Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from Vanessa Van Petten, entrepreneur and teen author of the parenting book You're Grounded!. Check out her parenting blog, On Teens Today here. Vanessa attended the recent What Teens Want conference in Los Angeles and volunteered to cover the event for Ypulse. If you work in youth media or marketing and would like to pitch an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post, just email me.

11 Take-Home Points From What Teens Want

What teens want seems to constantly be changing, but there are a few things that never change that the speakers at Nielsen’s conference recognized:

- There is always a widening gap
- Teens are always fickle

There were a few overarching themes of the past two days that I want to summarize for Ypulse readers:

1. Purity Rings vs. Vibrating Rings
Becky Ebenkamp of Brandweek started her presentation with a slide from the MTV Music Video Awards. Take home point number one is the idea that this generation is feeling a split of ranks. Yes, there are teens joining pregnancy pacts, going to rainbow parties, and wearing belly tops at the local hookah bar. Yet, there is also a rise of anti-cursing clubs, purity rings, virginity pacts and a move back to conservatism (Sarah Palin anyone?). Marketers need to be aware that not every teen wants salaciousness.

2. Maybe teens like being teens
Jane Buckingham of the Intelligence Group [a Ypulse advertiser] asked the audience: “Who here had miserable teen years?” Most everyone in the audience shook their heads and grumbled to their seatmate about their awful prom experience. [Note: I had my prom in the same room as the conference]. Even though most previous generations have hated their teen experience, Buckingham mentioned that teens today are actually quite proud of their pubescent-ness. This would explain the many names of this generation of teens–"entitlement," "spoiled," "tyrants" to name a few.

3. Teens might be happy, but they are mega stressed
65% of teens say they are really stressed out (Intelligence Group). This generation has been over-tutored, over-scheduled, over-medicated and over-exposed. Buckingham attributed this to the product of nervous boomer parents, but also said that teens are all blaming themselves! What Teens Want stressed for us: teens are stressed and no one is helping them.

4. Reward Me! Reward Me Now! Reward Me Hard!
Parents have been rewarding their kids for just showing up. These teens have grown thinking everything they touch is perfect. Even marketers have rewarded teens with free stuff for just coming to the site, walking in the store or walking by a rep on the street. Marketers need to learn to give rewards for free, but also teach teens not to expect it every time. Sharon Lee of Look-Look talked about the need for brands to stay engaged (beyond just freebies).

5. Your Keds Might Have Bombs
Teens today grew up taking their Keds off at the airport in case of shoe bombs. They had leashes, Baby on Board signs and eat all organic. I call this Teacup Parenting. Marketers need to be aware of how delicate and fragile these teens are. They feel like everything is a big deal and they worry a lot. This is why trust, brand building and authenticity are crucial.

6. I am Going to be Famous
Many members of this generation truly believe they are going to be famous and use it as an excuse to not work as hard in school or for future jobs. The YouTube 15 minutes of fame has grown, while the gap between celebrities and real people has shrunk with the rise of reality shows, Funny of Die spoofs and celebrity blogs. This has contributed to teen’s need for attention. Celebrities still work in advertising.

7. Perma-Rose Colored Lenses
It was brought up a few times at the What Teens Want conference that many teens seem to never take off their rose colored glasses. This is an extremely optimistic generation; they believe in the Secret and have parents that tell them they can do anything they can put their mind to.

8. Escapism
Greg Foster of Imax and Aria Finger of Do Something both talked about the need for teens to escape. Fantasy books, movies and shows are even more popular because teens today love to be taken away and swept up into a secret or different world. Chris George of Advertising Solutions also talked about how entertainment needs to be an exciting place for teens to go to.

9. Help the World
Patrick Pedraja, an amazingly young social action motivator with Leukemia, talked about the need for teens to feel like they are making a difference. Luckily, their desire for fame can actually help push their desire to make a difference to be bigger. Teens align with brands that are more earth and social conscious.

10. Diversity Rules
As expressed by Tru Pettigrew and Shadyra Santiana in the Bicultural Hispanic Teen panel, diversity is also valued highly by all teens. Many teens are making it a statement to be more integrated and diverse.

11. Brand Aware
Sharon Lee of Look-Look talked about real brand awareness for kids and teens. What they value in a brand:

- Community
- Collaboration
- Co-Creation
- Empathy
- Real Story
- Meaning

Sharon Lee stressed this is the conscious brand. Niranjan Nagar of Sims Internet Group also discussed that consumers and companies are talking about lifestyle, values and goals. Matt Palmer of Stardoll Entertainment talked about constant engagement of users with the brand in different ways (content, social networking and products).

Overall, What Teens Want really reiterated what many marketers are already learning about Millennials and Gen Y. Brands and companies need to work to be consumer’s friends and make an experience for them where the brand can be authentic, trusted and engaging.

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