In the last year, I have introduced a new approach to marketing, which I have coined cross-cultural marketing. Cross-cultural marketing can best be defined as one marketing program that leverages ethnic markets to reach across both ethnic and general markets (i.e. the total market). Start with ethnic segments to develop marketing programs that cross over into the general market. Ethnic consumers, like Hispanics, are front and center in a cross-cultural model.

Everybody's talking about this year's World Cup. Next to the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup is the largest, most all-encompassing sporting event in the world with nearly 200 countries trying to qualify for their chance to be among the final 32 taking the field in unarguably one of the most enthusiastic ftbol (soccer) countries in the world, Brazil.

About a decade ago, I read in Icono Culture about a trend in which old, outdated strip malls were being refurbished to cater to Latino shoppers. The article cited two or three examples. Fast-forward to 2014, and a similar story about The Legaspi Company was recently featured in Fast Company about how they are creating "Hispanic malls" all across the U.S.

Three things are clear. Total market has dominated the multicultural marketing dialogue this year; no one can agree on exactly what total market is and whether it's the right approach; and the 2014 World Cup starts today.

More organizations are paying attention to Hispanics and Hispanic Millennials are drawing a great deal of that attention for reasons discussed in our recently released project.

Latinos believe deeply in the American Dream. Our parents, grandparents or ourselves have come to this country in pursuit of it. We are also more optimistic than non-Latinos as it relates to our belief in being able to achieve it.

As a whole, Millennials are quickly stealing the spotlight from its predecessors, Gen X and Baby Boomers. Why? Because there are over 80 million of them now coming of age and moving into the workforce. This increased buying power is influencing their purchase decisions and driving major trends within the economy.

In shopper marketing, we live or die on "sell-in" and sell-through."

Earlier this year, we saw the closure of two major efforts by the mainstream media to connect with Hispanics in the U.S.

The Pew Research Center, in its most recent Hispanic Trends Project, notes that ''...as the share of Latino immigrants decreases, rapid growth in the number of Latino births (60% of Latino population growth between 2000 and 2010) means the Latino population will continue to develop at a steady clip. Today, some 800,000 U.S.-born Hispanics enter adulthood each year."