Starbucks is a great example of how to create a positive buzz around a brand and goodwill with consumers by aligning themselves with an eco-friendly cause. Starbucks announced recently that it's phasing out plastic straws in all its 28,000 stores by 2020. The company plans to replace the straws with cold-cup plastic lids that can be recycled, unlike the current straws, which are too small and light.

If I had a dollar for every time "bringing the brand to life" appeared in an experiential marketing presentation, I could retire early.

Millennials. It seems every business, journalist and pundit is trying to figure out this up-and-coming generation. Research abounds on their attitudes and preferences for work, play, family and home. One of the most common observations is the innate fluency these 18-to-34-year-olds have with technology.

Social media is a crucial channel for beverage brands to reach customers. A Facebook IQ study showed that more than one in three people use Facebook or Instagram at bars and also share photos of their #cocktail and #craftbeers on the platforms.

They can achieve bigger and better sales across your business.

With the deaths last month of American fashion designer Kate Spade, 55, and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, 61, media outlets, ranging from Hollywood tabloids to national news have been shedding light on the rising suicide rates across the nation. What you won't find in the headlines of Hollywood magazines: the highly stigmatized issue of mental illness among minority populations.

Following the abrupt retirement of Campbell CEO Denise Morrison in May, much has been made of the impending doom of large food and beverage manufacturers. Reports indicating that "their business models and pricing power are crumbling" abound. One could be forgiven for assuming that these manufacturers are simply scrambling to delay the inevitable, and that, eventually, the music will stop.

We're all still recovering from one of the most exciting World Cups in history. While the U.S. Men's soccer team was sorely missed from this year's games, we sat back and marveled as fandom drove sales for Mexico's team jersey through the roof, making it the number 1 jersey sold across 23 states.

Twitter is the social network of champions when it comes to turning brands into icons. Most brands find it difficult to make waves on Twitter because they spend too much time thinking about how to make their branded content appealing to the public instead of trusting their guts and wits. While other platforms can and should be used for brand building through content, brand building on Twitter is a different exercise.

Brands are finally getting serious about marketing to Hispanic millennials. More and more research is suggesting that these shoppers are "a driving force" of the U.S. economy, with $1.5 trillion in purchasing power controlled by young adults between the ages of 18 and 32. As companies start to make this marketing shift, most are focusing on mobile technology to reach them. That's because Hispanic Millennials love their smartphones. It's an ideal channel that companies can leverage to capture Millennials' attention and imagination.