By R. Larsson, Advertising Week
The nature of UK households as we know it is changing, yet as Debbie Oates, Director of Customer Engagement, Experian Marketing Services UK&I, outlines, there’s help on hand to understand the new tectonic shifts in the make-up of the average UK household, so marketers can avoid being left behind.
Q: What are the major demographic shifts marketers need to know about?
Our Mosaic data shows two key UK trends with major implications for marketers. First, more families are living in multigenerational homes – parents, children and older relatives under one roof – driven by high housing, eldercare and childcare costs. Once a short-term fix, this is becoming a longer-term choice shaping household spending decisions. Secondly, a growing number of families are choosing to leave the bustle of the city behind and moving to more rural areas of the UK. However, rural no longer means remote, and households which might have been digitally confident in an urban environment are becoming digitally dependent on products and services to keep them connected.
Given that after the first marketing budget cut in four years, the latest Bellwether report now shows a bounceback in ad spend, it’s a shift worth paying attention to. Despite economic uncertainty, tax changes and low confidence in the market, the IPA noted a ‘resilience’ from companies expanding their marketing expenditure.
However as Paul Bainsfair, Director at the IPA points out, “the increase in spend is largely driven by tactical approaches”. With direct marketing one of the key growth areas, the industry needs to ensure it’s at least aiming to reach the right people, based on the most accurate and timely data. Our research shows that the significant changes in UK household make-up is one that marketers, especially in short-term tactical campaigns, need to consider.
These shifts demand a new approach to reaching households. For as their make-up changes, so does how they browse, shop and spend. With signal loss and persona-led marketing on the rise, marketers must go beyond broad personas to accurate, segmented profiles that reflect the real dynamics of modern family life.
Q: What insights do marketers need to know about the growing multigenerational home?
Experian’s Mosaic data and insights reveals the growth of three main multigenerational household types: ‘Close Kin’ (urban families near schools, shops and jobs), ‘Family Collectives’ (in older properties in established city areas) and ‘Rural Kinship’ families (larger homes, often housing generations of the same family). All show more collaborative decision-making, with daily routines, shopping and media use closely intertwined. A mature persona-led marketing approach must reflect these overlapping needs, desires and behaviours in today’s multigenerational, digitally-mature households.
Q: How should marketers approach those choosing to leave the city?
Flexible working has enabled moves beyond traditional commuter hotspots, with ‘High-Flying Metropolitans’ and ‘Successful City Families’ leading the exodus from major cities – accounting for 21% of all households moving out of London in the past five years. Far from entering a digital wilderness, these families are digitally dependent, with the four groups most likely to use online grocery and delivery services all based outside the city. For this cohort, marketers should look to execute the same kinds of cross-channel, integrated campaigns they would for urban dwellers, with a mix of both online and offline media.
Q: What does this mean for media planners and marketing teams?
Recent trends show the need for more adaptive media planning and messaging, evolving personas into household-based segmentation. Many households now have overlapping media use, and shifting buying power – factors traditional targeting can easily overlook.
As the Bellwether report shows, spending is on the rise, but without demographic, behavioural and transactional insights, the industry may miss the mark. Audiences are shifting in unpredictable ways, and age or affluence alone won’t reveal what content to serve. Flexibility and continual evolution are essential, with a focus on the interconnected modern UK home.
