Advertising campaigns failing to represent modern Irish households, research finds

Brands must adapt to the structure of modern Irish households and the evolving concept of “family” to stay relevant to their customers, a research study by Dublin creative agency Folk Wunderman Thompson has found.

Only 38 per cent of people in Ireland feel advertisers are in touch with their family life and needs, while more than half believe brands should help normalise “non-traditional” family structures, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults contained in the agency’s Family Fallacy report.

Some 63 per cent of people say the portrayal of families in advertising is stereotypical, with 70 per cent of child-free families and 71 per cent of families headed by same-sex couples believing that this is the case.

The publication of the report, which WPP-owned Folk Wunderman Thompson has shared with its clients, coincides with the launch of a number of high-profile Christmas advertising campaigns.

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It concludes that brands are missing out on opportunities to resonate with consumers by maintaining a disproportionate focus on the “traditional” family of a mother, father and children.

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This family structure only accounts for 36 per cent of Irish households yet remains “the single most overrepresented and overcatered group when it comes to advertising, marketing, products and services”.

Eimear Fitzmaurice, head of planning for Folk Wunderman Thompson and a co-author of the report, said there was “a huge opportunity” for brands to catch up with the rise in blended and divorced families, single-parent families, same-sex families and child-free families.

Advertisers also need to update their messages to acknowledge “new living arrangements and realities”, including the rise in multigenerational households triggered by high rents and barriers to home ownership, the report notes.

“I do think there is greater scope to tell that story. The housing crisis has been here for a while, but it is only really now that we are dealing with the emotional impact of milestones being delayed,” said Ms Fitzmaurice.

One of the positive examples cited is Disney, which in 2021 began a trilogy of advertisements focusing on the experiences of a blended family as they prepare for the festive season.

Ms Fitzmaurice said brands were starting to realise that they must be aware of different family dynamics if they want to authentically connect with a wider group of households.

“Disney is a prime example of that. It is absolutely critical that they understand their customers and what they are feeling,” she said.

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Almost 80 per cent of people surveyed for the agency by Bounce Insights agree that you don’t have to have kids to be a family, 78 per cent agree that family is no longer defined just by blood or marriage and 68 per cent consider some of their close friends to be their family.

Ms Fitzmaurice said a rise in the number of people opting not to have children – despite a “very deeply embedded expectation” that they should want to do so – had “provoked a lot of interest” from clients, who were keen to better reflect their lives.

“It feels like the most untapped truth,” she said.

Folk Wunderman Thompson – which counts Lidl Ireland, Irish Life, Vodafone, Bord Gáis Energy and Brennans among its clients – has made a commitment to “showcasing the full spectrum of family structures” in its campaigns, she said.