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A young girl holds her hands out wide whilst receiving a piggy back from her father during a walk through the park on a sunny day
Photo: evgenyatamanenko / iStock (posed by models)
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Tuesday 31st January 2023

We need to see more single parents

For many brands, families are central to their storytelling but which families are they including or excluding in their comms?

Single parents account for three million families in the UK (ONS 2021) - that’s over 15% of families. Yet Marketing Week report showed only 0.29% of adverts featured single parents. The same report found only 19% of adverts featured minority groups. 

That’s one hell of a gap to close and its alienating citizens; Research by Saatchi & Saatchi and Mumsnet found only 19% of single parents felt they were represented in advertising.

So who’s doing it right, and who can improve?

Center Parcs missed an opportunity when it launched its “family refreshed” campaign. The slogan seems to fit the bill however, there’s nothing refreshing about their approach to inclusivity. Center Parcs could show a more diverse range of families; instead the advert makes the brand feel closed off to a lot of people.

Ikea, on the other hand, has managed to include single parents in a positive way. Showcasing what a juggle parenthood is with their depiction of a house full of teenagers and a single mum handling it all, Ikea’s “Where Life Happens” campaign didn’t exclude single parents because life happens to us all, not just two parents together.

While the advert was praised,  comments on social media still asked “Where’s the dad?”, showing that there is always an opportunity for more progress.

Going back 26 years in America, John Hancock Insurance successfully portrayed why it’s important to show the realities of single parenthood. Despite the age of the advert, a lot can be learned- it’s authentic, it’s realistic and it’s inclusive.

The most powerful way to include single parents ( or any underserved group) is to design products and services that meet their needs. Take ‘Family Tickets’ for experiences and events. This often means two adults and one or two children but it’s clear this is an unhelpful and outdated notion of a family unit. The National Trust, made a simple change with a big impact. As well as offering a family ticket for two adults, they also have an option available for one adult and children, meaning everyone feels included and discounts are fairly distributed. This becomes an opportunity for them to talk openly, and credibly, about single-parent families.

There’s a key opportunity to reflect the mirror back at society and to be a force for change.

How can we be more inclusive to single parents?

What we see on our screens and in ads should reflect society and by not including all citizens in your comms, you’re shutting them out and turning them off. 

What’s more there’s an opportunity to lift these underserved communities up and make a meaningful impact on how they feel. Which brands are openly addressing the struggles of a single parent at Christmas time? Which ads make the young mum, with a special needs child, who juggles two jobs feel seen? Can you tell the story of the single dad who is also dealing with grief in order to make him feel less alone? 

Here’s a reminder of how we’d recommend building inclusivity into your comms:

Products & services – if you’ve decided to talk to and about an underserved group, ensure your products and services are designed to meet their needs. Even better, create something only for them - there’s no shame in then promoting this if you’re genuinely designing for progress

Visual storytelling & representation – the simplest way to incorporate single parents, or any group is by fairly representing them in your comms. If you read our 2023 predictions, you’ll know that this is an area that is only going to grow.

Be authentic. Tap into your community and use real families in your comms, listen to their needs and represent their feelings authentically - using an agency that represents real families is a good place to start. 

Don’t feed the stereotypes, tell realistic but positive stories – don’t fall into the trap of portraying single mums as poor and uneducated. Single parents are thriving with wrap-around jobs, studying for further education or homeschooling their children. Instead, show single parents in consciously authentic scenarios

We can’t represent all people at all times but the statistics show there’s a demand for single parents to see themselves represented in advertising and media and, as a brand, you’d be foolish not to take that on board.

Hollie-Anne Brooks is Head of Editorial at Catch Comms.

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