Hello, welcome. My name’s Gary, I’m from Kids Industries, and thank you for coming.
We’re going to talk about family fandom today.
The slide says five things we’re going to look through. Actually, it’s four. We’ll do 20 minutes on family fandom, then 10 minutes of questions.
You’re a very mixed bunch. We’ve got people from hospitality, toys, sports — all sorts of areas. You also shared lots of brilliant questions, and we’ve only got 20 minutes, so I can’t answer them all, but I’ll try my best.
What I’ve put together is something I hope will give you at least one thing you didn’t know when you arrived.
Now, here’s the spoiler: family fandoms are really important. That’s it — you can sign off now. You can go. That’s the end.
Don’t go, really. Please don’t go.
Right, what is fandom?
Well, fandom as a definition is this: a community or subculture composed of enthusiastic and passionate fans who share a common interest and care about its future. That’s the definition. There was a time when fandom was really only synonymous with football.
And this is really where we see the birth of family fandom. Up until then, fandoms hadn’t been familiar, and the mythical stories of Rome, Greece, and Egypt — where scholars say the first fans emerged — are very different.
But then you had those ancient games, where specific chariot racers or gladiators apparently had their own fans. Fast forward a few millennia, and modern fandom really only came into being with the advent of serialised novels by Conan Doyle and Dickens.
But it was science fiction in the 60s — Star Trek, in fact — that really made fandom a thing. My dad was a Trekkie, and I’m not embarrassed to say I kind of became one too, so I feel an affinity with this. Over time, fandom has become embedded in our culture.
If you look at this Google Trends chart, bubbling along through 2004, 2010, 2016, and then you see this spike — a lovely fandom spike — the COVID spike. Everything had a COVID spike, didn’t it? And then we see a general upward trend. I think that’s when people started really getting into comics and buying bobbleheads, thinking the end of the world was coming, so they spent their money on stuff.
Fandom itself has definitely been growing. In the studies we’ve done — and we’ve been studying fandom for seven or eight years, with big studies each year — the last three years show a significant increase among young people aged 6 to 13.
So why is it important for you and for brands?
There’s greater frequency — 75% of people engage with as many touchpoints as possible. There’s depth of engagement — 72% of respondents in the 2025 study said they badge or wear things to show off their fandom. Greater commercial return — 77% own products related to their fandom. And then you get advocacy — 45% say they attend in-person events, which is probably why the LBE space, particularly in licensing, continues to grow.
Now, that’s why it’s important to brands, but what about fans?
For fans, it’s about socialisation — and we’re going to talk a lot about that. It’s super important. 82% share their fandom with friends. They gain a sense of belonging — 59% say fandom helps them define who they are. Then there are opportunities for self-expression — 52% create fan art. I don’t know whether that’s all published or just in their notebooks, but still — 52%.
And then we get emotional experiences. 70% feel personal pride or celebrate fandom wins. If your football team wins, you feel great — very simple.
If we look at why fandom is important, it’s because it’s a two-way street. Fandom is a dialogue. It’s prevalent and important now because we need fans more than ever to make brands work.
Audiences are fragmented. So we built our Fandom ModelTM, and I’m going to share it with you briefly. You can take it away and use it this afternoon. Hopefully you'll find it useful.
It’s a tool that helps break fandom into component parts. By approaching fandom in this way, you can better understand where needs are being met, where there are growth opportunities, and how to make fandoms for your brands and businesses stronger.
It’s broken into three areas, each with a radiating spike representing the degree to which that facet is fulfilled.
First, interaction moments — how fans interact with the brand. Can they actively participate in a way that suits them? What emotions does your brand elicit? Is it funny, exciting, escapist? These are transactional mechanics — how fans engage with a brand, how the brand engages with fans, and how fans engage with each other.
Second, self-definition — throughout our lives we grow and shape our understanding of who we are and our role in the world. Young children are striving to make sense of themselves. As they grow, they want to understand how they fit into peer groups, and then into society as a whole. Self-definition is how you use a brand to define who you are — whether that’s being an avid Manchester United fan (poor you) or someone who’s won 50 solo wins in Fortnite Battle Royale.
Third — and the part I really want to talk about for family fandom — social amplification. Social fandoms lead to stronger emotional connections. And we’re not talking about social media — we’re talking about socialisation: the act of socialising with someone.
The way we consume content today impacts how we share those water-cooler moments we used to have. Without the ability to connect around a brand, relationships with that brand don’t develop as well.
The acquisition of fandom is more important than ever because of the sheer noise.
All of this means fandom for your brand is harder to develop.
I love this quote from a parent in the US: “There are so many content creators nowadays that it’s easy to lose interest and not be a dedicated fan.”
