Many organizations turn to cross-pollination marketing, which leverages two brands to help customize and personalize the marketing experience for customers. Specifically, cross-pollination refers to the innovation and spark that is created by bringing fresh eyes, distinctive perspectives and common goals together. In order to most effectively use cross-pollination marketing, companies must also incorporate data analytics to ensure that they are appropriately targeting both existing and potential customers and creating partnerships that make sense to reach them.

The latest government data confirm that Affluent spending is on the rise, and crucial to driving growth in many marketplace categories.

When asked by a reporter about his secret to success, Warren Buffett, the American business magnate widely considered to be the most successful investor of the 20th century, once held up a stack of papers and said he "read 500 pages like this every day. That's how knowledge builds up, like compound interest." In fact, Buffet estimated that he spent 80% of his working day reading and thinking.

You've got to love a good mash-up. Chocolate and peanut butter. Angry Birds and Star Wars. Cookie Monster and Tom Waits.

In my three "Engage:Affluent" columns this year, I have focused on those consumer segments that many marketers to the affluent indicate are the primary targets for their luxury and premium products and services. Those are, not surprisingly, either very high-income adults (the 7 million adults who live in households with incomes of $250,000 or more) or adults who report a net worth of $1 million or more (about 20 million adults).

Not all affluent consumers are created equally. I'm not talking about dollar value here - I am talking about interests and age. It's estimated that there are currently over 12 million Millennials with an annual income of over $100,000. Even with the "shortened" attention spans of Millennials, one would assume that marketing to this demographic is simple - just slap a notable label and an expensive price tag on a piece of merchandise and the wealthy will come running, right? Well, not necessarily.

In his excellent book Richistan, Robert Frank detailed how millionaires in the mid-2000s had implicitly become a country (or at least a relatively homogeneous market segment), united by shared experiences and characteristics, and increasingly distinct from middle-class consumers. In my own book, I similarly referred to wealthy consumers as "globizens," or global citizens, whose international mindsets and international connections fostered an elite community that transcended borders.

Considering how advanced the technology is today in so many aspects of digital advertising, the industry has been slow in adopting suitable measurements of effectiveness. Between the scale allowed by digital, and the vast new access to premium placements technology allows brands to have, digital now rivals broadcast as a forum for smart branding. Indeed, digital platforms allow for both granule audience targeting and advanced measurement of a campaign's effectiveness. Broadcast only wishes it could bring that to the table.

In last month's column, "Almost The Only Thing Millionaire Men And Women Have In Common... Is Lots of Money!," I focused on affluent consumers in a different way - not by household income, but by male and female millionaires (our survey estimates the number of millionaires to be approximately 20 million, about half of whom are men and half are women). This gender-oriented column led a fair number of readers to ask how millionaires differ when they are segmented by generation (age) instead of by gender. Do millionaire Millennials have the same points of view regarding the future as Gen …

During an age in which endless information is readily available at consumers' fingertips, it is more important than ever to highlight your brand's value - even in the eyes of the affluent. According to a recent study by Unity Marketing, about 75% of wealthy consumers plan to make apparel purchases in the next year. However, the way they evaluate their purchases may surprise you.