It's time to clear up a certain myth about teens that seems to be cropping up a lot lately. The myth is that all teens go on to be college students, and then college graduates. It's a common assumption among marketers and advertisers that teens aspire to attend college, and if you want to reach 18 and 19 year olds, you'll find them on college campuses. Even a recent article in The New York Times suggests that a college degree is the new high school diploma, noting "so many people are going to college now."

Super Bowl commercials often set the stage for marketing trends in the upcoming year. Reaching a massive audience, these highly coveted spots are ideal for introducing a new product or service. While celebrity endorsements, crowdsourcing and social media interaction are nothing new in the marketing industry, the Super Bowl has demonstrated how commercials using these tactics can be used as a catalyst for targeting a teenage audience - and why the opportunity is tremendous for brands looking to appeal to a younger demographic.

Upon getting to author my first article for Engage:Teens, I asked my 14-year-old son, "What is something about teens you would like people to understand?" His response: "We're lazy, and that's okay."

Crushes are a powerful thing. Teens might find themselves totally smitten with that cute guy or girl sitting two desks away in math class. Or maybe just the hot new band everyone was talking about at lunch. But as Valentine's Day approaches, we've been thinking about a very specific form of young love: brand crushes.