel including 1,100 online adults. YouGov also

provided brand-tracking data through its BrandIndex for advertisers that are embracing

family diversity in their ad campaigns.

Acknowledgments

Vida Cornelious, Executive

Vice President and Chief

Creative Officer

Walton Isaacson

Samie Kim Falvey, Executive

Vice President, Comedy

Development and

International Scripted

Development

ABC Entertainment Group

Teresa Gonzalez Ruiz,

Vice President, Global

Brand Marketing

Fisher-Price

A.J. Hassan, Vice President,

Creative Director

Leo Burnett

Jane Lacher, Executive

Vice President, Strategy

Zenith Media

Nick Law, Global Chief

Creative Officer

R/GA

Michelle Lynn, Chief

Insights Officer

Dentsu Aegis Network

Jamie Moldafsky, Chief

Marketing Officer

Wells Fargo

Gary Osifchin, Vice

President, Global Brands,

Biscuits Category

Mondelēz International

Manoj K. Raghunandanan,

Senior Marketing Director

Johnson & Johnson

(U.S. Pain Franchise)

With special thanks to Philip N. Cohen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland,

author of The Family: Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change, published by W.W. Norton &

Company in 2015.

In addition, we would like to thank Jenny Hall, Vice President, Director of Content Marketing,

YouGov, and Willow Duttge, who served as writer of this report.


Best Practices | 7

7 Best Practices for Brands to Connect With Today’s Parents

Be Authentic: Reflect Your Audience’s Real Life

Do Your Research: Go to the Source

Stay True to Your Brand Match Brand Actions to Communications

Feature Universal Truths To Unite All

Inclusivity Should Drive Your Media Strategy Be Brave in the Face of Naysayers

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7


Best Practices | 8

No. 1

Be Authentic: Reflect Your Audience’s Real Life

To make meaningful connections with parents today, brands must

depict families realistically. SEE FIGURE 3

“It’s important to be authentic. Showcase a relevant reflection

of today’s audiences, and a realistic portrayal of those audiences.

…It’s hard to be successful if you’re not saying something or

depicting something in a way that rings true.”

– A.J. Hassan, Vice President, Creative Director, Leo Burnett

With 40% of families today no longer fitting the cookie-cutter,

Norman-Rockwell image of American life in the U.S., this means

brands must depict family diversity, and do so sensitively and

accurately.3

If the representation doesn’t feel real, the effort can backfire.

“Our audience can immediately sniff out anything that’s

false or doesn’t ring true, or feels too general or big.”

– Samie Kim Falvey, Executive Vice President, Comedy Development

and International Scripted Development, ABC Entertainment Group

“Authenticity is what consumers crave. If you aren’t authentic,

you run a risk of alienating people.”

– Manoj K. Raghunandanan, Senior Marketing Director,

Johnson & Johnson (U.S. Pain Franchise)

2 in 3 parents agree:

a brand that

realistically reflects parenting

today is an important factor in

their purchasing decisions

3 in 4 parents agree:

a brand that shares

my values is an important factor in

my purchasing decisions





3 True Stories of the Modern Family: How Brands & Media Navigate the New Normal,

BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series, in partnership with YouGov, March 2016.


Best Practices | 9

To ensure a brand is compassionately and genuinely reflecting

families today, marketers must do their research. This goes beyond

looking at the numbers—they should talk to people, learn what

sparks happiness, what ignites skepticism, and what triggers

feelings of discrimination. They should know the nuance.

“Marketers need to put away the political correctness that we all

know exists and have honest conversations to ensure that you

aren’t doing something that’s actually wrong or disingenuous.”

– Gary Osifchin, Vice President, Global Brands, Biscuits Category,


“It’s impossible to be authentic if you don’t have the diversity behind

you, if you don’t have people vouching for a story or a character or

an idea. Because then how can you know you’re being authentic?

…There’s [a risk of] too much self-censoring.”

