Brands are built over time and, with past generations, a brand could invest in building its equity with the right audience and then adjust messaging as the audience progressed through their life stages. That's not the case if your brand is relying on Millennials for its future.

With all the new fall TV programming, your DVR is likely getting a more rigorous workout. But, marketers need not feel guilty for indulging in a little extra couch time. This is one fall season that watching TV constitutes legitimate "research."

Not a day goes by that we don't see some evidence of Millennials' collaborative nature, whether when we're researching an answer to a tech problem (thank you, Android developer forums!) or just listening to music (the song Matt & Kim, Soulja Boy, and Andrew W.K. did for Converse). Perhaps because they came of age in the most connected time in history, Millennials share freely and help others every chance they get.

While Beloit's Annual College Mindset List may be "... designed more for aging faculty than the kids themselves, a reminder that the cultural markers of Boomers and Gen Xers will make no sense to the kids they are teaching," it highlights an interesting challenge relevant to all brands at any time -- remain culturally relevant over time.

In dating, the friend test -- how well you mesh with your new flame's friends -- is critical to the future of your relationship. For marketers targeting Generation Y, the friend test may be just as significant.

Taco Bell is speaking Millennials' language with its latest campaign for its steak burritos; the ad tells guys it's perfectly acceptable to still want Taco Bell (no doubt a staple of their teen years) even if they can afford dinner at a steakhouse. It doesn't make them any less grown-up to still like the things they did when they were thirteen.

We have been living with multiple personalities for years. Millennials have been known to show varying sides online, way before the chatter began around the benefit of the "Circles" capability in Google+.

I love great design, and judging from the proliferation of design focused blogs like Design Milk and Apartment Therapy, I am not alone. Seems Millennials also like design. They over-index in Simmons for lifestyle statements like Creative, Inventive, Imaginative and Artistic, and for activities like remodeling. It would also seem that based on the number of design-oriented TV shows like Design Star where many of the contestants and contributors are of Gen Y age, networks get this, too.

The recent buzz around Google+ is just the sort of thing that can send marketers and media planners into a tailspin, lamenting yet again, "You mean there's another thing Millennials are doing en masse, and we have to reach them there, too?"

Simple campaigns don't work anymore; marketing to this generation needs to be multifaceted. Giving Millennials a variety of ways to interact with a brand keeps them engaged and entertained, and giving them a voice or a choice lets them know their opinions matter.