A recent Heinz Deli Mayo commercial begins like any other family food advertisement. Two bright-eyed children run into the kitchen, calling to mum to make them sandwiches. As the advert continues, however, the person they're calling 'mum' is revealed as a burly New York-accented man. He makes them lunch and kisses his partner goodbye for the day. 

Families are changing, and brands are adapting their family-focused marketing in response. While once they could just show their products being enjoyed by a typical nuclear family, now they must make themselves attractive to single parents, multi-cultural families and other family types or risk ignoring increasing sections of their market.

“Families form in a variety of ways, and once established, remain dynamic in their ability to change,” says Lynn Potts, Vice President at Synovate in the US. “In addition to who is in the household, roles within the household also continue to adjust. Changes in family structure, paired with emerging roles within the household, mean it is critical that brands similarly adjust to remain relevant.” 

Traditional parental roles are evolving, adds Potts. Fathers are taking on additional responsibilities including preparing food, cleaning, grocery shopping and packing lunches. Recognising this shift, Yoplait recently ran two versions of an advert for lunchbox yoghurts, each aimed at a separate parent. One says “Mums Who Get It Get Go-Gurt”, the other “Dads Who Get It Get Go-Gurt”, with each showing that parent packing the kids’ lunches. 

"It’s great to see a commercial that represents the situation of modern families in which dads are doing more," comments Melanie Shreffler on youth marketing blog YPulse. "Many of today’s young dads are leading-edge Millennials (born late 70s and early 80s), and Millennial men are a new breed of consumers."

Another shift in the nature of families is the growing number of single parents. There has been a 9.5% increase, from 2.6 million single parent families to about 2.9 million single parent families in the UK in the last ten years. One brand whose marketing reflects this rise is British communications company BT, which updated the family in its adverts to focus on Jane, a single mother with teenage children.

"We wanted to connect with people as strongly as some of our great advertising campaigns of the past, but in a way that's relevant to today's modern relationships,” a BT representative says.

Jane is shown using BT’s products extensively as she negotiates the real-life trials of being a single mother – starting a new relationship and dealing with her ex-partner. By presenting a real-world figure in Jane, one who viewers could relate to themselves, BT forged a strong audience connection.

The number of gay families is also growing and many brands, such as Heinz, have made advertisements seeking to connect to this audience. In March, IKEA, a forerunner in gay marketing, ran an advert in Italy showing two men holding hands beneath the slogan "We are open to all families".

It’s a phenomenon that’s been building for a while now. Back in 2003, car company Volvo ran a similarly themed advert. It showed pictures of gay couples, including two men holding a baby, with the slogan: "Whether you’re starting a family, or creating one as you go". The advert was responding to gay focus groups’ complaints that when advertisers talked about families this did not include their type of family.

"For us, it was very natural to address gay families," says Thomas Andersson, executive vice president of Volvo Cars North America. "We're targeting people with modern family values."

But not everyone shares these values. Heinz's advert was pulled after receiving complaints, while Italian conservatives attacked IKEA's commercial. Brands engaging with new types of families run the risk of upsetting more traditional customers.

“Like with any change to a branded product - its quality, the packaging, the size or distribution – there is the risk of alienating the existing user base with changes in the advertising,” says Potts. 

Aiming adverts at unconventional families may not always work, but this is a risk some brands must take to ensure they keep a strong connection with their customers. They need to be ready to adapt their marketing so it remains relevant to their consumers’ everyday lives. As Lynn Potts says: “In the end, it's about brands being relevant to their audience - whoever their audience may be.” 

For more information, please contact Lynn Potts, Vice President at Synovate at lynn.potts@synovate.com.