– Samie Kim Falvey, Executive Vice President, Comedy Development

and International Scripted Development, ABC Entertainment Group

When real parents in diverse family types are asked for their

opinions, unexpected truths can be revealed that are important

for the marketer to understand. SEE FIGURE 4

Sparking these candid conversations, especially with those who

may see families similar to their own in the work, is essential to

producing advertising that’s authentic and well received.

No. 2

Do Your Research: Go to the Source

Exploring the single mother experience

Gail, who adopted her son as a

single woman in her 40s, regularly

sees negative stereotypes of single

parents. “You can’t find a [children’s]

book in a library about a happy

family with one parent.”

60% of single parents say

the growing variety

of family types is a good thing

27% say it doesn’t make

a difference

13% say it’s a

bad thing



BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series



Best Practices | 10

For Honey Maid “This Is Wholesome,” real families depicted real love.

“With real people, there’s a sense of

relate-ability, whether you agree with

that type of family structure or not. Wow!

There’s a family dynamic there that’s real.

There’s a love and the bond that’s there,

and there’s a human connection that you

have because these are real families.”

– Gary Osifchin, Vice President, Global Brands,

Biscuits Category, Mondelēz International

Casting Call: The “Real People, Not Actors” Trend

One technique marketers are using to

depict families authentically is to cast real

people in their advertising.

Moms appreciate seeing real moms.

Brands who have done it say it’s all part of

crafting a powerful and resonant message.

SEE FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5 BabyCenter 21st Century Mom®

Insight Series: 2015 State of Modern Motherhood

Report, co-sponsored by IAB, February 2015.

Janice, a mom from Chicago, says,

“I like to see real people, not actors. I

don’t want them all to be perfect and

pretty and inside the box. It’s nice to

see real people up there.”

52% of moms agree they

pay more attention

to ads featuring an image of a real

mom (e.g., not actors or models).

This number is even higher among

Millennial moms (57%).


Best Practices | 11

For Always “#LikeAGirl,” real girls generated real drama.

“With ‘Like A Girl,’ for example…to use real

people, to bring them in and to ask the

questions and to challenge them in the

moment, created an interesting tension of

realization that we felt was important to tell

that story, and to have it feel authentic. It

was really coming from real people’s expe-

riences and to have them go through that

process on film. So it was incredibly im-

portant to the creative payoff in that case.”

– A.J. Hassan, Vice President and

Creative Director, Leo Burnett

For Wells Fargo “Learning Sign Language,” real people upped the authenticity.

The Wells Fargo commercial “Learning Sign

Language” used a real same-sex couple

and featured a girl who is deaf. “Whenever

you can be more authentic, it comes

through. People can sense that; they can

feel that. So we absolutely try wherever

we can to cast real people. It’s not always

possible, but when we do casting, we

ask ourselves: How can we do this in a

way that is the most authentic possible?”

– Jamie Moldafsky, Chief Marketing Officer,

Wells Fargo

Casting Call: The “Real People, Not Actors” Trend

Continued


Best Practices | 12

A brand isn’t what someone tells you. It’s what a friend tells a

friend. Brands that frequently change course, contradict past

messages, jump on and off trends, and chase causes célèbres

end up compromising the trust of their audiences. Marketers

must make the shift toward family diversity in a way that’s

consistent and natural to their brand. SEE FIGURE 6

Here’s how leaders of age-old brands describe their experiences

updating their brand image to better reflect family today.

Honey Maid “This Is Wholesome” maintained its focus on everlasting attributes of the brand and the product.

“Honey Maid over the decades had always been about families

and snack time. We were on a journey of reinvention for the

Honey Maid brand, which hadn’t been advertised to adults in over

a decade. Our ‘This Is Wholesome’ campaign was very much

rooted in who we are as a brand, and the line in our advertising

was: ‘No matter how things change, what makes us wholesome

never will.’ This spoke to our product, how our product is used,

the brand, the brand history, and to the changing family dynamic.”



