For Millennials, Pinterest isn't just another social community; it's quickly become an inspiration hub. It brings the fun of window shopping, watching your favorite HGTV show and flipping through a travel magazine all into one experience. It's no wonder the average time spent on Pinterest is over an hour per visit.

Over 10 years ago, Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson wrote a masterful book, The Hero and the Outlaw, which showed how the most successful brands were those that effectively corresponded to the fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind known as "archetypes." My reading of the book wasn't the first time I had thought about archetypes, but it was the first time I had considered their application to my chosen profession. The idea that, regardless of time, location or culture, people have told stories that essentially repeat the same story lines and character types over and over again was a powerful …

Demographic profiles have long been used by marketers to segment their audience and enable them to target offers to people who are more likely to be receptive than the general population. For example, a marketer for Forever 21 might target the single, female, middle-class, age 18 to 24, college-educated demographic.

Eating is often a social activity, and for Millennials, this is even more so the case. They value experiences, which is why the culture of food is important to them from trying new cuisines and sharing their food finds to feasting at food trucks and food festivals. And even when they're trying delicious dishes with friends, they're sure to keep the rest of their network informed about what they're tasting. Millennials are putting their eating experiences online from checking in at restaurants to pinning what they're craving so they can share their discoveries with others and in return, they hope …

Marketers are far too acquainted with the "whats" of Millennials and social media. They can rattle off stats such as three in four Millennials use Facebook at least weekly and the average Millennial belongs to two social networking sites and has 231 connections. The two terms have become are interdependent-social media marketing efforts aren't successful without Millennials and Millennial marketing efforts aren't successful without social media. But success in either area is dependent upon understanding the "whys" behind Gen Y and social media, not just the "whats."