To reach teen consumers, brands must provide freedom, enhance relationships, connect consistently, build one-to-one dialogue, and above all, let the teens lead.

At the second annual "WHAT TEENS WANT: Marketing to Teens Using Music, Movies and the Media," a two-day event held this week in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday, the hotel was filled with keynotes and dialogues with top executives, direct feedback from teenagers and panels, all tackling critical niche marketing issues. Hosted by AdWeek, BrandWeek, MediaWeek, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, the event attracted media and marketing executives hungry to understand the dynamic generation of current teens who last year spent over $170 billion.

Why is teen marketing so important? Like never before, this market has the most power to make or break brands. No other generation has ever been confronted with a greater opportunity to reshape marketing.

The first day opened up with "A Look Behind the Curtain: Challenges Facing a New Generation," a co-keynote presentation by Jim Taylor, Futurist, and Erika Machamer, Senior Vice President at Intellisponse. They explored the ways that innovations in intelligent computing, political organization, global competition, family relationships and economic choice are having a dramatic impact on the behaviors and thoughts of today's teens.

Taylor highlighted three major factors affecting the way this group acts. The first is technology. Teens do not see technology as an innovation; instead, it is considered fundamentally an extension of their consciousness. While marketers may taut innovation, teens see it as a mere fact of life. The second factor is the economy. The middle class is shrinking and teens recognize only two groups: the affluent and the poor. They perceive no middle between theses extremes. The third factor is aging. Since this generation may see people live to be 150 years old, they have no sense of the age-related process of growing up. In an ageless world, it's hard to know when growing up begins and when being a child really stops.

Machamer walked the audience through the characteristics of this dynamic generation. "Gen Xers want to hate these teens. They've bonded together in a way that no other generation has. They are a generation on a mission. They find solutions to the mistakes made by previous generations. Their relationships allow for interpersonal discourse. They are savvy to the economy and to saving. They don't just see a celebrity on television; they actually want to have a conversation with him."

Freedom is at the core of the teen belief system. They want the freedom to go wherever they want and to be whoever they want to be. They challenge old environments, such as that of the workplace. They collectively formulate ideas about the world and believe in only what they agree upon. They value the freedom to build their own sense of style, often influenced by the entertainment industry.

The era of passive consumerism is over, said Taylor. Only 25 percent of teens are considered passive consumers. This generation is opinionated and takes action. They have been trained as shoppers since their early childhood and influence billions of dollars in spending.

Next, Taylor and Machamer described the five major changes that face the millennial generation:

1. Unprecedented financial risk is a powerful force. This generation is $10 trillion dollars in debt. They feel that they are in the midst of World War III and that the war concerns their ability to live in relative peace. This perceived war clashes with teen desires for freedom. As a result, there is increasing anxiety among teens who assume a "predator and prey" posture. For example, they have a prey response against marketing -- they see themselves as victims and the older generation as unable to manage financial risk.
2. For teens, the most effective role models exist within the family. The love of family is pervasive within their lives and the teen/parent relationship is strong. The mother has emerged as the strongest role in the family. There is still angst among teenagers, but at the end of the day the relationship holds. For example, the mother/daughter relationship on the WB's "Gilmore Girls" demonstrates a high level of love occasionally disrupted by miscommunication. Teens have learned how to change nagging into negotiating: "C'mon, Mom. I know we don't need a new car, but don't you think you'd look great driving that new X5 around town?" What does this mean for marketers? Popular brands are those that prove to be safety nets, not necessarily fashion statements. Brands should allow people to make their own decisions.
3. Interpersonal communications trump media. The information space has changed. A teen spends on average nine hours a week on direct phone communication. Networking never stops. The Ryze Blog Tribe shows that opinion leaders control the flow of information. One person in this tribe has over 400 IM relationships. The distribution of opinion depends on the strength of the agreement or disagreement with the message. The implication for marketers is that more companies should follow eBay's strategy of offering a peer-to-peer connection. eBay works because it enables a transaction in which a person makes a one-to-one purchasing connection with someone who shares a common interest, with eBay merely facilitating that connection.
4. Everybody is somebody's leader. Leadership tends toward specific categories, that is, handbags in particular rather than fashion in general. Teens look to certain knowledgeable teens for influence in a specific category. For teens, it's not so much that because someone is an expert she will be offered her own television show. Instead, a person is considered an expert because she already has a television show. Celebrities can be self-professed and their credibility can be self-generated. How should brand marketers respond? Successful brands today let teens lead. Reverse the marketing process from aiming for awareness to achieving shared network respect. Let teens have an influence in shaping your brand's identity.
5. Teens create their own worlds. Their reality is under their control -- the line between reality and non-reality has dissolved. They prefer simple, linear stories -- ones that have beginnings, middles and ends. Teens love the Geico ads because they are simple and linear, but still entertaining and educational despite its existence in a boring industry. Brand advertising should engage teens in linear and entertaining stories.

With these changes in mind, effective marketing requires brands to demonstrate authenticity (voice brand opinions and stories and do not stray from it), be bold (make a statement that offers them something new), connect consistently (responses to messages in all media should be consistent or you'll lose their interest and trust), build relationships over time and learn to speak in the teen's own idiom.

The keynote wrapped up with a description of the five teen segments in the current marketplace:

1. A-listers. These teens stand out by fitting in and doing well. They are smart, love to shop, love to date and play sports. They lead by endorsement. The A-list movies do well because the teens are tolerant. The way to reach this segment is through what is called "Ugg marketing:" managed scarcity. Give them something to talk about to their sphere of influence.
2. American dreamers. These are the squeaky clean kids that dream but follow others. Teachers love them because they are self-directed and hard workers. Lucky magazine markets to this segment well by showing these teens what items are hot and which are the right brands.
3. Independent thinkers. These kids are at odds with the world. They prefer endorsement - a positive influence -- versus elimination -- a negative influence. Unlike the A-listers, they lead by rejection. They try things first, are opinionated and inspire counterculture. They are against brands but love fashion that criticizes those brands. Do not try to mass market to this group.
4. The J&Bs. This group comprises partiers who only want to have fun. They are always dating, less educated and interested in instant gratification. They mock the sacred and want to be amused. For instance, this group supported Burger King's Subservient Chicken Web site with 20 million hits.
5. Outsiders. This group feels displaced, sad, quiet, less-confident and generally targeted for failure. They express hopelessness. Brands can reach them through emotional promises, risk avoidance and confirm that they didn't make purchase mistakes. Materialism is a short-term way to bring them happiness.

With over $170 billion at stake, these are segments well worth targeting.