Tylenol “#HowWeFamily” saw an opportunity to better reflect all of the families Tylenol serves.

“We are a brand that has been there for families for 60 years. While

our products serve all families, the feedback that we received

from consumers said that we didn’t always show outwardly that

we see all families. So there was an opportunity for us to be more

reflective of the true American family in all the work that we were

doing. When you are true and authentic to who your consumer

is, the business wins, and it’s the right thing to do for the brand.”

– Manoj K. Raghunandanan, Senior Marketing Director,

Johnson & Johnson (U.S. Pain Franchise)

No. 3

Stay True to Your Brand

“Everyone’s jumping on the rainbow

flag bandwagon…When someone

is newly coming out, you can tell

because they just plaster themselves

in rainbow flags. Anything and

everything they do is gay this, gay

that, lesbian this, lesbian that. Then it

comes to an equilibrium. They realize

that they don’t need to be wearing

rainbows all over themselves for the

rest of their lives. They can just put on

a sweater and go about their day.”

– Christine

“I’d be excited to see advertisers move

away from the rainbow flag. I still feel

like a lot of advertising that’s targeting

gay people is like, ‘Blam! You’re gay!’

Where it’s kind of like, we’re also just

really normal people who buy cat

food and whatever. Like I think that’s

really nice, but I think there’s also a

place for a back to school shopping

ad, and there’s two dads.”

– Hannah

Two lesbian moms respond to

rainbow flag advertising following

the Supreme Court decision to

legalize same-sex marriage

The risk of the rainbow flag bandwagon

FIGURE 6


Best Practices | 13

No. 4

Match Brand Actions to Communications

Thanks to the internet, parents have access to information like

never before—and they use this information to find parenting tips,

learn about child development, and carefully research products

for their family. If there’s a mismatch between a company’s actions

and a brand’s communication, they can find it, and this can trigger

distrust. When brands are inclusive and their marketing reflects the

diversity of families today, their internal activities must match

these values. SEE FIGURE 7

“The easiest way to alienate consumers is to feel like your job is

done just because you have diversity in your images. You need

to live it.”

– Michelle Lynn, Chief Insights Officer, Dentsu Aegis Network

Living the messaging extends through all communications to a company’s business moves, policies, and corporate responsibility programs.

“If a retailer is interested in reaching a minority group, and starts

using minority actors in its spots, but it’s closing down the stores in

the neighborhood where these minorities shop—there’s a differ-

ence between what you say and how you behave. That needs to

be aligned. Brands need to look at everything from their internal

HR policies to how they’re engaging with their communities on

the ground.”

– Nick Law, Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA

Authenticity comes not just from images, but also from action.

Marketers must ensure the company walks the walk of diversity,

inclusiveness, and acceptance before they talk the talk.





61% of parents agree: brands

tend to claim to support

causes that are popular regardless of

whether they are making an authentic

commitment to that cause


Best Practices | 14

Brands that aim to connect with today’s parents must resonate

with a more diverse group of people than ever before. The key to

connecting with all parents is highlighting qualities and experiences

that unite them, such as love, respect, kindness, and honor for

tradition, as well as challenges that many families face, without

compromising authenticity.

No. 5

Feature Universal Truths to Unite All

“Specificity [to a particular family’s

experience] makes something unique

and special and lends itself to authen-

ticity, but [you also need to look for] the

specificity that feels universally relatable

or has broader themes. We have a

show called Blackish. I’m Korean; I’m

not black. But I related to it immediately

because the fundamental question the

creator asks is, ‘Are we too color blind

and is that a good thing as a society?’”

– Samie Kim Falvey, Executive Vice President,

Comedy Development and International Scripted

Development, ABC Entertainment Group

Different creative for different audiences is not a solution.