If parents don’t moderate their child’s content — if they’re not engaged — children just freewheel across the internet, snacking on nonsense, without connecting to characters or narrative. Only 49% develop a fandom. But if parents do moderate content, 70% develop a fandom. So something is going on there.
Parents are the most important people in a child’s life. They’re potentially the most valuable audience for social amplification. Yes, teens pull away. Yes, I’m a middle-aged bloke with a teenage son, and yes, I got a bit emotional watching the John Lewis ad. It happens. But I still love him and he still loves me.
A mother of a 9-year-old said: “If she wasn’t a Chelsea fan, she couldn’t live in this house.” She didn’t mean it, but she did say it’s a good way to connect, and she likes passing that on. Fandom becomes part of family legacy — significant, important, part of their shared lived experience.
Brand owners know this. Sports teams, governing bodies, entertainment brands — everyone’s doing it. Because as a species, we want more time together in an increasingly disconnected world.
We’ve seen it in cinemas: the rise of intergenerational content — nostalgia, remakes, sequels — all ways of bringing families together around big stories.
And no presentation like this is complete without mentioning the B-word. Bluey.
It’s not written for children. Joe Brum wrote it as a father. That’s why parents connect with it. Children see their world reflected, but parents feel it even more. It’s not toyetic, either. But the emotional engagement and identification mean that when little Johnny or Jenny asks for Bluey products, Mum or Dad or Gran melts.
It’s all about that shared social experience.
Back to social amplification: there are three elements — family, friends, community. Fandom is inherently social, so brands must engage these three groups. Today we’re focused on family.
Socialisation is at the core.
Families meet in the middle. 71% say parent–child fandom moments are often intergenerational — shared experiences for everyone.
Parents want more opportunities to bond with their children. Time-poor parenting is real. This is increasing with millennial and Gen Z parents. 60% say they don’t spend enough time with their child.
Parents often come down to the level of the child.
Family is key to discovery.
Self-discovery is rising in India and South Korea, partly because of the Kidult movement and the turnover of content and brands.
Kids also introduce fandoms to parents.
Parents have an important role, especially in early discovery.
By age, it shifts:
That 40% surprised me — probably music. Why does it decline? Because as children age, agency increases. Parents’ agency decreases. The apex — the pivot point — is around age 7. That’s when things shift. That’s when you can really spark a family fandom that lasts.
Social amplification lands the key brand equity drivers: discovery, conversion, engagement, affinity, longevity.
For community, only three apply. For friends, more. But for family? All five. That’s why family fandom matters.
20% of fandoms in children over 5 are driven by family discovery. It's the “D word”: discovery — super important.
Children told us socialisation is important to the future of their fandoms. They had 13 options to choose from, and three of the top five revolved around socialisation — playing, sharing with friends, and sharing with family. That was true across children 5–14.
So, in summary:
Three simple things explaining why family fandoms matter.
But what can you do?
First, use the fandom model. It’s there for you. Take it away.
Second, you need to know how your brand connects with parents — even if it’s for children. Understand what they think of it, properly. Build moments for them.
Create elements for everyone so families can find common ground to share the fandom. Give them tools — printouts, toys, books, whatever they need to share it with friends, community, and most importantly, family.
And finally — slightly counterintuitive — yes, focus on family, but don’t forget everyone else. A fandom has to live across family, friends, and community.
And that is that. That’s my 20 minutes — actually 21 — not bad. I’m going to stop the screen share and open the Q&A. If anyone has questions, I’m happy to answer them. If I can’t, I’ll write an answer afterwards.
Q&A
Q: Do you think parent–child co-viewing converts to purchase?
Yes, I do. If a parent and child are watching together, the parent understands what engages the child and places more value on the related products — and will likely pay more for them.
Q: What’s a good recent example of brands fuelling family fandom?
Bluey — obvious, but true. The care behind the show is exceptional. Joe Brum’s brother, the sound designer, records real Brisbane sounds to put into the programme. That level of detail connects with wider audiences.
Q: Who does family fandom really well outside Bluey, Pokémon, and the usual suspects?
The ECB — the English Cricket Board. They’ve understood how families need to interact with a complicated sport and made it exciting, creating kids’ programmes, glamorising elements, and making the game accessible to families.
Q: What kinds of experiences should a brand create for families to bond over and strengthen family fandom?
Physical immersive experiences — location-based entertainment — are the most powerful, but also expensive and difficult. If you can create those, great. Magic Light (creators of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom) excels at creating powerful shared experiences through storytelling, events, and accessible brand touchpoints.
Or if you want to just sit back and listen, you can watch this and all of our other webinars here
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