The Filipino Family Dynamic in Marketing

What is it about the Filipino family that makes it both an irresistible target for marketers and a rich subject for their campaigns?

If you pay close attention to advertising and marketing, you may have noticed an odd switch when international campaigns make the transition to the Philippines. When Oreo launched its Space Dunk Oreos, the brand literally launched the product into space. And yes, they did it to—Dad joke incoming—dunk it in the Milky Way. But when it came time for the Philippines to follow up on the international campaign, everything changed. Oreo Philippines’ ad was a slice-of-life ad, featuring your average Filipino family. Not in space but at home. With a prominent display of the product in action, of course. Dunking Oreo in a pretend version of the Milky Way. In a plain bowl of milk.

The Oreo Space Dunk ad is not alone. Filipinos are bombarded daily with ads full of scenes of families. From Aparri to Jolo, marketing seems to revolve around the doting mom, overenthusiastic dad, and the matching healthy daughter and son. Results are—let’s face it—mixed. We’ve overdosed on the ads featuring banal dancing and singing families. But we’ve also enjoyed the awesome dancing and singing mommies in Knorr Sinigang Mix’s “Asim Kilig” ad.

Clearly, marketers are on to something with their hyper-focus on the Filipino family. Who can forget the tearjerker that is the McDonald’s “Karen” ad, or the brand’s classic and oh-so-wholesome “Family Portrait” ad featuring Noel Cabangon’s song “Kanlungan”? What is it about the Filipino family that makes it such a powerful—and ubiquitous—choice for marketers?

As The Business Manual prepares for its upcoming BrandCon PH 2025 this September, we take a closer look at trends like this in brand marketing. So why do marketers constantly leverage the Filipino family anyway?

It’s All About the Target Market

The obvious answer is, it’s all about the demographics.

Good marketers know their target market. And for most brands that target a broad audience, this means young households, specifically families that are just starting out, with young children. 

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippines has a young population, with about 64 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 64 years old, or around 69.40 million people. In 2020, the median age of the population was 25.3 years. And what’s more, women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years old) totaled 27.85 million or 51.9 percent of the 53.65 million female household population. 

These numbers scream “young family,” so it’s no wonder that targeting them can be so lucrative. In addition, these families are also big spenders, compared to their single counterparts. The average Filipino couple will spend not just for themselves but also for their dependents on a long grocery list of items from diapers to convenience foods to laundry soap.

A study by McCann Worldgroup cites that 82% of Filipinos consider their family’s opinions before making major purchases, highlighting how crucial household influence is to effective marketing.

It’s also reasonable to conclude that extended families play a role in purchasing decisions. A study of household structures in the Philippines reveals that while nuclear families remain the most prevalent, their share dropped from 71% in 1990 to 61% in 2020. In contrast, extended and multi-family households grew from 25% to 29% over the same period.

Utang na loob remains relevant, as feeling indebted for favors received has an impact

Lost in Translation

For international brands, switching tracks to the Philippine marketing landscape can be a minefield. Not all campaigns will have the same effect in our culture.

Many marketers turn to the unique characteristics of the Filipino family to solve this problem. Advertising creative legend Merlee Jaymee shared one such experience when The Business Manual interviewed her for its July 2025 cover feature. When Breeze brought one worldwide campaign to the Philippines, it insisted on its globally mandated line, ”Dirt is good.” Merlee knew immediately that this wouldn’t resonate locally.

She explained, “Dirt is bad for Filipino moms because when you say, ‘Dirt is good,’ it goes back to them. When a kid is dirty, ‘Sinong mommy mo?’ You have a bad mother is what it means.”

Transforming the global campaign, Merlee created a powerful social experiment that showed children performing acts of kindness—and getting their school uniforms dirty in the process. Mothers became proud that their children became dirty because it showed that they did the right thing.

“Dirt became a badge of goodness,” Merlee said.

Emotion Over Intellect

Perhaps the strongest reason for marketers’ focus on the Filipino family is the opportunity to speak to the Filipino heart.

As Francis Flores said when The Business Manual interviewed him for a cover, “It’s not just about connecting through the mind, but primarily connecting through the heart.” Francis Flores is currently the president and CEO of PICKUP COFFEE, but in his time with Jollibee, he was also behind the iconic “Kwentong Jollibee” ads and more.

He continued, “When you connect with your consumers, you can’t just connect with them on an intellectual level. As human beings, especially Asians and Filipinos, actually we’re influenced a lot by our emotions, right? And when you fall in love with a person, you don’t just fall in love with the way the person thinks or what he says he can do for you. You actually fall in love with how the person would make you feel, right? And it’s the same thing for brand building.”

Filipinos are an emotional people who are led by passion and by heart. Brand marketing, likewise, is not just an intellectual exercise, it is also an emotional one. Speaking to the Filipino family and using the emotional wealth that exists within each family, marketers recognize this truth.

Jake Yrastorza, Managing Partner of Gigil, perhaps, said it best. “If you’re funny,” he said, “if you’re a bit emotional, make them laugh, make them cry, they’ll be a bit more open. And later on when you try to sell something to them, then they’ll listen to you.”

BrandCon PH 2025

Interested in learning more about brands and marketing? Join us at BrandCon 2025 where The Business Manual will gather many of the industry’s leaders and creative minds. From time-tested branding principles to cutting-edge digital solutions, the conference will explore how businesses can stay relevant, resilient, purposeful, and ready to lead in a future-forward landscape. Stay tuned for more details on BrandCon PH 2025 .

Stay updated on BrandCon PH 2025 via the official website, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages.

BrandCon Ph 2025 is brought to you by The Business Manual, in cooperation with the Philippine Marketing Association and the Philippine Junior Marketing Association.