Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about marketing to parents and families

Article • WARC Best Practice, September 2020

Looks at how brands are having to adopt more inclusive and nuanced approaches in order to adapt to changing demographics and modern family structures, including challenges to gender stereotyping and kids' influence in purchase decisions.

How to market effectively to parents and families

Article • Hanna Chalmers, WARC Best Practice, November 2016

This article explores the demographic, socioeconomic, technological and attitudinal shifts that are fundamentally changing the nature of parenthood.

Tang: Tang Gets It Done

Case Study • Maan Bernardino-Dominguez, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Powdered drink brand Tang employed a TV, radio and digital strategy to target relaxed parents in order to rebuild perceived value and protect its user base in the Philippines.

P/S: The Adventure With King Leo and Friends

Case Study • Sang Lam, Anish Appukuttan, Soumya Ranjan Panda, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Toothpaste brand P/S harnessed the power of AI to encourage kids to brush their teeth, increasing consumption and boosting growth in Vietnam.

How Target balances relevance and risk when creating ads

News • 08/09/2020

Target, the retailer, seeks to focus on relevance as much as avoiding risk in formulating messages that it believes can break through with its target audience.

Target’s in-house agency topples traditional marketing precepts to embrace wider audiences

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) In-House Agency Conference, August 2020

Target, the retailer, has built an in-house creative shop that is able to take a holistic approach to building its brand strategy.

Children’s influence on parental purchase decisions: Scale development and validation

Article • Vytautas Dikcius, Sigitas Urbonavicius, Vilmante Pakalniskiene, and Indre Pikturniene, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 63, No. 4, 2020, pp. 449-467

The article concentrates on the delineation between children's participation and children's influence in a family purchasing process.

Saudi Telecom Company: Forget Old Habits

Case Study • Dana Alkutoubi, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Telecoms operator STC took over salary week with a multichannel strategy to appeal to male household providers and boost downloads of its STC Pay digital wallet in Saudi Arabia.

McDonald's GCC: That’s it.

Case Study • Ahmad Abu Zannad, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Fast-food giant McDonald's used TV, OOH and digital display to build trust and improve brand metrics among customers in the GCC region.

Puck: Repurposed Meals

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Puck drove brand engagement and share to increase with a social content series during Ramadan across the Gulf countries.

Saudi Telecom Company: What are we allowing?

Case Study • Dana Alkutoubi, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Saudi telco STC's hard-hitting multi-channel approach showed parents the reality of online threats to their children while greatly increasing uptake of its child-safety app.

Nestlé: Nutrition Cart

Case Study • Mona Hassanie, Catherine Asseily, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

The Nestlé for Healthier Kids global initiative repurposed children's shopping carts in Carrefour supermarkets to deliver a healthy eating message in the United Arab Emirates.

WHSmith: Pop Up Books

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Josephine Younes, Nayaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Book retailer WHSmith drove sales and footfall through a gamification strategy in the United Arab Emirates.

Etisalat Misr: Hekaya – Family Talk.

Case Study • Dina El Dessouky, Yosr Khalifa, Mustafa Darwish, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Bronze, 2020

Egyptian telco Etisalat crafted a comic campaign to narrow the gap between itself and Vodafone and win customers over to its hybrid offer.

OMO: The 100 Stains Challenge

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Laundry detergent brand OMO harnessed the power of data-driven targeting to deliver its stain removal message to mums, increase consideration and boost usage in the Middle East.

OMO Sensitive: Tough on Stains. Gentle on Skin.

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Laundry detergent brand OMO Sensitive adopted a multi-channel approach in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to win share and boost take-up among new mothers.

Babyshop: The Gift of Mom

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Silver, 2020

Children's retailer Babyshop increased brand affinity through a multi-channel Mother's Day initiative centred around breast cancer in the United Arab Emirates.

Mastercard: Priceless Journeys

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

Payment card brand Mastercard gave a human face to the promotions game in Saudi Arabia and Egypt to boost awareness and usage.

Puck: Making meal-time fun time

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Bronze, 2020

Spreadable cheese brand Puck used an edutainment strategy to increase sales in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Santander: The Invisible Look