Last year, in the wake of the 2009 credit crisis, some colleagues and I discovered that our recruiting specifications for affluence didn't consistently produce affluent people. Also, we noticed a different tone in the media about affluence. The term "the Rich" began to infiltrate headlines. And, references to the "Mass Affluent" disappeared. Our search for answers led us to perform our own study leveraging data from the annual Mendelsohn Affluence Survey.

Findings from a new study on influence raise the issue of income vs. momentum online and question the conventional priorities of media targeting.

Within the next 20 years, the Chinese will have assimilated the knowledge and use this knowledge to develop their own brands. It's a "win-win" situation as Chinese investors can capitalize on the brands' existing global business while helping them to expand into China's prized consumer market.

Customer lifecycle media is the antidote to complacency. And complacency will surely lose any customer -- affluent or not. Use media to address affluent customers when they research, read, interact, and then purchase. That's the lifecycle. All these behaviors present different opportunities for marketers if they recognize them.

According to government surveys, the 20% of Americans we'll define as Affluent -- those with at least $100,000 in annual household income -- account for approximately 60% of the income generated in the U.S., 70% of the net worth, and a tremendous amount of U.S. travel spending as well.