Five Insights From What Teens Want

1. Integrity and attitude as key social network traits in the long run (and the rise of Facebook)

2. Teens aren’t buying much music. Can brands fix the music industry?

3. Consumer-generated-media (CGM) is the key approach to drive brand advocacy with youth

4. As a marketer, if you’re not creating utility you’re pretty much just crashing the party

5. The general view of privacy is shifting from anonymity to control



A Few Quotes from Teens:

A Few Quotes from Teens:

"I'm grounded right now, but normally I spend about 89% of my time on MySpace when I'm online."


- Female member of the teen panel

"I would describe my style as awesome, because I am the ultimate man."


- Male teen from the The N research presentation in context of Millennial high confidence

"The whole IM language has gotten out of control. The other day my friend said LOL to my face and I was like WHAT!?!?"


- Female teen from The N research

And some stats:

It’s like crack for youth marketers isn't it:

From Radha Subreamanyam of the N (who it's worth noting gave a killer research presentation):

• "Chill" is the top attitude/lifestlye teens associate with at 40%. Others include Urban (23%), Prep (23%) and Hip Hop (19%)
  
  
  
• African Americans and Hispanics use social networking sites more than whites (both at 84% vs. 81%)
  
  
  
• Music as defining their identity (44%), with family a close second (39%)
  
  
  
• Surprisingly high disdain for brands. 56% see them as creating
  negative stereotypes. But it's totally love/hate: "infatuation tempered
  with contempt."

From Michael Barnett of Fox Interactive:

• Fox’s eight week old The “Never Ending Friending” study can be found online
  
  
  
• 20 million teens 12-17 are online. That’s 83% penetration which will grow to 88% in the next few years
  
  
  
• 75% of teens that are online use social networking sites
  
  
  
• MySpace is the #18 ranked youth brand, ahead of iPod and Nike
  
  
  
• MySpace teens spend more time online (9.8 hrs) than watch TV (9.2 hrs)
  
  
  
• Combined use of SNS sites beats highest cable TV and magazine audience with teens
  
  
  
• If those 14-18 had 15 mins of free time, they’re most inclined to use an SNS site (21%) over cell phone (19%)

Alloy multicultural research:

• 46% of Hispanics in US are under 25
  
  
  
• There are 800,000 new teens each month. The total teen population is 33.9 million (12-19 yrs)
  
  
  
• Purchasing power from 1990 to 2001 amongst teens has increased
  189% in total. But between ethnicities, there’s been a 457% increase
  among Hispanics, 431% among Asians, 251% among blacks, and 176% among
  whites.

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