“If I were to visit a small town in Illinois, I

might find zero diversity. But the next

town over, I’m going to find zero diversity

in a very different way. When there is a

unifying truth that applies to both audi-

ences, I’m not going to make two different

commercials. I have to find some way to

include both of them. Even if they’re not

integrated, I need to be integrated. It’s

representative of what’s happening in

the U.S. today, and at the same time, it’s

pushing forward acceptance of integration.”

– Jane Lacher, Executive Vice President,

Strategy, Zenith Media

True Stories of the Modern Family: How Brands & Media Navigate the New Normal,

BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series, in partnership with YouGov,

March 2016 in-home focus group.

“A powerful human truth is universal—connecting to and res-

onating with several disparate audiences simultaneously. This

can be achieved even if the scenario being depicted is not

their actual situation or their specific type of household. For

example, the way people deal with aging family members can

vary by culture. African-Americans typically do not put aging

family members in assisted living communities. But the theme

of caring for someone elderly and being taken care of by the

younger generation is a human truth that anyone can relate to.”

– Vida Cornelious, Executive Vice President and

Chief Creative Officer, Walton Isaacson


Best Practices | 15

No. 6

Inclusivity Should Drive Your Media Strategy

This is the age of precise audience targeting. Digital media has

brought marketers closer than ever to being able to reach the

right person at the right time with the right message. But narrowly

isolating a sliver of the family audience for a spot showcasing

diversity does not match the reality of what parents want to see or

the spirit of the message. For an ad that’s inclusive, the media plan

should be inclusive too. The ad should be shown to all.

“We’re not going to be shy. [We don’t] do something and only

talk to that couple or that affinity group. We actually want to

make the point of: ‘We include everybody, colors and races.’”

– Teresa Gonzalez Ruiz, Vice President, Global Brand Marketing, Fisher-Price

Narrow targeting risks excluding the parents who want to

see diversity. Almost all parents like to see diverse families in

advertising. SEE FIGURE 8

It also risks excluding parents who don’t fit the traditional mold.

“You could have a 45-year-old same-sex male couple, whose

search behavior, the products that they’re looking for, is more

similar to a 23-year-old woman. …[By defining life stages by

demographic] marketers may be missing a sizable number of

individuals that have a desired shopping behavior but who are

overlooked because they don’t match an age target or a

stereotype of what a family should look like.”

– Michelle Lynn, Chief Insights Officer, Dentsu Aegis Network





80% of parents agree: “I like

to see diverse types of

families in TV shows, movies, and in

advertising.”


Best Practices | 16

Social media also plays a major role in generating scale.

“The media that is most effective at scaling, organically at least,

is social media. If people find the ad interesting—no matter what

channel you’re using—it will find its way onto social. Either because

they’re outraged or because they like it … anything that’s going

to be effective has the opportunity of achieving network effects

in social media.”


This phenomenon is proven to be true with families. When

parents love a brand, they become brand advocates on social

media. SEE FIGURE 9

The “Love Has No Labels” campaign strategically used social for scale.

The Ad Council’s “Love Has No Labels” campaign was launched

on the Facebook page of Upworthy, a site that describes itself as

featuring “positive, genuine, meaningful stories.” It was a message

about family love seeded to an empathetic audience with the

intention of having fans of the ad organically push the video into

the mainstream.

“You have to start thinking about not just what you’re trying to say,

but what the audience wants to say, because the sort of things

that reach scale, like the ‘Love Has No Labels’ video, reach scale

because there’s an alignment between what the Ad Council

wants to say and what the audience wants to say.”






57% of parents agree:

“Once I find a brand

or product I love, I’ll tell my friends

about it on social media.”

50% of parents agree: “I

follow brands I am

loyal to on social media.”

Parents today are active word-of-mouth marketers


agree they would be

more likely to talk to their friends

about a product if the brand used

more diverse family types in their

advertising


Best Practices | 17

No. 7

Be Brave in the Face of Naysayers

True Stories of the Modern Family: How Brands &

Media Navigate the New Normal, BabyCenter 21st

Century Mom® Insights Series, in partnership with

YouGov, March 2016.

