• by June 15, 2011

Members of tech-savvy families are bridging the generation gap, according to joint research conducted by WPP's Ogilvy Chicago and Omnicom's recently acquired online community builder Communispace.

The study of "Tech Fast Forward" families -- defined as those who use more sophisticated technology than average, and representing some 42% of all households with kids 3-12 -- found that "Nobody really acts their age anymore.. .. Technology taps into adults' desire to indulge in childlike play while it enables kids to feel more grown up."

As a result: "Try marketing to kids as adults and adults as kids." One example cited was B. Toys' Alphaberry  for children, modeled after their parents' BlackBerrys.

The research also found that the Tech Fast Forward and their kids are more inclined to be on the same page on tastes, values and social issues, and purchase decisions.

That means marketers have more opportunities to target families as a unit, the study said, citing the example of Toyota Sienna's "swagger wagon" mock rap video  going viral and spreading the message "that you (and your family) can still be cool rocking a minivan."

The report pointed to Comcast On Demand, Skype, Facebook, Netflix and Wii as some of the specific brands consumers mentioned as bringing their families together.

Much of the study, titled "Tech Fast Forward: Plug In To See The Brighter Side Of Life," focused on how such families "have a more positive mindset overall and express less anxiety about the future."

For example, the TFF segment is twice as likely to say their children's generation is better off than prior generations and three times more likely than the rest of the population to strongly agree that when their kids' generation comes into power, they will "save the planet," "the world will be better off because of how they will lead the way" and "there will be global peace."

Where does that leave marketers?

· "Jump on the wave of the future and spread the niceness."

Examples include Secret's " Mean Stinks" Facebook page, which encourages young girls to stop hurtful and callous bullying behavior, and KLM providing an instant "little act of kindness" to its passengers who share their flight plans via FourSquare.

· "Get serious about game play"

"As families' lives become more and more digital," the study says, "parents seek products and experiences that mimic rather than replace 'old fashioned' creative play. With game play no longer relegated to the domain of kids," brands need to encourage fun. Examples given include Century 21's recent purchase of real estate in the We City mobile game.

· "Let people mess with your brand"

The study found that families are embracing "the creative impulse," and suggested that marketers can embrace this trend by enabling consumers "to reimagine and remix brand assets" -- everything from logos and commercials to jingles and taglines. Case in point: participation of consumers in creating product labels for Jones Soda.

The authors elaborated on how new technologies are providing different outlets for children to express their natural creative expression: "Instead of playing with imaginary friends, they are designing video games; instead of performing for their stuffed animals, they are making movies for YouTube; instead of playing with paper dolls, they are building avatars.

"Memes, mashups, avatars and retweets are more than just 'cut-and-paste'; they represent a truly new form of creativity, a way for each individual to put their mark on something more than the refrigerator door."

While such outlets for creativity, combined with other aspects of new technologies, make the TFFs a predominantly optimistic group with a positive mindset and view of the future, there's one area where these families with younger children wavered a bit -- privacy and security.

While as wary of these issues as the rest of the population, they have often developed specific strategies for coping with them -- such as posting anonymously, using social networking for business only or abstaining altogether, or using social network sites just for consumption and connection, rather than posting. And parents, unlike their kids, "have learned, when sharing online, to think before they click."

Reflecting the TFF's security and privacy concerns, the report suggests that marketers "build gated communities" in the form of "secure digital spaces." Examples cited include Facebook wanna-be for tweens Everloop and "Facebook for the filthy rich" Affluence.org.