Can we really achieve social status just by traveling? It wasn't that long ago when the well-to-do went straight for purchasing (and showing off) expensive new possessions. Want to get a leg-up on the neighbors? Buy a new Mercedes or Rolex or Gucci purse. But there's only so many pairs of Louboutins a person can buy before needing something "more."

According to the US Travel Association, direct spending on leisure travel by domestic and international travelers totaled $650.8 billion in 2015. Yet, even with this huge market, leisure travel is still just that-leisure. Put another way, people have to buy food, medicine and hygiene products-they don't have to buy a Caribbean vacation. This 'need vs. want' dynamic makes advertising crucial to the success of leisure travel companies. Marketers need to grab the imagination and emotion of perspective customers. And, in this realm, successful advertising most frequently comes in the form of great storytelling that paints a picture of an experience.

In our July column, we reviewed in some detail how much deeper Amazon has reached in its quest to penetrate the American consumer marketplace. According to our most recent survey, 151 million adults made one or more purchases from Amazon in the past 12 months.