The Era of Uber Convenience

Need your dry cleaning picked up? Your house cleaned? Your ceiling fan hung? Your car washed on location? How about a box of diapers? Lunch? An onion or a banana? There’s an outsourcing app for that.

The rise of outsourcing apps and services that make the consumer’s life easier is at an all-time high. Some may call use of these services gratuitous or lazy, but if you ask Millennial adults, they’ll say it’s smart. For them, technology has provided an invaluable opportunity to maximize their efficiency. 

The Atlantic writer Derek Thompson coined the term convenience maximalism, which describes the Millennial mindset of always seeking to do more with less, even at a premium cost. Millennials get a thrill from answering questions like: “How can I squeeze more into less time? How can I get more done using less energy?” So Millennials figure out strategies for getting all the things done on their very long to-do lists – and often times, those strategies involve modern day conveniences that come at a price. For Millennials, productivity is a generational value, and convenience is the ultimate commodity.

And for Millennial parents, this idea takes on heightened meaning. Days have gotten busier and busier for families, many with two working adults at the helm, tightly scheduled kids who participate in a lot of activities, and whose experience-driven leisure time is spent constantly on the go. Not only are today’s families busy, but Millennial parents have put an even greater priority on spending quality time with their kids, leading them to figure out ways to decrease time spent on things they have to do (like running errands, cooking, and cleaning) for things they want to do (like spending more time together as a family). 

Today, brands are being rewarded when they offer parents a way to shoulder some of the logistical burden, freeing them up to spend time enjoying their families.

Instagram vs. Reality

For today’s parents, the dichotomy that exists between a curated family life and a real family life on social media is a by-product of a larger phenomenon happening among today’s parents, defined by the ideals of a highly aspirational lifestyle, the conflicting realities of daily life, and the huge gap between the two. 

The Millennial generation, many of whom are parents, have set a very high bar when it comes to their value system. They are more health conscious, more eco-conscious and more globally conscious than any other adult generation. Why? Because they’ve had more access to information than any generation prior, which in turn, has shaped their world view.

As a result, Millennial parents:

•  Don’t stop at cutting out highly processed foods; they strive to eat whole and organic foods.

• Aren’t satisfied with only recycling; they aspire to reduce or eliminate their use of plastics.

• Aren’t stopping at taking their kids to the beach; they want their kids to see the world. 

• Would rather spend time with their kids at events, in organized activities, and on special days out than being at home.

Millennials’ high bar for living their “best life” has created a hard-to-meet standard, perpetuated on social media – a place for showing off best-life moments and staying quiet when life is less than ideal or extraordinary.

In reality, ordinary life looks like this:

•  Eco-conscious Millennials are also convenience-driven consumers, using services and accepting deliveries from companies that rely on eco-unfriendly practices.

•  Millennial parents are even busier than parents before them, and they eat out with their families multiple times a week and consume convenience-driven foods now more than ever.

• Kids of Millennial parents are still spending hours a day on screens. 

What remains is a cohort of parents who are struggling to reconcile how their real lives measure up against the ideals they strive toward.

The pressure to be perfect and the fear of being judged has always weighed on parents, no matter what day and age. But for today’s parents, the pressure has been amplified, and social media creates an environment for the pressure and feelings of inadequacy to breed. What does this mean for brands? To connect with parents, brands should tap into their aspirational desires while giving them the freedom to fall short.

From Ho Ho Ho to No No No!

Photo by MyrKu/iStock / Getty Images

Oh no! That gang of grinches who always secretly hated toys are getting their way: The No Toy Christmas!

First it was the no gift birthday party! Now it’s the No Toy Christmas!

What’s going on?

Well to hear these No Toy Christmas advocates talk about it, the No Toy Christmas has everything to do with the idea that kids have a gazillion too many toys as it is. Toys are everywhere, cluttering every room in ever-shrinking living spaces. They are (mostly) cheaply made and break easily. They get played with once and are quickly forgotten about. Some are sitting in closets having never even been opened. Kids don’t take care of their toys. Parts and pieces mysteriously go missing. Toys are too expensive. They’re hard to get out of their packaging. They require assembly. They make parents participate in play! Oh no!

