JupiterResearch: Growth Opportunities for Wireless Carriers in Marketing to Teens and Parents

According to JupiterResearch, "wireless carriers can significantly grow their subscriber base and revenues by targeting teenagers and parents with separate marketing messages." Jupiter found that "58 percent of teens have cell phones, whereas 70 percent of adults already had them in 2005."

Julie Ask at JupiterResearch said, "Parents get mobile phones for their teens because they want to communicate in case of an emergency, and wireless carriers have made it easy to add users to their existing plans. Wireless carriers have been very successful in getting parents to expand their plans to include their teens, but between free phones and shared minutes, it's not the most lucrative proposition for carriers."

Jupiter claimed that "family plan promotions from wireless carriers have succeeded in pulling 60 percent of teen mobile subscribers into a family service plan. However, the 29 percent of teenage cell phone users with their own plan consume more premium content and are likely to yield a higher margin as a result."

David Schatsky at JupiterKagan added, "To effectively capture the teen market, wireless carriers should create separate marketing messages for teens and their parents. Parents will be responsive to the value proposition, whereas teen marketing should focus on trendy gadgets and content."