SHANGHAI, July 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In the midst of challenges and opportunities, China's maternal and infant consumer market continues to grow with the pace of the times. Although the number of newborns has decreased due to the contraction of fertility intentions, the government's childcare subsidy policy and the rapid development of the mobile Internet are still promoting the expansion of China's maternal and infant industry and the advancement of online.
Recently, Kantar and Big Engine jointly launched the "2024 Maternal and Child Industry White Paper", which explores the "three new" value of the Douyin platform in the maternal and infant consumer market based on "people-field-goods", namely new people, new fields, and new goods. The report shows that brands should meet the new needs of maternal and infant consumers with emotional marketing strategies and innovative products that are close to consumers' lives. Maternal and baby brands can join hands with Douyin to open up new growth space through one-stop solutions and pioneering communication content.
1. China's maternal and infant market development and consumer insightsUnder the pressure of economic development and transformation, China's consumer spending has maintained a relatively stable growth rate, and consumption resilience is still maintained. Thanks to fertility incentives, subsidies and the resilience of the general environment, although the total fertility rate in mainland China has dropped from 1.5-1.6 in 2010 to 1.3 in 2020, the size of the maternal and infant market has grown steadily amid challenges, and online migration has become more and more significant. Chinese maternal and infant consumers are more reliant on online channels when purchasing food, supplies and toiletries products, and they will get information and price comparisons on all aspects of brands and products online before making consumption decisions.
The development of China's maternal and infant market has benefited from the renewal of the concept of the younger generation of parenting groups, as well as the upgrading of their demand for maternal and infant products. The families of the post-90s and post-95s generations have entered a critical period of parenting, and this group of parents with new ideas and attitudes has become the mainstream consumer group of maternal and infant categories. Multiple births are more concentrated in lower-tier cities, and the proportion of families with babies is higher. The proportion of households with teenagers is higher in high-tier cities, and families tend to focus their resources on investing in an only child.
According to the report, childcare expenses are the main fixed expenditure items of households, and the consumption level is graded according to the different income and cost of living of consumers at each city level. Mom is still the help of raising and taking care of children, dad has become an indispensable auxiliary member, and the whole family has become the mainstream of raising children.
2. Exploration " Three new " value in the field of mother and childBased on "people-field-goods", the report deeply explores the "three new" value of the Douyin platform in the maternal and infant consumer market, namely new people, new fields, and new goods.
New crowds —— The Douyin platform covers seven characteristic parenting groups
Pregnancy Dreamers: Young pregnant mothers who still choose to have children in high-tier cities where low fertility tendencies prevail are looking forward to perfectionism in the new field of parenting. They expect to meet the challenges of parenting with the support and assistance of their family members. At the same time, they look forward to the children being able to get rid of the shackles, return to their true nature, and enjoy the process of growing up freely and happily.
Strive for high-quality mothers: there is only one child in the family, the only child of the baby lives in a loving family, the mother pursues the highest standards in nurturing and nurturing, and creates a quality and rich growth environment for the baby. At the same time, mothers value their all-round development, not only focusing on physical health, but also committed to cultivating their children's emotional management and social skills, which are indispensable and important qualities for their children's growth.
Pastoral mothers: Many mothers come from third- and fourth-tier cities and face the challenge of raising multiple children. Although the child is distracted by the number of family members, it creates a free and independent character. Therefore, mothers seek a balance between the number of children and the quality of individual training, and in the face of high childcare costs, they have to become savvy consumers, and strive to make the most reasonable choice within a limited budget through comparison, they are pragmatic people who pay attention to cost performance, and focus most of their energy and attention on the growth of the family and children.
Raising Babies Academy: Most of the academic mothers who have 2 babies in the family are committed to raising babies scientifically. They are keen to absorb all kinds of information from various information channels, actively learn parenting knowledge, have an academic idealistic vision for their children's future growth, and expect children to discover their interests and potentials in free exploration. They advocate an idealized parenting style that balances love and parenting, and expects children to maximize their interest and potential in such an environment.
Ultraman's Mother: This group of moms has children in elementary school, which is the beginning of their learning careers, full of curiosity and enthusiasm. The mothers of Jackie Chan not only actively sign up for a variety of interest classes for their children, but also strive to take their children to experience different activities and trips, so that their children's lives become full and colorful. Through active education, children are guided to overcome small challenges in learning and life, just like "fighting monsters" together, and growing and progressing together.
Enthusiastic cheongsam mother: There are children in the family who are facing the college entrance examination or middle school stage, and academic performance and academic performance have become the primary concern of the family. Children's daily life is occupied by all kinds of tutoring courses, although the rhythm and space of their lives are limited to a certain extent, but it is the mother, as the perfect logistics member, not only actively encourages the child, but also pays money to supplement the child's food and clothing supplies, and create a good learning and living environment for the child.