Thankfully, it looks like the No Toy Christmas crowd is still relatively small—but it is true that parents, especially Millennials, want fewer toys and more activity or experience gifts—like museum passes, tickets to the movies, bowling outings, magazine subscriptions, or trumpet lessons.

Millennial parents reflect the Millennial generation’s overall propensity to value experiences over things. The National Retail Federation found that while about a third of consumers have given an experience gift in the past year, that number rises among Millennials to nearly half. And among this generational cohort, nearly 75 percent are giving more experience gifts now than a year ago.

Also gaining traction is the 4-gift Christmas rule: something kids want, something kids need, some place for kids to go, and something for them to read.

Whatever Christmas is like in your house for your kids, the thing we hear that matters most to kids themselves is having less stressed out parents.

Happy holidays from MLN Research!

When It’s Better to Take Your Time

If you’re in marketing, you are no stranger to the question, “How can we get this done faster?” The need for speed in bringing a product or service to market trickles down to every part of the marketing development pipeline, including market research.

In response to how to arrive at insights faster, researchers have considered all sorts of strategies to compress research timelines: shorter recruiting windows, less stringent recruiting parameters, more consolidated methodologies, collaborative workshopping, and new types of reporting deliverables.

Agile research is generally good: it’s nimble and adaptive; it prevents overthinking and over-immersion into the weeds of data; it capitalizes on the recency of consumer response; and it inspires creative strategies based on the momentum coming out of research.

But, there are times when faster isn’t better. To recognize when it’s best to implement quick-turn research, it is important to know the converse: when it’s better to take your time.

Here are five situations for which to consider longitudinal research – that is, research which is conducted with the same participants over an extended period of time:

1. Understanding brand relationships: While a lot can be gleaned from a discussion with a consumer about one’s relationship with a product or brand, many more insights can be uncovered by studying how the consumer interacts with a product or brand over time.

2. Understanding behavior: Similarly, an interview about a consumer’s behavior can be revealing, but to examine how that behavior is impacted over time will reveal a more holistic, contextualized and nuanced view on why one behaves in a particular way.

3. Identifying patterns and trends: by their nature, patterns and trends are defined by their presence over time, and thus, should be studied over the long term.

4. Testing engagement or longevity: to understand how long, and to what extent, a consumer is going to engage with a product or service, it is most effective to observe consumer behavior in real time. Consumers are unreliable at predicting future behavior, so to ask them to project about the frequency and depth in which they will engage with a product or service is a recipe for potentially misguided conclusions.

5. Measuring change: while it’s possible to test whether a stimulus changes attitudes upon immediate exposure, that stimulus has usually been presented in an artificial context. To measure true attitudinal (and especially behavioral) change, respondents should be studied over a period of time.

Traditional definitions of longitudinal research suggest that these studies should be conducted over a period of many months or years. While this can be true in some cases, often, longitudinal research participants are most simply defined as consumers who are studied on an ongoing basis (timing TBD), not just in isolation at one particular moment in time.

Fast or slow, research design should be primarily and absolutely based on what you’re trying to learn. Start with your research objectives, and let them – not the timeline – shape your research plan.

Millennial Dads Are More Involved, but Moms Are Still the C.E.O.s

Dads all over the U.S. are spending more time at home and stepping up in ways their dads and grandfathers never did. 

In a study that examined the changing dynamics occurring among Millennial Dads in the U.S., Pew Research¹ found that dads have tripled the amount of time they spend caring for their kids and doubled the amount of time they spend on housework, compared to 50 years ago.

And marketers are on board. Marketing to dad has become increasingly common – for good reason. It is clear that dads shouldn’t be ignored because they are playing an increasingly active role in the lives of their kids. 

However, when it comes to identifying who makes household purchase decisions, continue to look no further than moms.

After spending hundreds of hours conducting qualitative research with kids, moms and dads, one fact remains abundantly clear to us at MLN Research:

• Generally, moms still orchestrates their kids’ lives, make most of the purchase and scheduling decisions for kids, and do the majority of the household shopping.

