APPEALING ACROSS GENERATIONS: LEGACY AND MORE

By Kunal Sinha

Generations of marketers and brand builders have been taught and trained to identify, characterize and then target the individual consumer. This has been amplified in the age of personalization, where the interests and behaviours of the individual determine where ads should be placed, and which personal motivation must be leveraged.

On the contrary, most Asian societies are collective, as is decision-making.

According to the Fifth Malaysian Population and Family Survey by the National Population and Family Development Board Malaysia (NPFDB), 70 per cent of elderly Malaysians currently stay with their children or extended family members, like nephews, nieces and cousins.

8 in 10 of elderly parents receive financial assistance from their children, showing how much filial piety is part and parcel of Malaysian culture. Besides that, 48 percent of children pay their parents’ bills, while 67 percent help to buy food and other household goods.

One-third of Chinese couples live with their parents. In India, the multigenerational, patriarchal, patrilocal household is the prevalent form of family, and about 312 million people live in such an arrangement. Indonesia is the only country where the preferred living arrangement of most older Indonesians is not co-residence with children.

Here, the elders’ preference is to have a reliable child close by, together with positive relations with all children wherever they may be.

Research across several Asian markets suggests that urban life does not promise simplification of households through nuclearization as modernization theory may suggest.

Instead, in most urban areas, housing affordability and unavailability encourages co-residence. The new dynamic that emerged as social changes sweeps across Asia is that living arrangement can be shaped by the desires and needs of both the older and the younger generation as opposed to be the result of solely filial obligations.

The percentage of the elderly living with children remains stable while, contrary to modernization theories, the percentage of adult children co-residing with at least one parent in fact increased.

How does multigenerational co-living impact consumer decision making?

Seniors are treasure troves of lifestyle practices, many of which are being resurrected by brands. They are taking on the role of influencers in family decisions that revolve around care.

At a time when health and wellness concerns have taken centre stage, reviving enduring health practices such as consuming dietary health supplements has become critical.

The grandmother featured in a campaign for Seacod Cod Liver Oil refreshes the memories of her daughter, as it showcases cod liver oil is one of nature’s most potent nutrients, high in healthy fats, vitamins, and antioxidants.

The campaign highlights the significant role that Seacod has played in the lives of several generations – the emotional connection between Seacod and its multigenerational consumers demonstrates the product’s effectiveness and enduring legacy.

Legacy plays a key role in HSBC Malaysia’s recent ad film celebrating 140 years of the financial institution. Every line in the script builds towards the point about legacy, using one family’s history as the anchor to make a larger point about HSBC (which is always in the background), starting with a father, his son, and then the son’s daughter, and her kids.

Omkar Realtors, a large developer in Mumbai, opted to speak to a generation older than those in their 30s and 40s when advertising its 5-bhk apartments in the Alta Monte highrise in the western suburbs. The company’s promoters said, “We were clear that we would be speaking to the older generation.

The large flats meet the need gap of large families. It is the generation of 50 year-plus who now feel the pinch of being separated from kids and hence, is the audience. We had to make an emotional appeal and not a rational one.”

Bringing generations together

For skincare brand Nivea, trust and care have been their core values in their 111 year-long journey of providing trusted skincare. The brand’s purpose of ‘care beyond skin’ combined with its relevant product offerings have helped it retain the trust of multiple generations.

The #TrustMyNIVEAFam Reel Challenge was a unique cross-generational initiative to celebrate a brand that has stood the test of time.

Striking a connection across generations just like the brand, the challenge got everyone from grandparents, parents, and millennials as well as Gen-Z’s of today glued to the trend.

Here’s an example of the kind of entries the challenge received:

 

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A post shared by HHarjinder Kaur (@tasty___tales)

3 of the most unique family entries got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet-n-greet Nivea’s brand ambassador and Bollywood Superstar, Ranveer Singh in Mumbai at a celebratory finale event.

Zoog, a children’s video creation platform, was designed to facilitate better online family bonding, offering users an interactive alternative to popular video-call apps.

The platform works by utilizing augmented reality technology to transform children’s book’s into personalized videos. Zoog empowers grandparents to become content creators through interactive video storytelling, fostering intergenerational connections and disrupting traditional video chat apps.

The technology aims to connect family members across generational and technological gaps. In particular, the app is targeted towards baby boomers, allowing them to create AR-powered videos that place them within the stories they are reading to their grandchildren via animated masks and environments.

Certainly, in comparison to the video chat, Zoog offers families a far more exciting medium for fostering connection. What makes it really stand out, however, is its incredibly focused purpose. The platform was designed specifically with boomers in mind, catering to their specific needs and wants in an effort to bridge gaps between them and their tech-savvy grandchildren.

In Indonesia, the telco category had targeted most GenZ, competing for their attention in the same audience territory, lifestyle, and passion points. The challenge for the brand was to resonate with progressive Indonesian families, heightening their interest as the XL brand was relaunched, and to grow the number of subscribers.

The progressive Indonesian family embodied warmth, progression and a tight-knit connection with each other. The ‘We Are More’ campaign showed that when people came together, they don’t just become one, they become more. It highlighted the protagonist’s life journey and showed how XL created bonds between the members of a multigenerational family, and enabled a better life.

The ‘We Are More’ campaign moved and inspired Indonesian families. XL gained 107.257.603 viewers and 51.022.034 impressions on YouTube within three weeks. Brand awareness for XL Axiata increased by 66 percent as a result of the campaign. There was a 14 percent increase in the number of people who considered it to be ‘a brand for me and my family’ and a 12 percent increase in the sentiment ‘a brand my family can depend upon’.

In collectivist societies like most Asian markets, many successful brands grow by appealing to the family and the community, rather than the individual.

Come together in an exercise in shared learning, at Kunal Sinha’s workshop The Codes of Asian Branding on November 6&7 at Eastin Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Kunal Sinha is Chief Knowledge Officer at Ampersand Advisory, Kuala Lumpur. He has built brands across China, India and Indonesia, is the author of six books on creativity, consumers and marketing, and has spoken at the world’s top business schools, including Harvard, Cambridge, London Business School, University of New South Wales and CEIBS.