They say April is the cruelest month, but if you are interested in engaging and marketing to teens, it should be the month you look forward to all year. Why? Because April is the month Piper Jaffray issues its "Taking Stock with Teens" annual collaborative consumer insights report. I came across this several years ago and have found it to be an incredibly interesting and really useful read.

Tomorrow the world will celebrate the 46th anniversary of Earth Day, and as Gen Z looks on at the festivities, they'll wonder what the big deal is. To teens, Earth Day is a relic from a past era that makes little sense to their lives now. That's not because they don't care about the environment-quite the opposite in fact. It's because they don't need a special day to remind them to consider their environmental impact.

Today's teens have disrupted many facets of our culture, from media to communication to self-expression. And now, they're starting to disrupt the workplace itself. Last year, Millennials displaced Gen X as the largest generation in the workforce. With an improving economy and a much tighter labor market, employers are fighting tooth and nail for the best Millennial job candidates. Pay is important, and indeed, wages are finally starting to rise after years of stagnation.

The majority of social video information is focused on the big players in the space: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. While these industry giants make up the majority of views online, emerging and niche platforms targeting younger audiences such as Snapchat, Vine and Tumblr can be a strong addition to youth-based social media campaigns.