One of the interesting things about a new concept is how your branding evolves right away. You start out well in advance of the carpenters and designers with one idea. Then, as you add more people to the team, the brand begins to evolve. Almost like trying to paint a masterpiece with several competent people having a brush. As you can imagine, it can get real tricky … especially when your market expects you to have a clear idea of what you want to represent in their marketplace.
Valerie and I (my wife, for the uninitiated!) wanted our concept to be about the pairing of wine with wonderful gourmet foods, like cheese, cured meats, and chocolates …. and only wines from around here, Washington and a little of Oregon, etc. But the name “Pairings” wasn’t available, so we came up with 106 Pine and a tag line that was supposed to explain the concept perfectly in a few words. Thus came “Fresh Finds and Local Wines”. And now I’m beginning to wonder if that tag line really screams what we are. In other words, if you had never read any of the above history, would you know INSTANTLY what that means. I’m having my doubts.
The designers and Shannon want me to wait until the window display piece, a giant “and” symbol, gets here (assuming it exists after all these months!!). Then the tag line will be seen along with the “and” symbol and everyone will get it immediately. I think they’re wrong, but I agreed to wait for the window plan to be implemented before coming up with a different plan. You’d think, after 40 years and a few wins that I’d trust my instincts more. But I don’t want to be heavy handed. But the wait continues …..
