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The coming year holds dramatic changes for some of the world’s most recognized brands, as more millennials, the influential consumers who already value transparency and social consciousness, become parents and expect more from brands as a result.

Start with the National Football League. Reports of damage to players from repeated head injuries are creating a serious brand-reputation problem for the NFL. Millennial parents, whose children are just entering the world of youth sports, are hugely important to the NFL’s long-term success, but they are now thinking twice about sending their sons and daughters onto the football field.

If the league can’t convince these parents that football’s potential rewards outweigh the risks, its long-term brand value will decline. At the start of this season, the league instituted stricter penalties for hits, yet the issue is not going away. The family of former Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend and then shot himself in front of Chiefs officials, had his body exhumed just last month to explore the possibility that head trauma played a role in the tragedy. In 2014, look for the NFL to beef up its education efforts and institute more sweeping rule changes to prevent injuries.

Continue reading at AdAge.com