Last August, I wrote a cover story for Vision Monday titled “Telling Stories” about how, thanks to the weakened economy, it matters less to consumers what a brand’s name is than what that brand stands for and how interesting its story is. With the lingering recession, this premise is still sound, even a year later.

Brands that can clearly convey their message in an engaging and appealing way are the ones continuing to see success. In the 12 months since writing that article, a number of new, more niche brands have also started to find success by telling their own compelling stories.

Ultimately, I think what consumers are responding to these days is inventive ideas and interesting narratives. In fact, you can check out some new trend ideas in our Extended Style.Pages feature starting on page 30 and some interesting things retailers are telling VM are working for them heading into the second half of the year in this issue’s cover story on page 37.

Speaking of retailers, this same idea about compelling narratives applies to the environments in which consumers are making their purchases. It has become incumbent upon optical retailers and ECPs to create an atmosphere that sets the right tone and mood for the telling of these brands’ messages. As such, we at VM thought it was the perfect time to introduce the 1st Annual Dispensing and Retail Excellence Awards to recognize the retailers and dispensers who are excelling at telling their own stories.

The Vision Monday D.A.R.E Awards is an idea we’ve been working on for awhile and we can’t wait to share the results with you in our Sept. 19 issue. But you don’t have to wait until then to get involved, head to www.VisionMonday.com/DARE today to vote for the “We the People” Award for Most Daring Retailer and see if your favorite wins come September! ■

dcarroll@jobson.com