So I was walking down  5 th Ave one fine winter evening and I saw this store called Aritzia. The name was so pretty, the store was prettier, I couldn’t control walking inside to take a tour. It was an absolute treat to my eyes, this store had  the softest muted hues, everything pastel and pretty. It was a colour pallet right out of my dreams, it was one of those rare stores with such an individual minimalistic character. It was basic, subtle & pretty with the beautiful white staircase making it a lavish two story store. It’s one of those brands where I didn’t have the need to shop and I didn’t know what I wanted but I definitely wanted to own something from it.

I came home- googled it , instagrammed it ( characteristics of a compulsive shopper and an easily fascinated by brands girl ). So the brand was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1984. It has  various upscale stores in Canada and United States along with a strong E-commerce platform. Aritzia has its in-house brands, such as Wilfred, Wilfred Free, Le Fou by Wilfred, TNA, Golden by TNA, Babaton, The Group by Babaton, 1 -01 Babaton, Sunday Best, and Community. It also has two handbag lines going by the names of SIXELEVEN and Auxiliary. They also stock labels such as Citizens Of Humanity, Mackage, Six Eleven, Levi’s, A Gold E, Havaianas, J Brand Jeans, Adidas, Herschel Supply Co. and rag & bone.

A little about its digital interface, it’s Instagram handle is as insta-worthy as could be. The feed isn’t crowded, it’s aligned to the brand tone, let’s just say it kept me hooked to it scrolling down further for a while.

The website- Aritzia’s website is smooth , easy , very user friendly. Everything you need to know is right there on the landing page, about the brand, payment information easy directions to the various clothing categories, all the brands under it, the links to all its other social media handles. The most distinguishing feature for me was the little AI live chat box right there in the corner, it’s constant even as you scroll down or change pages to delve further into browsing through the website. Why I say distinguishing is because not all clothing retail digital platforms are quick to adopt a live chat box, Aritzia is among the few ones that have already.

To conclude, I loved everything about this brand, its stores, its  aesthetics , its e-commerce platform, its brand language and sensibility and the clothes of course . It’s pricier than most high street premium brands I would say but it also has a quality it doesn’t want to compromise on and a strong brand standing.     

There are two kinds of people in the world , there are confident people and there are then people who constantly live in self doubt and more often than not find themselves contemplating on how the world sees them . When I say this I mean not just physical appearance. I am not a fan of narcissism, modesty is a great virtue but being self aware and and loving yourself for who you are is key to not letting “ what must they be thinking about me” impact you .

As a part of a weekly assignment I was asked to take this quiz by the famous Sally Hogshead called HOW TO FASCINATE, the whole idea behind this quiz is that it tells you how the world perceives your personality through your communication.

My first thoughts – I was skeptical, I mean how could some questions decide and tell me how I come across to others and its only human nature to be easy and biased to yourself when you are asked to judge yourself( I mean I don’t think we are our most harsh and true critiques ) but having said that I did try to give it a fair shot.

The result – Okay honestly I did kind of raise my eyebrows when the report generated but minutes into reading it I was kind of pleasantly surprised. I’ll tell you why ….. Some screenshots from my report before that –

So my first reaction to my primary advantage PRESTIGE was – okay? ( Do I come across as arrogant or high headed ) but then after reading into it I was quite content. I loved my title – THE CONNOISSEUR ,  to say that I was completely unaware would be a lie but then you sometimes do need that validation and confidence booster to be proud of your personality traits .

My secondary advantage – PASSION. Well my thoughts on this were again validation. I always questioned it , more often than not  I’ve found myself thinking “ umm okay I think I am these things but do others see it through ? “

Another thing this quiz takes you through is what may not work for you. My Dormant advantage was – ALERT . It’s that advantage that basically tells you how you are least likely to impress others or come across as the best version of yourself.

What I can leverage from this quiz as a future marketer – I know now what qualities / personality traits work for me and what doesn’t. I read my report over three times and it just gave me more confidence to own who I am and to be proud of my opinions& personality and to use them in my stride while communicating in the world. My secondary advantage – Passion can help me understand what my audience wants and I would use my primary advantage to impact the audience painting the correct picture as per the need.  

My final thoughts on this TAKE THE QUIZ . If you are someone like me who spends a lot of time thinking about – what others must be thinking of you or maybe you could have communicated in a better way, constantly living in self doubt.– Take it !!! It’s the best kind of confidence booster I’ve come across in a while …. Know your personality strengths.

Fun fact – I have a quality my hero – Oprah Winfrey has. Ooooo I also share a personality trait with Princess Diana …. How cool is that !

THIS HAD TO BE GREEN….hellooo we are talking avocados here ( hint my favourite ad “Avocados from Mexico ” ) Lets start from the start Did I watch the superbowl …hell no , did I youtube all the commercials immediately after it got over …. hell yes You gotta do what you gotta do when you’re a marketing student and you know the ads are going to be referred to through the year. Coming to my favourite ad , what a unique combination right, dogs and avocados I mean what’s the connection but it still manage to pull off something sweet … definitely left me smiling.

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Okay in all fairness Avocados is my favourite thing to eat ( I swear I eat an entire Avocado every single day ) and I am a professional dog cuddler so no guesses this would obviously be my absolute favourite ad . Keeping my personal love aside, why I liked this ad was because just moving from the traditional junk food advertisements that run worldwide in between most games , here we are promoting a superfood and something that’s actually super healthy . From the funny and cute ‘Chorus’ teaser …. its still ringing in my head by the way ( AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO ) to the cute pups ( excuse my usage of the word cute again and again but this ad was way too cute ) I think this was a very different way of putting their brand story out there not only was this an engaging ad but it also had a heart and purpose. Avocados From Mexico is promoting dog adoptions as part of its Super Bowl moment. I think for a food brand that typically tends to focuses more on online recipe ideas than efforts this was definitely a good step forward. So initially I did not get the connection between dogs and Avocados but then when i read further into it I came to know of their unique partnership with Adopt A Pet using IBM Watson AI technology where people can be matched with dogs up for adoption in their area based on answers to questions about their avocado and lifestyle preferences.

Lets talk numbers – It was the best ad in terms of sentiment with net sentiment of 58%. Avocados from Mexico also registered the most used brand hashtag with over 606 million impressions.* (those are some numbers right and most definitely shareable content … ) .

Hope you enjoyed this read and would go and watch the ad if you have not already. Okay ! So I am gonna go and make myself some Avo on toast for my Sunday breakfast now ( quick tip feta on avo toast is the just divine ) Toodles until next time … :))))

*https://www.marketingdive.com/news/super-bowl-2019-by-the-numbers/547612/

We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths – Walt Disney.
I resonate a lot with this quote by Walt Disney, for me curiosity has always driven creativity, welcoming you to my first ever blog and blog post. Following blogs and bloggers was something that took up a major portion of my leisure time,having me hooked to them and always musing about that innate creativity I wished I had. I did not think that my digital marketing professor would actually grant this subconscious wish of mine by giving this assignment of setting up an actual blog so here I am typing this down.
What you can expect from my blog , umm…. lets see, this is a part of my digital marketing class so yes a lot content from that arena and more, guess why ? because its always good to keep evolving, so I may have started this on a whim but I am going to keep trying to generate good content and maybe find a niche. FYI I love aesthetically pleasing things, also contrary to popular belief creativity is something that can be learned,is inspired and can acquired by experiences and by curiosity so I am not sure yet where this blog is going to be a few months down but I am going to try to amalgamate my inspired creativity and love for good aesthetics into something worth your attention. So lets keep you curious till I am ready with my blend ……