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Ways to Weather a Weak Economy
I
’m 65 years old and have been in the advertising business since 1965. During this period I have lived through three or four recessions (or “economic slowdowns,” as we say in polite society). Let’s see, there was the 1974 energy crisis; then 1981, 1991 and 2001; and now the reasonable possibility of another slowdown in 2009. With a fair amount of experience in these matters, I have discovered similarities. Most economic slowdowns are fed by the media looking for a story, especially prior to a presidential election. All of these were shallow, with the exception of the stagflation period during the ‘70s. Most lasted about one year, and offered great opportunities for contrarians. With this in mind, I am dispensing some advice that may help your agency weather this latest “whatever it is that seems to have gotten into the economy” situation.
10 SouthwestGraphics.net
1
Sell Like Hell.
Wherever there’s trouble, there’s opportunity. Now is the perfect time to up-tick your new business process, especially in selling your ability to help companies increase their sales, fill their pipelines, or (the magic words that clients want to hear in downturns), “use limited marketing dollars more effectively.” Following are some key new business intro’s you can use: • Are your marketing efforts directly tied to your sales efforts? • We can show you how to use the Web to market more effectively to drive more traffic to your business. • We can help your company close more sales once the leads are in your hands. See what I mean? In down times you have to help clients with programs that drive sales, above and beyond simply branding their businesses. We can talk ’til the cows come home about the absolute validity of brand as a promise of uniqueness, but if sales aren’t humming, clients won’t listen. Job number one in a soft economy is to help your clients and prospects to survive. Get your new business engines revving. Now is the time to be proactive!
2
Marketing Counts This Time Around.
In past economic downturns, advertisers tended to cut their budgets, tighten their belts and ride it out. This time it’s different. This time most companies realize that the customer is very bright and very informed. Customers aren’t looking to be sold, they’re looking to buy, to have a relationship with their chosen brands. In this customer-empowered economy, most companies realize that they need to continue marketing to stay close to their very valuable customers. However, it may not be the type of promotional marketing used during previous downturns, i.e., “buy for less now!” As we’ve discussed recently, the new creative and the new media speak much more to authenticity, relationships, loyalty and transparency. If your agency can help clients achieve these new marketing goals, then you, in turn, will continue to be busy…even during downturns.
Spring 2009
