Brands, mums and future generations!

You’ll often hear parents saying “kids never listen”, and with the total cost of raising a child at more than £222,000 I can see why that might be frustrating, however, kids may not be listening but they are watching!

According to research conducted by Shopitize, 75% of all consumers buy the same brands as their mothers. So with a significant 61% switch from branded to cheaper, own-label goods, it makes sense that supermarket chains are honing in on kids from a very young age. For example, Tesco launched its Tesco Loves Baby club and in 2013 Morrison’s Kiddicare also rolled out its first big marketing push by sponsoring ITV2 show Up All Night - all in aid of fostering favouritism in parents.

There is hope for brands yet but they need to be savvy about the way they attract mums, especially considering that the average age of a mum is 29, so new mums tend to be digital savvy, frequently using price comparison sites and seek out product reviews.

However, dropping price to compete with own label, something that we often do in the UK, isn’t always the right way to do things. Brian Walmsley, chief marketing officer at Bounty’s parent company, the Treehouse Group argues that retailers need to tread carefully when it comes to offering products on promotion, as opposed to maintaining price. Walmsley recently said “what mums are saying clearly is that they are interested in brands helping them in other ways”. What mums actually want is more useful information and tips, loyalty schemes and evidence that brands care about the whole family.

So it seems that if brands want future generations to purchase their products, own label or not, they’re going to need to think of ways to attract mums by adding value to the brand, after all value is a significant determinant of customer satisfaction. Mums want to feel that the brand cares about them not necessarily about their purse strings. Then, hopefully, 75% of consumers who buy the same products as their mums will grow!