Elite baby dads: Some fathers, who are the mainstay of the family, have begun to join the main parenting group and become the strongest assistant for mothers, who uphold the education method of positive encouragement and are committed to cultivating the comprehensive and harmonious development of children's body and mind from an early age. This group of fathers has a high sense of education and a strong sense of family responsibility, and is willing to invest the necessary time and energy to create a healthy, harmonious and loving space for their children to grow up.
New field —— Douyin's four key fields run through the whole link of maternal and infant consumption Cognitive field: The study found that one-third of maternal and infant consumers spend 1-2 hours on Douyin every day, while 50% use Douyin for more than 2 hours; It can be seen that users have become a habit of swiping Douyin. Consumers can not only get rich maternal and infant content and product information in Douyin, but also discover practical and interesting parenting methods. Moreover, consumers' recognition of Douyin maternal and infant advertising, the positive image of good quality and good service, and the ability to effectively promote their purchase intentions are the main evaluations of Douyin maternal and infant advertising.
Grass farming: Compared with mainstream e-commerce platforms and short-video/integrated video platforms, 86% to 87% of consumers in each maternal and infant category regard Douyin as the best choice for planting grass, and they believe that brand content on Douyin is more authentic, more interesting, and more able to show the whole picture of the product. For example, with their professional knowledge, mother and baby KOLs have provided detailed analysis and hands-on experience sharing for mothers and fathers, including product demonstrations, usage methods and effect displays, etc., which have established deep emotional resonance with consumers and a strong sense of consumer trust. Douyin's rich and reliable maternal and baby information meets consumers' need to "shop around" and helps them make more informed choices.
Decision-making field: One-stop shopping and eye-catching content promote the closed-loop transformation of maternal and infant consumption on Douyin, and with the maturity of Douyin live broadcast and Douyin e-commerce and the increase in transaction value, Douyin can also undertake purchase demands from all channels. When buying maternal and child food, Douyin's preferential benefits and convenience of purchase occupy the strong minds of consumers, and real evaluations and live broadcast explanations drive consumers to buy and place orders on the site; When buying maternal and baby products, Douyin Live brings consumers into it and experiences the effect of the product as if they were there. When purchasing maternal and infant care products, Douyin's one-stop service optimizes the shopping experience of maternal and infant care consumers, and preferential benefits are the decisive factor for consumers to place orders.
Creative field: Douyin is not only an information field for maternal and infant products, but also a stage for maternal and infant groups to release their emotions and display their creative inspiration. Documenting the baby's beautiful life (72%) and expressing the emotions of parents (48%) are the core content of their creation, and they will also share parenting experience and easy-to-use parenting products to accumulate content assets for the brand.
New goods —— Explore the potential needs of maternal and infant consumers in various categories Consumers' biggest expectation for maternal and infant food innovation lies in rich nutritional content and high nutritional value, and traceable and trustworthy brands are the key drivers. Innovation in maternity and baby products not only needs to meet basic safety needs, but also to protect children's growth and help parents feel at ease. The innovation direction of new maternal and infant care products should focus on the use of baby's delicate skin, and safety and no additives are the main demands. In addition, cutting-edge maternal and infant products with both practical functionality and technological design will be favored by more parents.
3. Outlook for maternal and infant market trendsKantar, a leading provider of consumer insights, has released a brand growth blueprint that guides effective growth for mother and baby brands, and Kantar believes that the engine of brand growth is to "create meaningful differentiation in the minds of more people".
Therefore, maternal and infant brands need to:
1. Meet market demand and occupy consumers' minds through product innovation and emotional marketing with intelligent products, personalized services and green environmental protection concepts;
2. Select channels that integrate social networking and e-commerce that cover all aspects of the consumer purchase chain and strengthen the brand's presence, and Douyin, as a key platform, can provide one-stop marketing solutions from cognitive planting to decision-making transformation and follow-up sharing;
3. Gain insight into the core parenting needs of consumers, promote the whole family to have happy parenting together, meet the parenting concept of modern families with innovative products and services, and open up new space for growth.
In a new era full of opportunities and challenges, the maternal and infant market has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. With the continuous upgrading of consumer demand and the increasing openness of the younger generation of parents' parenting concepts, maternal and infant brands need to continue to innovate to meet the diversified market demand. From nutritious maternal and infant food to safe and reliable maternal and infant products, to additive-free maternal and infant care products, each link contains huge commercial potential. By taking advantage of the "three new" advantages of the Douyin platform, brands can reach target consumers more accurately, provide personalized solutions, and build a trustworthy brand image.