How different parents feel about the growing variety of family types

60% say it’s a good thing

27% say it doesn’t make a difference

13% say it’s a bad thing

Single parents




Parents in blended families—meaning including children from different relationships




Unmarried parents




Parents in interracial/ multicultural households

Parenting and family types can be heated topics. Brands that

address them are inherently taking a risk of angering those who

disagree with their position. But brands that consistently and

courageously stand for something are also rewarded with

passionate brand loyalists. Brands should not back down from

their depiction of diversity and inclusiveness because of vocal

critics. Marketers should stay strong to weather the storm. This

conviction, after all, is what attracts the loyalists—and they’re a

vocal group, too. SEE FIGURE 10

“If a brand doesn’t stand for what it is, for whom it’s speaking

to, and what it delivers to the consumer, then what is it? A

brand needs to do all those things, and therefore has to have

some people who don’t think it’s believable or relatable to them.

Polarization is something that you’re going to have if you’re

really, truly building great brands.”



“If you are clear about what you stand for, you’re going to resonate

with a lot of people. You’re probably going to turn off a small

group of people, too, and that’s OK. The opposite is aiming to

please everyone, and by doing so, you end up being bland.”

– Jamie Moldafsky, Chief Marketing Officer, Wells Fargo

FIGURE 10


Best Practices | 18

Buzz, good or bad, gets louder after an inclusive ad is shown.

In June 2015, Target celebrated Pride Month with a video honoring

LGBTQ milestones and love. Following its airing, BrandIndex Buzz

scores for Target—a measure tracking whether people have heard

anything positive or negative about the brand in the media or

through word of mouth—dramatically increased. SEE FIGURE 11

Buzz about Target increases dramatically amongst parents soon after LGBTQ ad airs.

“Whenever there’s a negative posting,

there are 20 more positive comments

to counteract whoever had the auda-

cious comment of ‘How dare you?’”

– Teresa Gonzalez Ruiz, Vice President,

Global Brand Marketing, Fisher-Price

To be prepared to stay the course, get stakeholder support.

“If you’re going to produce an ad that uses

an interracial couple at the breakfast table,

it’s safe to expect somebody’s going to

have an issue with it. It’s unfortunate, but

true. However, if a brand is brave enough

to create the ad, it should stay the course

and stand behind it. The decision will

probably come down to your CEO or your

board saying, ‘Yes, we stand behind this.’

So, do you shy away from it? I hope not.

Do you restrict where it’s shown? No.”

– Jane Lacher, Executive Vice President,


“You don’t want people to be blindsided

in your company when you’re running

brands, in general—but even more so

when you’re putting something out

into the world that may have different

responses from some people. You want

to ensure that folks are aligned. You never

want to put your brand in a position of

having to change course, and that takes

internal stakeholder management, as a

marketing leader, to ensure success.”

– Gary Osifchin, Vice President, Global Brands,

Biscuits Category, Mondelēz International

When naysayers crop up, don’t panic and don’t back down—give brand fans a chance to speak up too.

“Take a breath. Sometimes these things happen and disappear

in a day. The worst thing you can do is try to defend yourself.

…Mistakes come when the response from the brand is quick

and strident. That’s when it starts to feel a bit icky.”


FIGURE 11 YouGov BrandIndex, November 2015.


Gary Osifchin of Mondelēz International, the marketing lead for Honey Maid, reveals the thinking behind the video.

“Brands are becoming more and more

like living things, because consumers can

respond and interact with a brand in a way

that they never could before. Social and

digital has changed it, and it’s real time,

and it’s not calling an 800 number and

saying ‘I love it’ or ‘I hate it.’

Brands should be prepared for people

who love them and people who don’t,

and decide ahead of time how you’ll

manage that. But then, also recognize that

when you put things into the world today,

consumers are now adding and depositing

into your brand in a real-time way.

