Sports fans have always been on the leading edge of mobile use. Targeting them effectively requires a deeper understanding of just how diverse and personal their mobile behaviors are.

Sentiment about wearable devices continues to improve. Some 17% of iPhone owners in September expressed intent to purchase a wearable device in the next 12 months, up from 6% in May 2014, per research from a consulting firm. This increase coincides with September's Apple Watch announcement. Since Apple consumers are typically some of the earliest adopters of new technologies, the increase in the smartwatch category reflects a strong likelihood Apple will see success of the Watch in its initial release early 2015. The company released its software development kit, WatchKit, for developers Tuesday.

You are the cookie now, and this has big implications we are only beginning to glean. As data tracking and pooling gauge more intimate aspects of our existence, lawyers are poised to rush in. The ambulance chasers will now be pursuing data, too.

Most small businesses use analytics to make business decisions, find new customers, and nurture the ones they have, per a recent study by Constant Contact, a platform provider for multichannel marketing.

Attitudes among marketers towards data-driven marketing are remarkably consistent around much of the world. But there is much less unanimity around to characterize data-driven marketing and somewhat more confidence in its future than in early results.

In the latest political campaign cycle, marketers embraced advanced data analytics and online targeting in a big way. But their experience also underscored one of the biggest challenges to these platforms: having something to say to the segments you find.

As more devices connect to the Internet, brand marketers will become consumed with trying to figure out how to use the correct data in real time. We've come to know it as the Internet of Things (IoT). SpaceCurve, a Seattle startup specializing in all types of spatial data like longitude and latitude from Twitter tweets, will partner with AirSage, which collects anonymous data. The deal aims to help brands better understand consumer behavior in real time based on time, location, motion, sensor data, and other attributes.