Marketing & The R Word.
The upshot of marketing during a downturn.

First, a primer.

The recession is top of mind:
Just ask Google.
Google Trends, “Recession”.

It doesn’t take a mind reader
to know what people are thinking.

What do consumers think?
They are anxious.
They are pragmatic.
They are frugal.
They delay.

SO,
it’s tough out there.
Times are trying.
Business is slow.
The end is nigh.
ND
E E H.
TH NIG
IS

Unless you play your cards right.
Here are 10 steps to do just that.

Step 1
Analyze. Prune. Build.
Analyze your business.
Find what’s working.
Eliminate what isn’t.

R.
H.O.W.?
I.

If you can’t track
success, you can’t
avoid future failure.

Track everything. Emails. Websites. Advertising. Facebook...

everything

If you can’t measure it,
you’re going
to have a tough time selling it to the CFO.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

It’s not easy. But survival never is.

Step 2
Hug your customers

delight them.
delight them.
delight them.
delight them.
delight them.
delight them.
delight them.
delight them.

Delighte
spend m d customer
o s
p a y h i g re , b u y m o re a
h
non-del er margins tha nd
ighted c n
ustome
rs.

And they’ll talk to friends and convince them to do the same.

Ahh, there’s nothing
like the sweet sound of
word-of-mouth marketing
in a downturn.

so...

? ??
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?
?
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How do you delight a customer?
? ?
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?
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?
?
?

Inizi parlando il loro linguaggio.
通過告訴他們的語言開始。
그들의 언어를 말해서 시작.
Commencez par parler leur langage.
Beginnen Sie, indem Sie ihre Sprache sprechen.
Begin door hun taal te spreken.
言語を話すことによる開始。
Start by speaking their language.

Engage them. Empathize with and relate to them.

Look at how
you’re talking
with your
audience.

get ting ge?
they r messa
Are a
on e cle

RE
GO M
TH
W EM
EY H B
GOER ER
. E :

It’s a new world. It’s not just TV, radio and newspaper. It’s Facebook
and YouTube and magnetic Starbucks cups attached to cars.

T h in k E x p e r ie n
t ia l M a r k e t in g.
It lets you get
up close and
personal with
your audience.

example: Make-A-Wish.

A child wished
he could meet
a Star Wars
Storm Trooper.
Simple, right?

Thing is, we wanted this to be a cause for celebration.

So we brought him
to Pioneer Place in
downtown Portland.

But we didn’t introduce him to a Storm Trooper.

We introduced him
to a streetcar full of
Storm Troopers.

Now that’s a delighted customer.

THE POINT:
The media can change.

Your message can’t.

Step 3
Focus on who not to target.

67%
of marketers say
refining target
audiences is a key
strategy for surviving
an economic downturn.

We couldn’t
agree more.

Narrow your focus. Invest in a market segmentation study.

See where business is
coming from and target it
with laser-precision.

Next , separate your
audience into fifths and assign a cost
of acquisition to each segment.
$
$
$$ $ $ $$
$$ $ $
$ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $
$ $ $
$ $
$ $ $
$ $ $ $$
$
$
$
$ $ $ $ $
$
$ $ $ $ $
$ $
$
$$
$
$
$
$ $
$
$ $

How much is that bottom 20%
really adding to your business?
$
$ $
$
$$
$
$ $
$
$ $

Or better yet, how much
are you spending trying to
reach that bottom 20%?
$ $ $ $
$
$ $ $ $
$ $

Step 4
Invest in growth

Use whatever resources you have,
study your markets,
see where growth will come from. And invest.

Step 5
It’s the message, stupid.

Forget the medium. The moment is the message.

economy
And right now, the
is front and center.

WILL WORK
FOR WORK.
Is your message working with the economy? Or against it?

THESE
DAYS TRUMPS
VALUE LUXURY

Kool Aid is hyping up how many drinks a consumer
gets from each package and how the cost of each
drink compares to the cost of a can of Coke.

d
b eyon ing” to
ai goes ee Pric
H yund Employ t ectio
n.”
“ s P ro
s
“J ob Lo

They’re going with the financial flow.

Chances are you’ll have to do the same.

