The Ypulse Mashup exceeded my expectations. It was so great to listen to these youth-savvy panelists from the standpoint of a writer and a millennial; I came away with newfound knowledge about technology, media, and my generation in general. I couldn't be everywhere at once, but here is my attempt to offer a recap day one of the Ypulse Mashup for readers who couldn't be there. We're going to try having live blogging, audio or video to capture our next Mashup event being held in Boston November 6-7. Anastasia continues to update our post rounding up all of the coverage (press, attendee blogs, etc.) we can find. So keep checking it for more perspectives. And although we haven't labeled, organized and tagged them yet, we have a zillion photos on Flickr. Oh and the Meebo chat is logged here.
Freeing Mobile with Antti Ohrling, Co-founder, Blyk
"We want to make communication free for young people." Mobile is the only media outlet without advertising — Our opening keynoter, Antti Ohrling from Blyk, hopes to add advertising in exchange for free texts, calls, etc. If you want to engage people, you must give them what they want. In mobile, teens want text, voice, and - interestingly enough - an alarm clock. 71% of youth would like to receive text ads targeted to their interests and it's safe to say that most would love free texts and calls. Thus, Blyk has had outstanding response rates in Europe, where they first launched their company.
Antti summed it up well on his blog: "My overall take? Relevancy and engagement matter to the youth audience and mobile is the perfect media for relevant and interactive communication. Incentivise young people to interact with brands directly by giving them what they want - in Blyk's case, that's free communication, 'money-can't-buy' offers and messages from brands they like. That's the marketer's point of entry (and long-term relationship) with the youth audience."
What's Next in The Mobile Youth Space?
Teens and tweens like to have choices in how they communicate, seamlessly moving between texting, instant messaging, chatting, and talking. They also like communicating online, and in the near future we might be handing out MySpace URLS instead of telephone numbers.
Tweens and teens are teaching their parents text message so they don't have to talk over the cell phone to keep in touch. Instead of answering (or, more realistically, not answering) a call from home, teens can keep the communication channels open by texting. The tween audience specifically pushes their parents to use mobile regularly, because that's the only way they truly want to communicate with them (while this might be true, don't give us the flak - these are panelists words, not ours!). Mobile technology is playing with the impulse of picture-taking and translating it to sharing between family and friends. Through new photo-sharing sites like Radar, kids invite parents to go on to share experiences that previous generations might have never shared. You can read CNET's recap of this panel here.
Sponsored Research Presentation: TeensEyes Division, C&R Research
C&R Research has been conducting qualitiative an quantitative research for over 50 years, and they began providing computerized multimedia reports in the early '90s. While the size and opportunity among young people is exciting, autonomy, fragmented lifestyles, and tech-savviness makes them a challenging bunch to reach. They're in a constant state of flux, trying to define their individuality while also securing themselves a place in the crowd.
53% of tweens an 84% of teens own cell phones. They're talking, texting, and using their cameras for both still shots and videos.The average teen generates around 18,000 a year. The average adult cell phone user generates 200 text messages a month. However, most are still not using data service plans to access the internet, watch TV programs, or listen to music on their mobile.
Teens are still watching TV and averaging about 2 hours a day during the week, and 3 hours on the weekends. They love their video games; tween guys are playing the most, and teen girls are playing the least.
Teens feel more crunched for time than their tween counterparts, but they do not see themselves as over-scheduled - just busy. Teens typically have more money to spend because they're earning more than a typical tween allowance. On top of that, they have more access to transportation so they're spending more on activities they can engage in outside the home (movie theaters, restaurants) while tweens prefer at-home entertainment (video games, DVDs).
They're constantly on the lookout for the next best thing…and they're looking in different places for that information. To stay relevant, companies must leverage the viral potential of their world and of the Internet. Respect them as consumers, they have their own money to spend and they're spending it on everyday items and entertainment. Entertainment sells; humor can initially draw them in, while authenticity will keep them interested.
Keynote Conversation: What Our "Mortifying" Memories Can Teach Us About Reaching Teens
This was absolutely hilarious and sadly, words cannot convey how hard the audience was laughing. The common denominator that brings together every teen's experience is that they are mortifying. There's no better time machine than your own childhood, the feelings you were experiencing at the time, and what being a kid meant to you. Takeaway message: Even though David Levithan is a successful author and editor, he should consider stand-up comedy. Actually, no, the message is that the core experience of what it's like to be a teenager hasn't changed, and that remembering our own mortifying years, will help us to be more authentic in communicating to teens today.
How to Successfully Reach Youth on Social Networks
Brand sites that are lacking relevant social interaction are behind so-called "social networking fatigue," according to this panel. Social networking is a fantastic tool, but no one is interested in going through the steps of joining a social network on a niche, company site. A self-produced blog has much less luck than a community-produced outlet. Letting users do the work for you is cheaper, easier - an often higher in traffic. When social issues are involved in an ad campaign, teens are very open to getting involved. If something catches their attention on a website's homepage, they will click. We heard a success story from Vickie Collier, the VP of Disney-ABC's digital media. Their teen soap "Greek" challenged their audience to upload social media, and the winner got a walk-on role. Thousands of viewers got involved, and this brought significant traffic to the site. A contest was a great way getting viewers involved, checking back, and consistently clicking around.
As much as I wanted to sit in on all three breakout sessions, I couldn't be in three places at once so I missed out on "Killer Apps: Which Widgets and Applications Are Hits With Younger Users?" and "Brand Engagement in Virtual Worlds for Youth." If you caught them and want to add your two cents, chime in!
Casual Games? That's What Mom Plays, Right?
Kids are playing games just as much as they are watching television. Kate Connally from Viacom's Addicting Games, likened her site to "The Superbad, 16 Candles, Pretty and Pink" of games. Product placement in games - i.e."advergaming" and adding advertising to existing games is the best way for brands to reach this audience (vs. banners). Teens are advertising savvy and they recognize that they're getting free game play, so they are okay with a certain level of advertising. But if you're going to add an ad, it has to bring something meaningful to the game. Many families have successfully used inter-generational gaming to strengthen the bond between kids and parents. Min Kim from Nexon America told us that In Korea, the parent-child-gaming relationship is so strong that some parents play their kids' avatars while they're at school!
Afternoon Keynote: 100 Young Americans with Michael Franzini
Michael talked about his experience traveling to all 50 states, photographing over 100 teens and attempting to reflect U.S. census data as much as possible. It became clear to him that American teens in 2008 cannot be simply defined. One general consensus is that, first and foremost, kids want to be rich and famous — but of course with reality TV and all of the imagery bombarding them with this message in our pop culture, why wouldn't they?
In a sea of generational labels, Michael's calls millennials "the instant access generation." He argued that the biggest generation gap since the dawn of rock and roll is happening right now. Instead of being driven apart by music, we are driven apart by technology. He said that instant access means teens grow up faster, and cited the example of an 18-year-old girl who heard about The Bunny Ranch on HBO, immediately Googled it, and fled her hometown to work there. With this generation of teens, there is less parental control, new meanings of the words "friends" and "dating," and radically different attitudes towards privacy ("blogging generation," anyone?).
These are Michael's rules for interacting with teens and tweens: there are no rules; make it about them; no judgments (what defines what's right and wrong? your parents!); treat them as your equal; and don't tell them anything. In marketing, add these three rules to the mix: don't try to be cool, always be real, and stand for something good. It's not just about what and how we say it, it's also about where we say it.
He ended with one final question to ponder: Does adolescents exist? (and shared an anecdote about a car ride with the controversial Robert Epstein)
