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Playing poker with the recession
Hold 'em or fold 'em?
11/18/2010 4:06:20 PM
Are you making your marketing plans for 2011? That process might be more like playing poker right now than what it has in the past. The "hold ‘em if you’ve got ‘em” mentality towards marketing has been brought on by a protracted recession that seems to have no end in sight. Economists have declared that the recession ended several months ago, but I am finding few businesses who are really buying that. It sounds more like a bluff than the real thing. Business has always had this jaded lay-it-on-the-table-if-you’ve-got-it mentality. Unfortunately, the cards have not been played that would convince most of us that we are on our way back to recovery. So here we are, staring down the recession, trying to make plans for next year on pure opinion and speculation.

Let me interject some hope and common sense into this process. First, even in the midst of a recession, you still need marketing. I would argue that you need to be marketing with more gusto in the bad times than you do in the good times. Not only is your competition greater when dollars in the marketplace shrink, but you also have to work to make sure you are not a casualty of cost cutting measures by your clients. Remember that marketing is more than trying to gain new clients, it is also about retaining the ones you already have. Your marketing plans should reflect both gaining and retaining.

A second reason to ramp up the marketing now is that recessions do not last forever. You do not want to be standing flatfooted when the economic bad times turn around. Your marketing plans should include a strategy to take the lead when the recovery happens. What do I mean by this? First, you should have a strategy that helps your customers ramp back up for business with your goods or services. Knowing that economic recoveries happen slowly, so will spending. Caution will be the watchword coming out of the recession. Have you marketed your company so that it can sell in smaller increments on shorter terms with options to buy in greater quantities at longer terms? Making options like this available will put you ahead of the competition who demands that terms be what they were before the recession.

Another way to take the lead now is to take advantage of advertising and sponsorship opportunities while the price is low. Right now, advertisers are looking for any deal they can make. Striking a deal to advertise your products or services will never be lower than they are right now. Advertisers are willing to wheel and deal. Lock up a contract for the next couple of years. The same is true of sponsorships. Not-for-profits are begging for corporate sponsors. If you can sign a contract with an option for subsequent sponsorship opportunities at the same price, you will be ready to push your company to the front of the line when the recession ends. While your competition is climbing out of the bunker, you can be showcasing your brand.

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Photo by Cevdet Gökhan Palas

The recession is over! So where's the party? Jeannine Aversa, AP http://news.yahoo.com

 

Comments

Have we really seen the bottom of this recession? It seems that economists are painting a rosy picture based on pure speculation. The government seems to think the answer is hyper-debt, which is bad news for business.
Posted by: Roger James | 11/19/2010 9:17:44 AM
 
 
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