Thursday was a big day for the Dicks.
Tara shipped Maddie back to Michigan for her junior year after six weeks at home. Noelle started her senior year of high school – our last-ever first day of school and the first of many lasts to come.
It’s hard to compute it all, to be honest. Time disappears.
I know. Every time I write about our kids growing up, I get a barrage of smirky replies – “Just you wait” – from parents who are further along the journey of empty nests, weddings, grandchildren, all the things we thought were a million years in the future.
We do it to parents with kids younger than ours as well, trying to relate to them with throwback stories of our own or passing along words of advice on the trials of toddlers or middle schoolers. Selfishly, it’s our way of reconnecting to times that seem like yesterday, yet so far away. It’s also meant to help, however minimally it does.
Everyone’s experience as parents is as unique as our DNA itself. We have examples from our childhood we try to follow, others we run from as far as we can. Strategies and tactics that work with one of our kids fail miserably with the other. We all confront different challenges and circumstances, not the least of which are the rapidly moving parts of marriage (or non-marriage) and our own development as adults.
I know you’ve been where I am, but no you haven’t. And I’ll never be where you are, but kind of. That’s okay. The only sin is being judgmental.
It’s not to say tips aren’t helpful or commiseration isn’t welcome. By all means, fire away. We’ve learned immensely valuable things from our friends, families, strangers, and experts. I hope we’ve taught others a few useful tricks along the way too. I’ll take one out of a hundred.
So now, the next in a long line of fleeting phases begins. What’s amazing is how much I miss all the other ones but wouldn’t trade any one of them for another. I’d give anything to be lying in bed next to our girls, reading them a bedtime book one more time, except that I love my relationship with them as young women somehow just as much. I wouldn’t press pause or rewind for a second.
Whether you’ve had kids or simply remember being one, I hope you’re enjoying whatever part of the one-of-a-kind ride you’re on.
Life is so good.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, if maybe not like last year. Yes, we’ve already started our 2024 holiday retail tracking. Actually, we started way back in June, but we’re now beginning to see how the coming season might be shaping up differently. For starters, the multi-year trend of more people shopping in the summer months seems to be reverting, as more shoppers used Prime Day and other big retailer events to buy for themselves. Simultaneously, a larger share intends to do more of their gift-buying before Thanksgiving. Another big finding is that the percentage of U.S. adults who plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping at big-box retailers like Target is up a whopping 20% over last year. Value and ease-of-experience will be the themes this year.
People are eating fast food like it’s 2019. As part of a major focus we’ll be undertaking through the end of the year, we published some high-level data about trends in the quick-service restaurant industry this week. Driven significantly by a category-wide movement toward “value” (which, incidentally, is why we’re paying such close attention), the percentage of Americans who say they’re eating at QSRs “once a week or more” has surged to pre-pandemic levels in recent months. Read the rest for yourself, as we looked at the popularity of drive-thru and app ordering across brands, the profile of diners during different dayparts, and more.
Gen Z loves to bake and, for once, this isn’t a marijuana post. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we covered a hodgepodge of interesting topics, including the huge popularity of baking (especially sweet items like cookies, brownies, and cakes) among young adults. In fact, every other age group is at least twice as likely as Gen Z to say they don’t plan to bake anything this fall. Noelle is 1000% on trend here. We also looked at the prevalence of online review seeking and people who use Google to research almost everything. Finally, we gauged enthusiasm for 7-Eleven’s new Japanese-inspired food items like ramen and rice balls (which is higher than I would’ve guessed, even as someone who ate a million pressed Cubans at Sevvies late night in college).
Samsung and Apple did a bang-up job with their advertising during the Olympics. Another thing you’ll get sick of me plugging this fall is our new “brand lift measurement” capability – which it turns out we’re exceptionally good at, compared to most of the garbage out there. But I digress. Anyway, when we looked at advertisers who spent big on the Summer Games, Samsung took gold with a full 6% jump in Olympic viewers who are more favorable to the brand than they were before. Samsung’s hopes of besting their biggest rival were muted, however, as Apple scored silver. Toyota came home with the bronze.
Venu Sports could be a big hit with fans, if the courts allow it. If you follow the media news, you’ve undoubtedly followed the saga of Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s judge-thwarted plans to launch a combined live sports streaming service. Suffice to say, the plaintiffs aren’t on the same page as many sports fans, who appear to be psyched about the potential of the new service. Of those who’ve heard about the proposed collab, over 1 in 4 say they’re at least somewhat likely to sign up if/when the service exists. As more and more sports fans continue to cut the cord, the opportunity is huge for everyone allowed in the game.
More awesomeness from the InsightStore:
- Multi-use makeup is just one way beauty buyers are stretching their dollar in the current economic climate – also, just buy the monthly report;
- In which we compare Denny’s to IHOP diners;
- You can tell a lot about a person if they drink frappuccinos.
The most popular questions this week:
Do you personally define “happiness” and “success” in the same way?
Are you generally good at keeping secrets?
Do you think you could take a 7-day cruise without your cell phone?
Do you typically check a bag while traveling?
Answer Key: Yes; I’ll never tell; I couldn’t take a 7-day cruise under any circumstances; It couldn’t be more different; Only if it’s my golf clubs.
Hoping you’re well.
JD
