Alison Bryant w/ Play Science @ MamaBear Conference, Mt. View 4/20

3. The Golden
Rules

4. What provides “value?”
Learning/Cre Together
ativity Time
Replay/
Intuitive
Reuse
Brands/Char
Communication
acters
Multi-child Safe/
Use Ad-Free

5. The values of mobile play
xxxxx

7. Narrowing of the Generation Gap
Music TV
Movies
Shared Information
Technology Access
Gaming Parenting Mobile
Styles Phones

8. Kids want to spend time with family and friends
Spend time with your friends in person 30% 17% 47%
Spend time with your family in person 20% 19% 39%
Play video games 18% 16% 34%
Watch television 15% 22% 37%
Play a game on your computer 8% 13% 21%
Spend time with your friends online 6% 10% 16%
Read or look through magazines 2% 4% 6%
First Second Top 2 Choices
Source: Nickelodeon & StarCom Project 2008

9. 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.

10. We need more cooperation!
84% of parents would be interested
in playing
asynchronous, cooperative games
with their kids

12. Families with kids overindex on every type of media
They 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:

13. 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.

15. 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.
You have to message to Give kids “sound bites”
both kids and parents, to take to their parents.

16. 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.

17. Digital Dads
This generation of Dads
Dads play a more active
more involved in family
role in technology and
media, especially when
media purchase
it comes to newer
decisions for the family.
technologies.
Dads are also more
Today’s Dads are highly
likely to spend more on
engaged in social
technology-related
media, and Millennial
items. They spend
Dads even have more
$0.45 more for iPhone
friends online than
apps and $0.75 more for
Millennial Moms.
iPad apps than Moms.
And they like to be spoken to as Dads.

19. Grandparents’ role is increasing in importance
This is for both the day-to-day functioning
of the family unit, but also with regard to
3 in every 10
kids’ entertainment.
adults is a
The media ages for grandparent.
becoming a
grandparent are 50 Grandparents
3-Generation Households (W) and 54 (M). control the
(MMs) majority of
75- 1.4 finacial assets
84 9.1 The grandparent today.
population is larger
65- 16.1 than either the Grandparent
74 10.7
African American spending on their
GP Age
55- 15 or Hispanic grandkids has
64 12.6 Population. grown 7.6% every
45- year since 2000.
6.7
54 7.3 Grandparents
2020 2010 make 45% of Grandparents
nonprofit account for 42%
donations of all spending
on gifts.
Source: MetLife Mature American Report (2011)
Source: Grandparents.com (2009). The Grandparent Economy.

20. 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

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

22. Let’s Play!