As RealBeanz Director of Public Relations and Social Media Jenna Burke told me in last month’s Up Close With story, it can be hard for consumers to experience a product and develop a relationship with a brand if the main connection with a brand is through social media and advertising. Instead, it’s the face-to-face encounters with a brand at events that really help consumers become fans, she said.

If life were a game of Monopoly, many marketers would be preparing to “go back to go,” according to a report by The Nielsen Co. and BoomAgers LLC titled “Boomers: Marketing’s Most Valuable Generation.” Once a generation reaches the cut-off age of 49, marketers typically turn their focus to a younger group in the 18- to 49-year-old range, the report states. However, this shift in attention is not such a great idea, it suggests.

I recently returned home from my first of seven weddings this year. Although the travel might not be the most exciting part of the upcoming nuptials, hearing the individual couples explain what their new union means to them is always enjoyable. But partnerships aren’t only important in marriage. In actuality, consumer packaged goods companies are constantly forming their own partnerships in order to strengthen their brands and deliver to consumers.

Like most other millennials, I’m completely attached to my mobile phone. Sometimes it’s weird to think that just 10 years ago I barely had any idea what a cell phone was or how to use it.

As the city of Chicago prepares, yet again, to dye the Chicago River green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, many beer consumers are prepped with a small bottle of green food dye for their beers.

When I asked my friend’s 5-year-old son what I should write my column about this month, he suggested Scooby-Doo or Batman.

 With the chill of winter upon us, some days you might just want to curl up under a warm blanket with a piping-hot cup of hot chocolate in your hands.  

 Raise your hand if your New Year’s resolution last month contained some improvement regarding your health. I admit that every year I set some goal around my health, whether it is changes in dieting habits or increased exercise frequency.  

 Last fall, a team of researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan conducted a study which found that those who looked at pictures of baby animals, such as puppies and kittens, did more productive work afterward, as reported in an article in the Washington Post.  

 We’ve finished the countdown, the Times Square Ball in New York has dropped, and it’s time to shift gears into 2013.