From diapers to dollars: Dad-fluencers are on the rise in Asia

Over the years, parenting content shared by mums or mum-influencers, have taken the world by storm. From food to feed your baby to parenting tips, diapers to buy and more, you'd be hard-pressed to find a question that a mum-influencer hasn't already answered out there.

However, as parenting duties have gotten more equal and fathers have taken on more caregiving duties, we have seen a shift with more dads such as Adrian Ang, chief creative officer at HEPMIL Media Group and dad-fluencer, taking to social media to share a day in their life with their child, activities to do or clothes to buy.

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"With society evolving and parenthood becoming more of a shared responsibility between both spouses, more dads are getting more hands-on with their kids," explained Ang. "This has inevitably led to more people becoming interested in the point of view and life of a dad in the social media world."

He added that dad-fluencers and their content might be a lot more refreshing and interesting to audiences as the quantity of dad-fluencers is far lower as compared to mum-influencers.

"As compared to mom-influencers, which is a very mature and crowded segment that has been around for quite a while, the dad-fluencer segment is still in a relatively infancy stage. There are not a lot of dad-fluencers and content being made about fatherhood, which makes their perspective and content a lot more refreshing and eye-catching for audiences," said Ang, adding that this allows brands to tap on dad-influencers to find a slightly different and creative way of marketing their products and services.

Xiao Ming, @sgagxiaoming. 

Agreeing with him, Oddie Randa, managing director for Asia Pacific at Gushcloud International noted that there has been a steady upward trend of dads on social media in the past three years.

"Dad-fluencers have a niche content take and perspective as compared to mom-influencers (who've been around much longer), hence they provide a different, fresher take on parenthood when we work with them," he said, adding:

Dad-fluencers are usually an untapped demographic as compared to the more common mom-influencers and its audience community.

Tapping on dad-fluencers for brand partnerships

True enough, with relatively fewer dad-fluencers in the space, the likelihood of getting a product noticed when working with a dad-fluencer over a mum could work to the benefit of a brand. 

In fact, more brands are becoming increasingly receptive towards collaborating with dad-fluencers for the promotion of family-oriented or children’s products, and even in categories such as gaming, according to Toh YiHui, country manager, Singapore at AnyMind Group.

We’ve also seen an increase in the pool of dad-fluencers in the market in recent years, particularly in markets such as the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

AnyMind Group confirmed that on average, as of late, they see three campaigns out of ten that include influencers who are fathers across Southeast Asia. 

He added that across Southeast Asia, the agency is seeing a progression toward products that were traditionally labelled “for mums”, being used by both parents, and purchase decisions for such products increasingly being made by either parent.

"With dads becoming more involved at home, content from dad-fluencers is now equally relevant to a brand’s target audience," said Toh.

However, Toh explains that despite this, it is still important for a brand to consider the objectives and target audience for their campaign before deciding to go with either a mum or dad-fluencer. 

Ho Ming Han, @dmingthing.

"It still boils down to the suitability of the creator, and whether their profiles align with the campaign objective and if they fit a brand’s personality," he said, adding that in any modern society, mums are not the only one making purchase decisions in and for the household.

"By collaborating with dad-fluencers, the content tonality and message may resonate better with dads who can also be doing the shopping," Toh said, adding:

It depends on who a brand wants to target, rather than having a specific edge.

Saying that, tapping on a dad-fluencer over a mum still does have its benefits, according to Karina Bunchoo, regional social and content director at UM Worldwide.

"Dad-fluencers provide a unique perspective that specifically resonates with fathers, enabling brands to effectively target their male audience," said Bunchoo. "From a creative perspective, the use of dad-fluencers opens up opportunities for innovative and captivating concepts, as this space is still relatively new within the Asian influencer realm,"

Bunchoo cited the example of influencer @dmingthing (also known as The Ming Thing), who is a father of two. "While not endorsing any particular brand, his vlog as a househusband introduces a refreshing and novel approach, particularly in our markets, and possesses significant potential for clients to seamlessly and entertainingly integrate their products."

Saying that, Bunchoo agrees with Toh in that it is still important at the end of the day to note the nature of the product and to see if it is possible to establish a connection between it and a dad-fluencer. 

"For instance, a breast pump that primarily targets moms would be most effectively promoted by moms themselves. On the other hand, a more gender-neutral product such as a Dyson vacuum could be creatively promoted by dads, offering a unique point of view," she said. 

Additionally, utilising a dad-fluencer for an appropriate product campaign allows a brand to access communities such as those in gaming or tech that may not reach as many women or mothers, she said. 

What kind of reach do dad-fluencers command?

Steven Teo, @theperfectfather.

Saying that, surprisingly, despite the assumption that dad-fluencers are able to reach an untapped market of men, the truth is that dads are still primarily reaching women. 

 "Surprisingly, my content reaches about 60% women and 40% men," said Ang. "I attribute this to the fact that women and moms are actually very interested to see parenthood from the lens of a dad. Or maybe women secretly like men who crack bad jokes," he added. 

Agreeing with him, Steven Teo (@theperfectfather), who is a fellow dad influencer, explained that most of his viewers are still predominantly women. "They are likely looking to find out what dads are doing to engage their children," he said in a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. 

This could also likely be because women are more likely than their male counterparts to say they use Instagram and they use TikTok at a higher rate than men (40% vs. 25%), according to a 2024 study on social media usage by Pew Research Centre. 

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