Across many parts of the world, a demographic shift is currently taking place and appears to be here to stay – birth rates are declining and there are on average fewer children per household. But what does this shift in the typical size and makeup of our family units mean for brands?

With the number of children per family going down, each child has begun to represent a greater emotional, financial and symbolic investment for caregivers. For those who can, this often translates into shopping habits that lean into premium choices as proof of care – channelling responsibility, love and foresight into selecting the very best and most trusted of products.  Heightened anxiety and decision fatigue brought on by ever-increasing amounts of information and online discourse around how best to care for one’s child mean that brands must communicate reassurance and trust as well as protection and gentle care. Meanwhile, if increased emotional investment attached to each child, then parenting can become high-stakes in terms of expressing one’s identity and values – reflected in the way that decisions around a child’s food, health and development carry ever more emotional weight and cultural scrutiny.

Let’s take a look at three emergent brands in the UK and US that are navigating this changing cultural context and reality of child-rearing in a way that both supports consumers and sets the brands up for continued relevance and success.

Kit + Kin

Kit + Kin is Emma Bunton’s range of family-friendly products, which spans from skincare to home products to nappies. This celebrity endorsement – by a figure who likely reminds millennial parents of their own time growing up or coming of age – builds trust not through authority but through familiarity, which is then backed up by branding that signals safety. Pale neutral colours with negative space draw on associations with the medical/lab space to indicate heightened levels of care, but move away from connotations of unfriendly sterility through rounded, more humanistic fonts than would typically be found in that space, and touches of abstractly whimsical illustration.Looking at the “Mum & baby” skincare range, a tight collection of products connotes careful selection and suggests that these have been carefully formulated to be the best essentials they can – quality, not quantity. Drop-down info on key actives backs this up at product level, suggesting that they have been carefully chosen and reassuring consumers that they deserve their place in the curated formulation.

Little Spoon

US-based baby and child food brand Little Spoon builds trust and credibility through thorough, foregrounded information on the standards it upholds (e.g. organic) and special emphasis on ‘nasties’ not contained in their products. It uses language of self-enforced strict guidelines that have been taken up voluntarily to position the brand as caring about your child’s health as much as you do, shown by going the extra mile.

This is paired with a visual style that uses bright tertiary colours and dynamic but fluidly sophisticated illustration, and language (“kiddo”, “big kid”) that appeal to a millennial caregiver demographic – overall, positioning the brand as a knowledgeable, trustworthy expert peer who understands you and your needs and is there to help. It communicates authority, but not in a way that is hierarchical or talking down.

Peachies nappies


This brand uses codes of technical performance (e.g. a technical-model-like 360 spinning nappy with features highlighted, references to science, and “performance highlights”) to signal trust. These cues suggest that careful thought and expertise have been put into the design, so that consumers can have confidence that functionality and safety are both operating at maximum efficiency.

A robust checklist of what is not included, and explanations of why  features are desirable (not just what they are) provides reassurance at a glance that the product fits stringent needs, and adds credibility through explanation. It’s not just claiming trustworthiness but demonstrating how and why it should be trusted.

Peachies also combines these more technical details with lifestyle cues – photography moves away from the idealised but unreal seeming babies dominant in this category, and towards more on-trend, candid-style shots that bring in caregivers’ personalities. This codes a product that fits joyfully into consumer’s real lives. By building in references to environmental credentials, which are likely front of many millennial and Gen Z parents’ minds, the overall positioning is of a brand that sees you and your needs, and can be trusted to provide the best possible product to meet them.

3 Key Takeaways for Brands

  1. Premiumness in this category comes not from a desire for luxury or indulgence, but a need to be the best caregiver you can. Therefore, trust, reliability and health are key cues, alongside aesthetics that speak to desirability but in a down-to-earth and not overtly flashy way.

  2. To best resonate with modern parents, meet their need for trust without leaning on overbearing authority. While trust is ever more important, it needs to be communicated in a way that is up to date and culturally relevant. It also needs to be demonstrated, not just claimed – why should parents trust your brand?

  3. Lifestyle appeal and ethical credentials are key – with parenting choices an increasing reflection on one’s personality and values, consumers want to see themselves as well as their children’s needs reflected in the products they choose.

Sophia Lucena Phillips, Project Director

Who Cares Wins: How demographic & cultural change can be an opportunity for brands