The Honey Maid campaign is a great

example of that. We chose to celebrate

the positive conversation that was going

on. Yes, we highlighted some of the

negative, because that was real, but we put

something into the world back to celebrate

the campaign and the overwhelming

positive response that we received.

It’s about the brand being prepared, but

then being open and willing to see how

consumers are reacting with it as well.”

Best Practices | 19

Close-Up on “Love”

Some of the leaders we spoke with

applauded Honey Maid’s “Love” response

to its naysayers.

The brand

created an online

video featuring

the responses

it received

to its “This Is

Wholesome”

campaign, and

reinforced its commitment to family

diversity in the process. It accomplished

this feat by videotaping the creation of

an art installation in which each negative

response was printed on paper, rolled up,

and placed together to form the word

“Love.” Then positive responses were

printed and placed surrounding it. The

result is a powerful vision of the good

sentiment outweighing the bad.

“Honey Maid’s idea of, ‘Hey, we’re going

to turn all this hate mail we got, literally,

into love,’ is a very smart way of saying,

‘We don’t expect everybody to agree, but

for those of you who do stand behind us,

we want to show that we will continue

doing this. We know it’s right.’ That’s

where the bravery of a brand comes in.”

– Teresa Gonzalez Ruiz, Vice President,

Global Brand Marketing, Fisher-Price


Conclusion | 20

Marketers are experts at changing behaviors. They have the power

to build tolerance by exposing mass audiences to new kinds of

families and by presenting diverse families as an everyday part of

life, not as an “other.” SEE FIGURE 12

Someday the idea of diversity itself, that there is an “other,” that

there are types of families that are not “normal” may be gone. The

minorities may become the majority. Millennials show greater

acceptance of family diversity than the generations before them.

The children of Millennials will become part of the mosaic of this

country and may not see anything but the mosaic. SEE FIGURE 13

Conclusion

The Important Role Brands Can Play in Promoting Tolerance

Gracie, a lesbian mom from San

Francisco, hopes her children can

see their type of family reflected by

the media.

“It’s important to see people that look

like you, that represent you and your

family. It’s important to see people of

different colors, different ethnicities,

different ages. I hope that by the time

my kids are cognizant enough to be

aware of what’s happening …that at

some point, they’d see an ad with two

moms—and that would be normal,

because that’s going to be normal

for them.”

Jane Lacher, Executive Vice President,


“Society can only benefit from more

images of diversity. We can break

down intolerance through familiarity,

and brands are in a very powerful

position to make this possible

through their advertising choices, by

saying, ‘Hey! This is what a modern

American family looks like.’”

FIGURE 13 True Stories of the Modern Family: How Brands & Media Navigate the New

Normal, BabyCenter 21st Century Mom® Insights Series, in partnership with YouGov,

March 2016.

Acceptance is mainstream

Brands can build loveFIGURE 12

Family diversity is already the reality of audiences today. Whether

or not a brand is on board and responsive to this shift, this is

happening. This report is intended to help brands navigate this

interesting, challenging, and inspiring era in the American family.

From all of us at BabyCenter and YouGov, we look forward to

helping you on this journey.

87% of parents

agree: society is

becoming more accepting of

different types of families

84% of parents

agree: as long as

there’s love and support, any

family structure can succeed


Featured Campaigns and Brands | 21

Ad Council “Love Has No Labels”

In February 2015, the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering public

service messages to the American public, launched “Love Has No Labels.” This campaign

encourages viewers to question their biases against diverse couples and families. The

central piece of the campaign is a video in which couples and families are shown via X ray

before revealing the surface-level differences that make them unique, such as a disability,

different races, or the same sex.

Creative agency: R/GA

Always “#LikeAGirl”

In June 2014, Always released its “#LikeAGirl” video and began its “epic battle to keep

confidence high during puberty and beyond,” as the brand describes on its website. The

video explores the insult “doing something like a girl.” It features kids and teens answering

the question “What does it mean to do something like a girl?” The answers include limply

throwing a ball and sloppily running. The same question is then asked to younger girls

who respond with strength and ferocity.