Oh, and value? It’s more than just money.
$
$
$ $ $
$
$ $ $
$ $ $
$

007sing
ts 2 erti :
d i dv
r i b en n a e l e a s e
esc en I ss r
n d a rd p re
ilto G
H on in a
Hilt paign
cam

“The focus of the advertisement is not the bed, but
rather the guest. Emphasizing people first is part
of the brand’s overall goal to help travelers work
smart, stay fit, eat well and offer the services and
amenities for travelers to have everything. Right
where they need it.”

Amen.

Marketing research
can tell you what
your customers
are thinking, feeling
and saying.

Invest
in it and
you won’t
regret it.

Remember:
• Speak their language.
• Live their world.
• Understand them.

Step 6
Think .tnereffiD

When everyone’s busy zigging,
it’s time to start zagging.

Marketers can get
pretty conservative
during a downturn.
And that’s okay.

n o t
What’s okay?

Blending in.

be different
Just be smart about how you do it.

Apple did it with the iPod and
iPhone. IBM did it by switching
from hardware to software.
Cadillac did it by connecting
with a younger audience.
And Oscar Meyer?

Two words...

Weiner

Mobile

Being different doesn’t
have to be expensive.

We did it by creating
DearAgency.com,
a site that lets an
unhappy marketer
send a Dear John
letter to their agency.

The site has received 10,000
visitors since its launch, with
about $500 in marketing and an
aggressive blogging campaign.

And we’ve received some promising
ne w business inquiries as a re s u lt .

Step 7
Price it Right

Pa
A n
sm ic
ar pri
t cin
pr g
ic w
in o
g n’
st t
ra wo
te rk
gy .
w
ill
.

$
10 $
10
0
Retail business?
Instead of dropping prices on your high priced
products, create flanking products that deliver
lower price to lower value customers.

Service business?
Evaluate your customers and focus on those
with better cash flow. And don’t forget to be
flexible with your margins. A smaller margin
today could create larger margins tomorrow.

Consider short-term
promotions to drive
traffic and interest.
Coupon redemption
is on the rise. Strike
while the iron is hot.

Just be smart about it.

Too many coupons and you’ll train
your customers to wait for specials.

Step 8
Go Souk

Souk: A Middle Eastern
Market with lots of
perishable product.
Media: A perishable product.

What do
they have
in common?
(Besides perishable products?)

negotiation.
$ $ $
$
$
$
$
$
$
$ $
$
$ $
$
$ $$ $$
$
$
$
$ $
$ $ $
$
$
$
$
$
$ $
$

So strap on your fez, because
when times get tough, the
tough get negotiating.

Media companies are
quite willing to negotiate
off the rate card.

The trick?
You have to ask.
And they’ll usually reward
you to the tune of lower
pricing or bonus spots.

Step 9
The Why Nots?
of New
Media.

IN
2006 your website was rocking.

Its 2009.

Is your site still rocking?
Or merely rolling?
(may
be it’
s tim
e for
new
whee
ls)

S o how is your
reputation?
Track and adjust
using new tools.
Watc h the social
media c onversation.
What ar e the Tweets
saying abo
ut
yo
u?

Now’s a good time
to consider mobile
marketing, too.

.
pe titive
com dable.
I t ’s f f o r .
ta base nt.
I t ’s a n e w d a p l e m e t.
It’ s a to im p ocke
I t ’s e a s y e r y o n e ’s a y t o
ev t w
It ’s i n s a g r e a g e o n
’
A nd it other ed on.
n iti
get a compet
your

Step 10
The Future

ounce back? How
my b
c ono wil
lg
e lob
t he al
ill w
W
ar
g?
m
rin
ing
it b
a ff
ill
ec
tw
t us
Wha
?

And most importantly…

WILL THE
CUBS FIN
ALLY
BREAK TH
E CURSE?

But know this:
social media will be a big part of it.

Embrace social media
and you’ll connect with
your audience in a big way.

Remember:
go where they go.

If your audience is
Younger=MySpace
A bit older=Facebook
Business-oriented=LinkedIn
Always “on”=Twitter

Visit their profiles. Read their blogs.

Make sure your brand
reflects what they’re
thinking and saying.

Social media will play a vital
role in marketing, branding,
research…even recruitment.

Make sure your brand is playing along.

Now, and well into the future.

If only predicting the
weather was this easy.

Want to know more?

Ask, and ye shall receive.

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