The Old New Reality
A new year has arrived, and with it a ton of baggage from last year: economic turmoil, job cuts, falling share prices, skittish consumers, dwindling marketing budgets.
Consumer confidence plummeted to an all-time low in October before improving moderately. But then it deteriorated even more in November.
“Consumers remain extremely pessimistic, and the possibility that economic growth will improve in the first half of 2009 remains highly unlikely,” says Lynn Franco, the director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
All this portends a slowdown that may last quite a while, putting additional pressure on marketers. What to do? Find ways to encourage consumers to buy based on more than price. Offer value and convenience.
That means understanding the people who buy your products. Find out what their needs and wants are — and reward them when they respond.
There may even be some opportunities in times like these. For example, people are dining out less and preparing meals at home. What a great opening for packaged goods companies. I can see the message: Buy these ingredients and you’ll have a nice dinner.
Here’s another example: Last month, Pottery Barn held complimentary seminars for its customers on “the best ideas” for the holidays. Anyone who attended received 10% off any of the merchandise featured in the class. The seminars were held in partnership with Real Simple magazine, which offered students two free preview issues.
And Dole Food Co. is examining its promotional pricing, among other things. As marketing chief Paul Panza says, “Requiring someone to put up the cash to buy four or five units of something just doesn’t make sense in this economy.”
On another front, we’re about to have a new administration in Washington. That could mean a host of new guidelines, regulations and federal laws affecting aspects of promotional marketing. You name it — these rules could affect endorsements, user-generated content, green marketing and network neutrality. Brian Quinton takes a look at what’s behind the regulatory push, and why companies may have to adjust their campaigns to remain in play.
Also in this issue, Richard Tedesco analyzes Promo’s proprietary research on event marketing. Not surprisingly, budgets are being trimmed and marketers are looking for promotions that can prove their worth.
Yes, we’re certain to be confronted with another challenging year — one likely to spark real change and innovative marketing. And that’s not all bad.
