While the potential for this trend has been suggested in the past, the reality is that in the last five years it has truly become serious and is accelerating.

There are seemingly infinite data sources that marketers can utilize to help find their audience across media. The challenge they face is deciding how much to invest in data to maximize their return; in other words, will spending heavily on specific data to find the audience result in higher revenue than if they used a different source, or didn't use the data at all?

Many aspects of the digital world are dominated by a single giant: Google dominates search, Facebook dominates social, and of course, Amazon dominates e-commerce. For the vast majority of brands, walking away from the giants simply isn't an option ... so digital success means dancing with these giants more effectively.

Most consumers continue to look to their peers for face-to-face advice and recommendations about their favorite brands, impacting their purchase decisions, says a new Engagement Labs report on the "Leaders in Social Influence."

There is a noticeable momentum shift in the marketing of mainstream brands to Boomers. Using innovative ad campaigns, big brands are making bold statements about the value of Boomer consumers, and brands that have been neglecting Boomers are looking to step up to the plate. We are nowhere near critical mass, but enough strides are being made to support the notion that Boomer spending power is forcing a profound and potentially lasting disruption in long-standing marketing norms.

The median household income for Hispanics this year is estimated to be close to $45k, below the $57k average. 19% of the US population identifies as Hispanic, and two-thirds of the Hispanic population are from Mexico.

When you hear "Generation Z," what comes to mind? Lazy? Mindless tech drones? Millennial clones? Born between 1995 and 2012, Gen Z is often referred to as the "post internet generation," and is commonly lumped together with Millennials. Many people tend to see little difference between the two groups, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

It turns out that a mouse - at least a computer mouse - is not really quiet. Every time a human being moves it to get to someplace else on a screen, that human is telling us something about what they're thinking - and may ultimately be doing. For marketers, that could be crucial, according to a company called ContentSquare, a user experience analytics platform for websites and apps that deploys artificial intelligence to come up with its insights. It has almost 200 clients across multiple industries but with quite a few in travel, including Air France and Best Western.

We all know it. We all feel it. The stress, the joy, and the monumental exhaustion that goes along with being a mom. Moms today are bombarded by all kinds of responsibilities, from taking care of the family to working and everything in between. And along with all that responsibility comes the joy of worrying. We worry an awful lot. And if we have tween daughters, our worry is multiplied by 100. These days, it seems that our generation of mothers face more challenges than every generation before us.

For today's teens, August is the new September. Schools are increasingly going back into session in mid-summer, sometimes even in late July. Mid-to-late August has become the new standard in many communities, including mine in Fort Worth. Now, the outliers are the areas where students don't go back to school until early September, sometimes due to the political clout of the tourism industry in those regions.