Just as brands like Wii found success by boldly attempting to create a video game that didn't ignore parents' concerns, brands that challenge the notion that family decisions mean one winner and one loser are setting themselves up for success.

We must give up our preconceived ideas of what she wants and simply ask her. Once you find a tween girl, you'll discover she has a voice and is only too eager to tell you what she is thinking, doing, saying and dreaming because, frankly, she wants adults to stop thinking for her. Let's clear up a few common misperceptions.

Implementing a few key elements into your Web site and marketing plan can help to attract the tween audience. You can drive both new and repeat visits by harnessing the power of peer influence. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Brands that help my kids learn to share, play and socialize are important to me. Marketers who couple offline and traditional experiences into social settings on the Web will become the big winners of tomorrow, both with kids and their parents.

To engage with tweens, marketers must first capture their attention, then their imagination, then their loyalty; all this without alienating parents who want "more" for their kids but are wary of anything that smacks of shortening the distance between childhood and the teen years. Here are some ideas.

Marketers of ATVs and motorbikes reach families and sell their vehicles through advertising and promotions. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation and the ATV Safety Institute partner with these marketers to help get consumers started. Funded by all the major motorcycle makers, the MSF DirtBike School helps kids learn to ride off road.

For American kids ages 6-11, the Internet is much more of an entertainment platform than it is a venue for communicating, with most of the entertainment occurring within the home. Based on the results of our in-home survey, five characteristics emerge.

Two-thirds of moms want provide something for lunch that their kids will eat without supervision. As many want there to be a taste their kids will love. While we traditionally think of the after-school snack as a kid-owned occasion, six out of ten of moms look for snack items that can appeal to the whole family. So, for marketers, it's important to message to their ideal, and ensure that you're considering their reality in the packaging and product form that you provide.

Today's kids are growing up with online social environments. Parents and marketers alike need to understand and embrace this reality. We all have online identities, and we need to start early with our children so they understand how to navigate and safely communicate on the social Web as they mature. Building their identities is an important aspect of development and a social persona is now a reality for many of us and will only continue to grow.

Today's 6-to-11 year olds have grown up with the expectation that they can interact with their favorite brand whenever they want, and on whatever device they happen to have in their hands. This ease of movement between formats and technologies reflects a fundamental difference between the way we (digital immigrants) and kids (digital natives) experience media.