“Absolutely. That’s what we want. Although, truthfully, we’ve been having a hard time breaking into that segment,” Leon confesses.
Pam seems to be more relaxed, probably due to the empty glass of wine in front of her. “It’s just that our customer base is so heavily ingrained in the outdoors already. Many of them aren’t novices.”
“Sure, that makes sense,” Brielle says, considering that.
I have some ideas floating around my head for some advertisements that would cater to that market, tag lines, ad copy, placement opportunities. I open my mouth to give them a snippet of what I’m thinking, without giving away the house. But before I can swallow my food, Brielle is talking again.
“If it was me, I would want to show the various skill sets in action. Not just with words or even still images. Video messaging is huge right now on certain platforms. Short clips that make up a compilation video of people smiling, laughing, feeling proud of themselves. And make sure that the people in the videos look like the clients that you are trying to attract, right. So that people can see themselves in your ads.”
“Yes, yes. I love that. We’ve done some television ads for the stores. I’m sure we can make a video for the tours, too,” Leon chimes in.
“Television is great, but a lot of people, especially young people, pay for ad-free streaming if they can afford to. Social media platforms are still the strongest foothold in that demographic right now.”
“See, this is why we need a young person to help with the advertising,” Leon laughs.
But I’m still stuck on Brielle.
She isn’t wrong. Just the opposite, she is entirely correct. Short- or long-form videos are the best way to push out messaging to the masses, specifically on the social platforms that cater to that audience.
Brielle is off again, with a totally different idea, laying all of it on the table.
“Oh, you know what you could do,” she exclaims, her fork waving wildly around her head, her eyes wide with excitement. “You could have patches or stamps that people could collect for every tour they completed. Collect all of the hiking patches or collect one in every activity. That way, it incentivizes repeat business. You could even follow along on someone’s journey to collect them all.”
Leon is looking at Brielle with an adoration that I have no business being irritated with. “Genius,” he says.
Where is she coming up with this? It really is a good idea.
Brielle spews out two more advertisement ideas off the cuff, and I have to admit that I don’t hate those ideas either.
“Damian has you in accounting? Why?” Leon looks at me with confusion, like I was the one who chose her career path. I had no idea Brielle had a creative bone in her body. Hell, I know her as much as he does at this point. “Sorry, it’s a great profession. I have accountants myself. Don’t know where I would be without them.”
“Probably jail,” Pam jokes.
“True. True.” He nods. “But you’re wasted over there. You have a real knack for coming up with some great marketing ideas.”
“Thanks. I’d like to get into the marketing side of things one day. Accounting is fine. Like you said, it’s important work, and it’s what I went to school for. But it isn’t my passion.” Brielle shrugs.
“You would?” The question is out of my mouth before I can think better of it.
She does that cute face scrunch again. Her eyes meet mine for a moment before looking down at her plate. A pretty pink blush creeps up her neck and over her cheeks. My pulse spikes. She looks good like that.
“Yeah, I mean, maybe, someday,” she says casually, but kind of quiet.
I wait until she meets my eyes again. “You should,” I tell her. “You’re good at it.”
“Oh no. This is just me spitballing ideas. I think it might be my turn to get kicked under the table and told to shut up,” she says with a self-deprecating laugh.
I lean in close, talking low so it’s just for her. “I don’t give out false compliments, Brielle. If I tell you you’re good at it, it’s because you are.” The sweet scent of her nearly overwhelms me, and when her breath hitches, it’s everything I can do not to lean into her to see if I can make her make that sound again.
“Not at all. I love how excited you are about it all. It’s important to love what you do.” Pam’s voice cuts through my haze, setting me right again.
“And even better if you love who you are doing it with.” Leon takes Pam’s hand and gives it a squeeze. His eyes shine in the like she’s the most exquisite sight he’s ever seen.
Love. What a joke. That has never been a part of my plans, and I am certainly not going to share my business with someone.
Brielle may be beautiful, creative, smart, charming, but she’s also my employee. One who I need to keep around long enough to go on a couples retreat with, I remind myself. One thatshesigned us up for. And I still haven’t figured out her motivation for that. The old saying “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” comes to mind. Not that Brielle is an enemy. But she is someone who I need to keep my eye on.
“I love this. If you were on Damian’s marketing team, it would be a no-brainer for us,” Pam adds.
