The word grit carries many forms in this podcast: the guest has grit, her ideas have grit, her discipline has grit, and her approach to the beverage industry has grit. Find out what grit means in a modern day setting.

🍷 **Adapt or Taste Your Own Dust**: Monika Elling highlighted the critical importance of adapting to consumer trends and interests, not just in creating products but also in marketing them. Like trying to ferment grape juice with old socks, ignoring trends in the wine industry will only result in a sour taste in consumers' mouths.

🍷 **Brand is King, but the Customer is the Almighty**: The episode emphasized that while having a captivating brand is akin to holding a royal flush in cards, understanding the consumer's needs and desires is like owning the casino. Monika and Paul discussed that without strong brand ideation rooted in consumer psychology, you might as well be selling water to a well.

🍷 **Tech it Easy**: In a world where even wines get digital makeovers, Monika stressed the significance of merging digital marketing strategies with traditional methods. If your brand isn't evolving with technology, you're essentially running a vineyard with horse plows in a tractor world.

She has it all goin'on.

In this enlightening tussle with grapes and brands, Monika Elling decanted wisdom on crafting brands that resonate and sell. From branding faux pas equivalent to wearing socks with sandals, to championing the salient blend of digital vigor and sensory appeal, this episode was a toast to the complexities of the wine industry. Paul and Monika traversed topics like the non-alcoholic beverage debacle—likening it to juicy juice with a trust fund—and the almighty reign of consumer understanding over mere aesthetics of wine label designs. Laughs were poured generously as Monika likened misguided brand strategies to playing tennis with a pickleball racket—possible but frustratingly fruitless. Cheers to navigating the vast vineyards of wine branding with the acumen of a seasoned sommelier!