Marketing to Millennials.... Wait I'm a millennial

I've always had an interest in marketing. A look at how we take in the things around us. No one is immune to marketing. Everyone relates to something about a brand. Whether it be a sensory experience, favorite colors, sounds, smells or textures.

Or just a feeling, that's always a sign of good marketing for me, when I can't quite tell you why I like it. When its more about essence and emotion than tangible aspect. That's when marketing hooks me and makes me think about a brand.

Benefit does a great job of this; their marketing and social media are all fun, bright and delightful. I'm not a bit fan of pink, or their creepy vintage doll heads but their whole image. Sweet, classic, vintage. They constantly use words like "gorgeous" and "lovely", which are things I say. Glorious round soft words that create an environment where every woman feels beautiful. An essence that makes me feel lovely and like I'd fit right in.

This leads me to think about my consumerism. At work, our department is required to seek approval of our marketing team but we rarely get insight into their future plans. Last week we got a look at the coming year, and the targeted market, which just happens to sound familiar. The key aspects are: millennial  (25-40) mostly female, disposable income, and status seeker (which I'd never admit out loud). This slide from our marketing team, was targeted at me.

It actually made me happy. Let me known I was in the right place and solidified my brand loyalty, and that I was working for the right company.

Now if only I didn't have to try to explain the appeal of the essence to the rest of my coworkers. 

Last (well only) summer rain...

It rained on Saturday. Not drizzled or misted with the morning fog. Really rained. From 6am to 4pm it came down steady and we got almost an inch on the valley floor.

For local vineyard managers this isn't the best news. It has all the potential to ruin most of the crops left on the vine. So this rain means we brace ourselves for catastrophe as an industry.

However on a personal level this rain is delicious. This rain comes on one of the few days I don't have my daughter, which is always a little disorienting for me, so the rain made it perfectly acceptable to dive into fall properly. Movies and soup and a well worn couch. I spend the day dressed in leggings and a log sweater and a scarf. I always forget how much I like scarves. 

My honey had to work which I guess was both a little disappointing and selfishly nice. It was good to have a day to reflect, to write and to feel the seasons change. Happy fall! 

Socially Invoked Mom Guilt

I stopped by the bank on my way home on Tuesday; a mom from Pretty Girl's School happens to work at my bank. At 5:30 on a Tuesday, she causally inquired where my daughter is. A simple enough question that happens to invoke one of the few feelings I despise most as being a mom...  Mom guilt. Massive mom guilt.

My parents live 5 miles from me. On most Tuesdays my amazing parents pick up munchkin and take me off payroll for the night. I tend to spend the time running errands before relaxing with the DJ but still, standing in the bank, I felt guilty. "I have the night off" doesn't feel sufficient but "my parents take her at least once a week so I don't go postal" seems like a bit of an over-share. So the sweet Mom who works at the bank was forced into mildly awkward silence, in the quiet of the bank, as I evaluated my options. What level of honest was I willing I offer?

Why are we so afraid of other parents. Why do other parents' opinions weigh in so high on our personal scale of concerns? I can't answer those questions. Which really bothers me if we're being honest... 

I'm proud of my life. I know that nights off are good for me. I know that P and I are closer given our space and my time off. But in the bank. Faced with another mom it felt like a cop out. I finally answered her question with something like 'oh my folks have her...' Then qualified it with how much my mom works in the classroom and my work schedule. With any luck someday ill remove the qualifiers. 

Napatastic: the smells of harvest

There is a sweet pungent smell just about everywhere in my home town this week. We live in the valley of wine and food and have begun the Harvest of 2013. Although my vino related job is spent inside, its always a thrilling time of year to be here. From grape trucks to dozens of international interns around the valley our world becomes a different place for several months each year.

Harvest is a great time of year, for so many reasons.One of my favorites is the sense of hope and awe that comes over the winery teams.  We can't help but be excited for 1 to 2 years down the road when this harvest will truly show us what it's worth. When corks are popped by consumers, not just winemakers. When critics get their say, when a new vintage graces the shelfs and let's our most loyal consumers find a new passion for our brand.


It sound like a lot of one little act. One annual event can give us so much hope and promise and that this same passion and joy are thrown into each and every harvest season. Even through the good, bad and ugly.

This year, like last year, is expected to be incredibly good. The first promising words begin a new cycle of great expectations and a sense of hope over the valley. All because we're dumping fresh grapes into bins. 

Round 2....

I never travel without my dairy. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.- Gwendolyn Fairfax in The Importance of Being Ernest

 
I've always been a fan of the journal, writing things out, seeing my words on a page and making my thoughts clear. So there have been countless journals over the years, many physical and a few virtual. So here were are back again, to a way of sharing my life with others. It has been almost 2 years since I've regularly blogged, carrying a moleskin has been my outlet of choice in the mean time.

Strangely in 2 years time, the basics have not really changed. Same home, same boy, new job but similar position. There have been some losses and gains. Our extended family has lost some awe-inspiring souls however I've really gained the boy and his family.

So here is to round 2 (okay really like 202 but for this particular blog we'll call it 2). To trying to blog again and chronicle this crazy life I love so much. To embrace the Napa Local lifestyle of wine, food, parenting and local camaraderie. The lifestyle of a mad, though surprisingly stable, 20 something who can't wait to turn the next corner. 

"-You are quite perfect Miss. Fairfax 

-Oh I hope I am not that. It would leave no room for developments, and I intend to develop in many directs" 

The Importance of Being Ernest 1952 (which is amazing film)