Brand affinity is a powerful identifier for kids, and they are selective about who they associate with, even if they don't use the product. In one recent survey, a large telco found that 95 percent of the respondents it queried had a strong affiliation with its brand, but only 5 percent were actually purchasing the product.

Kids are at a point in their lives where they are simultaneously trying to conform to a larger group while establishing their independence. Successful mobile campaigns will give kids the ability to express themselves, where appropriate. For example, teenagers expect highly customizable avatars, such as those found on Yahoo!, and they are turned off if they don't have the option. Similarly, if teens are putting up any profile information about themselves, they will want to be able to say a lot, and control exactly what they say.

Brands that are considering this platform must be careful, however. Given the recent mishaps with predators on MySpace, kids and adults alike are very sensitive to who can access what data.

"Don't talk to strangers" has long been a mantra of child safety, and mobile devices are not an exception. Teenagers understand the implications of having a very public MySpace page and a private Facebook identity. If they are sharing content in a social networking context, they will want to understand who has access to their data and when. Consider this when brainstorming mobile functionality. For example, a mobile phone tool that allowed users to know where friends were by mashing up triangulation and a map was not well received by teenagers.

Kids generally do trust well known corporate brands; however, they skip the terms and conditions content to get right to the goods. When designing a mobile experience, funnel users directly to the good content and minimize the legal mumbo-jumbo.