There is no other market quite as powerful, important and engaged as the youth and family market.

Whether youth is the core of a current business, a source of future growth, or an inspiration to bring fresh, culturally-inspired thinking to an established business, understanding what makes this audience tick is a secret weapon for many companies looking to grow.

While the youth market holds great promise for companies in nearly every category, the pitfalls are many.

To start, the youth and family target is a moving one. From birth through college, the family and the children in it experience vast developmental changes which lead to equally large changes in their collective consumer behavior. On top of that is the increased responsibility that comes with developing products and programs for an audience that's still learning about consumer culture and how to engage appropriately with it.

The good news is that there are clear road maps and paths to success.

• For companies with a portfolio of products for the youth and family audience, the key is to unlock the most powerful, motivating brand story and to bring that story to life with marketing activation programs that don't just inform, but engage and inspire.
• For companies considering youth as a platform for growth, the opportunities are infinite – new products, line extensions, content, new occasions and many more.

For anyone in the business of selling something, the final metric, of course, is sales. But I have always found that the thing that makes the difference between a program or a product that's "just OK" and those that breed success is . . . purpose. When we can identify not only what a product does, but also how it can enhance the lives of the families who use it, then we have a formula for greatness.