The 'family' connection.

I am returning from a well-earned vacation on Cape Cod.

It was a wonderful time with some good friends, where we spent most of the time cooking, eating, and socializing. I am not typically a family-oriented person. My biological family is all in England, and although we stay connected over the phone, we only see each other once every two or three years.

Despite this distanced familial scenario, my 'essentialism' is that of someone who lives for friends and family. (NB: that of the “Nurturing Nester” segment from our research) . Our outlook is centered on family and relationships, doing all we can to create moments and experiences for those near and dear to us. The 'family' in question was not biological, but better than that, they were my 'chosen family'. As a result, most of my time on Cape Cod, was dominated by the what might be described as intimate ‘familial rituals' —?the massively complex jigsaw puzzle, the shared responsibilities of cooking and cleaning, the camaraderie of group immersion in the frigid Atlantic ocean. Like the "Nurturing Nesters" we spent our time creating new memories together, but many of these activities were not totally new and had nostalgic origins.

The infectiousness of nostalgia

What was interesting to me was how infectious nostalgia can be. What started as a fond recollection, memory or habit quickly became a reinforcing and strengthening bond of connection for everyone in the group —? one group member’s tradition of having ice cream at any time of day became the group’s permission to indulge in ice cream at any time. The love of one person’s vegan Indian recipe became the group’s love of vegan Indian food. The impossible jigsaw challenge started by one of us became the group’s challenge, with everyone contributing at least one missing piece at one time or another.

And it wasn’t just the good times that we bonded over. Almost as soon as we arrived on vacation, my husband got that dreaded call that his Mom had been admitted to the hospital. (She ultimately spent several days there and is thankfully recovering well). The reason I mention this is that, like the jigsaw challenge, this became the concern of everyone present. One person's challenge became an opportunity to share their experience of getting the right medical help, getting appropriate elder care, dealing with health insurance, finding short-term options and planning for long-term care. Honestly, the amount of experience from just the ten of us around the table (admittedly all adults of a certain age) was astounding.

The esteem of trusted recommendation

One of our ‘extended family’ had recently dealt with finding in-home care for their parent and shared their experience of Care.com as a valuable resource. How powerful was this? In that moment, several generations became aware of a relatively unknown brand. The whole group immediately trusted and believed. There was also an outpouring of appreciation for a brand that only one of us had ever used — probably because the need within the group was high and the recommendation came from a trusted source. This unexpected exuberance for an unknown brand was something I'd seen before. When we re-branded JetBlue in the early 2000's, I went to a number of focus groups around the country and observed that even in the locations where JetBlue did not yet fly, there was a room full of people who claimed that Jetblue was their favorite airline. JetBlue was a new entrant into an ailing airline industry and had made waves by offering surprising levels of hospitality at low prices. Even those who had not yet flown the airline knew from friends and family that the experience was unlike any other airline but more importantly it signalled a future possibility that they wanted get behind and be a part of. The strategy that came out of this observation was one of 'amplification' — no need to manufacture a difference, it already existed. The goal of the marketing campaign was simply to amplify this aspirational difference. See the resulting work here.

Family connections: a fast track to future relationships

This is when it struck me, the real opportunity for the ‘Nurturing Nesters’ segment in our study is not only the obvious multi-generational vacations to Disney, a cruise, or financial planning services for wealth transfer. The wider opportunity is for brands to insert themselves into the familial experiences, nostalgia and rituals. To create moments for one family member to invite other ‘family’ members (and future customers) to share in the joy they have for a product, service, or experience. What in marketing terms might be described as “activating brand evangelists” is, in fact, no more than having one ‘family’ member initiate moments of connection and meaning with other family members. With so much of our digital marketing infrastructure focused on targeting individuals, we are missing out on the potential to reach younger generations through the relationships they have with their older family members. Family bonds and family traditions, however you define 'family', have an amazing potential to provide a 'fast track' to deep and meaningful, familial brand relationships.

Other vacation reading:??

Creative luminary Sir John Hegarty adding his voice to the chorus against generational cohorts:?

Ace strategist Martin Weigel highlights the prevalence of fatalism and resignation that often holds people back as they age. ?

Finally, one of my favorite photographers/strategists Steve Walls shared a photo he’d taken of people at a street festival.? We are not who you think we are!

Age spurts:? Interesting research on aging ? Our research shows distinct differences in chronological age and the age you feel.

Behavioral Psychologist Dan Ariely adding to the argument for psychological age over chronological age.

Remsen product design for older adults: Care is design. Care is service. Care is in the details.