At this year's Super Bowl, no ad generated more buzz than P&G's powerful "Like A Girl" commercial, which reclaimed (and hash-tagged) the phrase "#LikeAGirl," taking it from pejorative to a digital call to arms. It worked, generating over 400,000 social media mentions during the game, earning tweets from the likes of Gloria Steinem and Mia Hamm, and seeing over 55.8 million YouTube views.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the simplicity of emojis means they aren't incredibly powerful tools. Just as previous generations of teens became reliant on text abbreviations and eventually pushed them into the mainstream, the same is true of today's teens and emojis. They serve as a quick way for young people to convey what they're doing and how they're feeling without having to tap out a single word.

Recent headlines suggest a bleak future for the automotive industry. "Millennials Don't Care About Owning Cars And Car Makers Can't Figure Out Why," says a May 2014 "Fast Company" article. In October 2014, a "Washington Post" article explored "the many reasons Millennials are shunning cars." Millennials, study after study find, aren't buying cars as much as previous generations.

Brands, be warned, you're not ready for the next era of young media consumers. I can tell you from dispatches from the front lines. Over the last few weeks, we have been introducing the findings of a report we will formally launch in the coming weeks around the media habits and preferences of 13-24 year olds called the Acumen report.