Creative agency: Leo Burnett

Fisher-Price “Proud Parenting LGBT Family Photo Gallery”In June 2015, Fisher-Price partnered with Proud Parenting, an online community for LGBT

parents, prospective parents, and their supporters, to present the “Proud Parenting LGBT

Family Photo Gallery.” The photos show LGBT parents and their families in an effort “to

increase the visibility of LGBT parents and to encourage interaction and support between

LGBT parents, their friends, and their allies,” the press release reads.

Featured Campaigns and Brands


Featured Campaigns and Brands | 22

Honey Maid “This Is Wholesome”

In March 2014, Honey Maid premiered “This Is Wholesome,” a campaign “focused on

sharing the stories of real, diverse American families, bringing to life the reality that while

families may look different today than they did yesterday, they all, like Honey Maid, remain

wholesome at the core,” the press release reads. The first commercial featured a montage

of diverse families sharing their love. The now multi-year campaign has iterations to

celebrate immigration, blended “remarried” families (#NotBroken), and a recent Valentine’s

Day video showcasing children with their families talking about being gay, transgender,

and adopted.

Creative agency: Droga5

Target “Take Pride”

In June 2015, Target celebrated Pride Month by releasing an 80-second commercial

honoring the development of pride in who you are, the fight for acceptance, and the

beauty of love. The spot was supported by the sale of rainbow-themed clothing and

accessories.

Tylenol “#HowWeFamily”

In June 2015, Tylenol launched “#HowWeFamily,” a program that “celebrates the love

shared by modern families and empowers them to proclaim their familial pride,” the

press release says. In addition to a national advertising campaign, the effort features a

video series showcasing real and diverse families across the country. Ten unique families

including a same-sex couple and an immigrant family from Nigeria were profiled. A

national survey about the beliefs of families today complemented the content.

Creative agency: JWT

Wells Fargo “Learning Sign Language”

In April 2015, Wells Fargo debuted a new campaign celebrating “why we work,” featuring

the commercial “Learning Sign Language.” The campaign is “an expression of the brand

positioning ‘Together we’ll go far,’” the press release says. In “Learning Sign Language” a

same-sex couple is learning sign language to be able to communicate with their newly

adopted daughter.

Creative agency: BBDO


About YouGov and About BabyCenter® LLC | 23

About YouGov

Founded in London in 2000, YouGov is considered the pioneer of online market research,

and now has offices throughout the UK, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa,

and Asia.

At the heart of the company is a global online community of some 3 million respondents

and thousands of political, cultural, and commercial organizations, engaged in a

continuous conversation about their beliefs, their behaviors, and their brands. Companies,

governments, and institutions use YouGov data to better understand the people that

sustain them.

About BabyCenter® LLC

BabyCenter is the world’s partner in parenting. The #1 pregnancy and parenting digital

destination, BabyCenter reaches more than 45 million parents a month from every corner

of the globe through its 11 owned and operated properties in 9 different languages.

In the United States, 8 in 10 new and expectant moms online use BabyCenter each

month. BabyCenter provides parents with trusted information, advice from peers, and

support that’s Remarkably Right® at every stage of their child’s development. Products

include websites, mobile apps, online communities, email series, social programs, print

publications, and public health initiatives. BabyCenter also leverages its industry-leading

audience engagement to provide unparalleled insights and innovative marketing solutions

to the world’s top brands, retailers, and institutions. BabyCenter is also committed to

improving maternal health globally, and, through its Mission Motherhood™ campaign,

works closely with nonprofits, NGOs, and governments to help make motherhood safer for

all women. BabyCenter LLC is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.

Visit BabyCenter on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn and follow @BabyCenter

and @MomInsights on Twitter.

Contact Us

For marketing solutions, contact [email protected]

For press inquiries, contact [email protected]

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