Quantitative studies agree. It has long been reported that women drive three-quarters of all household purchases. Pew Research also uncovered that moms still have much more day-to-day involvement with the house and children than dads – moms spend 80% more time on housework and 75% more time on child care.1

So while dads are involved now more than ever, think of moms as the strategists and lead executors, and dads as the ones who execute alongside them.

This means that when kid and family brands look at how to spend their marketing dollars, it’s on rare occasion that priority should go to targeting dads over moms.

¹ Pew Research Center 2016 Survey Analysis: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/fathers-day-facts/  

New Year, New Trends: Media Trend Watch 2020

As a new calendar year is on the horizon, we’re looking forward to what the upcoming months have in store for kids and families. Here are four media trends we’re keeping our eye on:

How Disney is going to shake up the world of streaming services: Disney+ just launched this month, and with their takeover of Hulu announced this past spring, the conglomerate is set to redefine the landscape of streaming services. In fact, on launch day, 10 million subscribers signed up for Disney+, indicating the strength of Disney as a streaming player. (Note: Subscribers got a one-week free trial, so it is unknown at this point how many will continue their subscription.)  And in its deal with Hulu, Disney’s backing will give Hulu access to its financial resources, international reach and marketing playbook – indicating that Hulu could be a streaming powerhouse in the near future. Will Disney be the one to slow the seemingly unstoppable momentum of Netflix and Amazon?

The future of kids’ cable TV giants: Netflix exceeded cable usage for the first time in 2018, pulling in 12% more consumer subscribers than cable or satellite. Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network all saw a 20 percent drop in ratings in 2018, thanks to streaming services. Will these cable channels find a way to get back in front of kids, or will they become relics of the past? Spoiler alert: On the heels of the Disney+ launch, Netflix and Nickelodeon announced a partnership to produce original content drawing from new ideas and classic Nickelodeon properties. It looks like Nickelodeon is taking action.

The declining age creep of kids with phones: A 2016 study found that the average age for a child to receive their first smartphone was age 10, down from age 12 in 2012. Nearly four years later, if this trend kept pace, the average age could be nearing age 8. While 2020 data doesn’t yet exist, we’ve talked to many 8- and 9-year-old kids who say they have their own smartphones in our qualitative work with kids across the country. Will 2020 see that age go even younger?

Tighter regulation of YouTube on behalf of kids: With the prevalence of influencer marketing on YouTube, it can be hard for kids to spot sponsored content. Until recently, YouTube has largely avoided FTC regulations that have long-since targeted traditional TV advertising to children. But the FTC is beginning to crack down, and as more and more eyes shift to YouTube, we expect those regulations to become clear sooner than later.

Podcasts for Kids: The New Ear Candy?

The soaring popularity of podcasts is not new news but the strong uptick in podcasts aimed at kids may be a surprising development no one saw coming.

In an increasingly high tech world getting more mobile by the second, this compelling content platform seems to be gaining a lot of traction among kids and their parents. 

Consider how much sense podcasting to kids makes:

• Podcasts are a great solution for parents who want to reduce the amount of time kids spend gazing into screens.

• They’re easy to access on portable, smart devices; they can be downloaded or streamed.

• Podcasts are safer, and easier to control and supervise than You Tube videos or internet roaming.

• There are tons of opportunities across everyday life for kids to listen—by themselves, with parents and siblings, in the car.

• They’re a new way for kids to learn and to enhance auditory learning skills.

• They are a new platform for fun learning on the go.

• Podcasts require kids to listen, to think creatively, to conceptualize, to visualize words in their imaginations, to ask questions, and to participate in conversations about what they’ve heard.

• They're a great platform for storytelling—and what kid doesn’t love listening to a good story?

Already, kids are podcasting in school, creating their own podcasts with friends (with recording technology made easy), listening to mini podcasts on smart speakers while brushing their teeth, and tapping into podcasts apps. 

So how do brands make podcasting work for them? How can podcasts for kids be a new and compelling touchpoint for brands to build solid and long lasting relationships with tomorrow’s shoppers? 

Stay tuned!