Market Research

First of all, thank you for being so sweet to Trav and for jumping over to his blog to say hi!  I knew you'd do it and it was so cute to see him realize what was happening :) We were about to go to bed last night and he was checking his email on his phone, when he suddenly grinned and said, "Did you tell people to leave me comments or something??"  And I said, "Maybe, why??"  He said "Because I have tons of emails telling me I have comments from people who read your blog!"  Oh the love that goes on in blog land...Thanks!  It made his night :) Not only is he the most handsome guy I know, but I happen to also know that he's an untapped wealth of knowledge and wisdom and I know you'll enjoy getting to know him!

Now, changing gears completely, I did something really fun this morning.  I didn't expect it to be fun, I actually thought it was going to be pretty boring, but it was totally fun.  Right up my alley.  So, would you like to know what I did???  Well, it had to do with this:

Yep, sippy cups.  Who knew I had so many thoughts about them??

I got called to participate in a market research study today about the design, colors, and features of sippy cups, as well as other feeding tools (spoons, bowls, plates, etc.).  I had to do some homework in order to participate, which sent me to Target and the grocery store last night.  While I was kind of dreading the whole thing, I was motivated by the cold hard cash :) However, when I got there this morning, I found myself totally enjoying the entire thing.  And while this will come as no big shock to anyone, I am VERY opinionated when it comes to packaging and the design of a product.  

My friend Greta will smile at me while reading this next admission, because we are probably totally opposite in this, but I am not one of those bottom line shoppers.  Price matters, but I do not buy something based only on that.  I TOTALLY buy based on how I think it looks :) In fact, I left Target with the sippy cup pictured above last night, simply because I loved the way it looked and the design of the package.  It hooked me.  And today I had to explain why, in great detail.  Which was easy for me.  I had many opinions about it!  I'm quite sure everyone else in the room had at least one thought about me that had something to do with "weird."  Oh well!  

 My attention to packaging goes beyond sippy cups and stems largely from a marketing class I took in college.  We studied branding extensively and I've never forgotten that.  But I digress.  My Mother can't understand how I'm her child in this, but I've never been able to buy generic food usually because I think the cans/boxes look so horrible in my cupboards!  You know what I mean, they always have terrible photography, bad graphics and corny names that imitate the real thing.  I just can't handle it.  I know, that is probably a terrible admission given the state of the economy and our own bank account, but we all have our vices and that is one of mine.  I have made some strides in this and have adapted my generic thing when it comes to Target.  I like their Market Pantry brand and especially their Archer Farms line.  But I am STILL trying to get over their new "Up & Up" line.  Really??  UP & UP??  WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN??  Not their best branding idea, in my humble opinion!

Anyway, it was a fun way to make some cash this morning and I always appreciate it when someone actually cares and will pay to hear what I think, in great detail :) If only I could continue that and make a career out of it...I have plenty of opinions to go around!  Ha Ha :)