Modern Family Data, Trends, &

the Future of Family Tech

#1 Understand

Family Value(s)

The Golden Rules

1.Make my life easier.

2.Make my kids happy.

What provides “value?”

Together Time

Learning/Creativity

Brands/Characters

Communication

Safe/Ad-Free

Replay/Reuse

Intuitive

Multi-child Use

The values of mobile play

xxxxx

#2 Families want

to play together

…sometimes

Narrowing of the Generation Gap

Shared Technology

Movies

Mobile Phones

Music

Information Access

Gaming ParentingStyles

TV

2%

6%

8%

15%

18%

20%

30%

4%

10%

13%

22%

16%

19%

17%

First Second

Kids want to spend time with family and friends

Play video games

Play a game on your computer

Watch television

Spend time with your friends in person

Spend time with your friends online

Spend time with your family in person

Read or look through magazines

47%

39%

34%

37%

21%

16%

6%

Top 2 Choices

Source: Nickelodeon & StarCom Project 2008

Together Time & Time Alone

Parents and kids want both things to do together AND things to do alone. In either case, the technology has to work for them.

If it’s coplay, give us something to actually do together!

If it’s for my child, make sure they can do it alone.

We need more cooperation!

84% of parents would be interested in playing asynchronous,

cooperative games with their kids

#3 Pass Down, Pass Back,

Pass Around

Families with kids overindex on every type of mediaThey also tend to be earlier on the adoption curve, especially for technologies that can be used by multiple family members or are seen as educational.

About ¾ of families have at least one “smart” mobile device in their home (and most have more). Of those that have at least one, here is the breakdown:

Tech & entertainment purchases are impacted by siblings

Products generally have a longer use life for older siblings than younger ones; and households with siblings generally “age up” their media use quicker.

Products that can be used for multiple kids (in age-appropriate ways) have considerable value for multi-child households.

#4 Money Matters

Everything is a negotiation

Kids have more influence in purchase decisions than ever before. They usually have access to the same information their parents do, and use that in their negotiations.

Parents also listen to kids. For topics that parents think their children know more about (e.g., anything tech related), they are significantly more likely to take their kids’ advice when making a purchase.

Give kids “sound bites” to take to their parents.

You have to message to both kids and parents.

Paying to play

Subscriptions that are too long-term or automatically renew make many parents uncomfortable because they are afraid their kids will grow bored or outgrow the product.

+Any micro-transactions that do not have parent safeguards are a big no-no for parents.

+But, parents don’t necessarily want their kids to have to bug them every time they want something.

=Allowance or other hybrid systems get high marks

from both parents and kids.

Digital Dads

This generation of Dads more involved

in family media, especially when it comes to newer technologies.

Today’s Dads are highly engaged in social media, and

Millennial Dads even have more friends

online than Millennial Moms.

Dads play a more active role in technology and

media purchase decisions for the

family.

Dads are also more likely to spend more

on technology-related items. They spend $0.45 more for

iPhone apps and $0.75 more for iPad apps than Moms.And they like to be spoken to as Dads.

#5 Don’t forget

the Granparents!

Grandparents’ role is increasing in importance

This is for both the day-to-day functioning of the family unit, but also with regard to kids’ entertainment.

3 in every 10 adults is a

grandparent.

The grandparent population is larger

than either the African American

or HispanicPopulation.

The median ages for becoming a

grandparent are 50 (W) and 54 (M).

Grandparents control the majority of

finacial assets today.

GrandFacts

Grandparent spending on their

grandkids has grown 7.6% every year since 2000.

Source: Grandparents.com (2009). The Grandparent Economy.

Grandparents make 45% of

nonprofit donations

Grandparents account for 42% of all spending

on gifts.

45-54

55-64

65-74

75-84

7.3

12.6

10.7

9.1

6.7

15

16.1

1.4

2020 2010

3-Generation Households (MMs)

Source: MetLife Mature American Report (2011)

GP Age

What grandparents want from technology

• Co-play experiences• Special/unique experiences• More consistent communication• Tangible gifts (even for digital

items)• Information/Marketing that

speaks to them (as grandparents)

• Educational experiences

Grandparents are fast adopters of new platformsThey are not the first adopters, but they catch up quickly.

Let’s Play!