Losing identity in the recession
Crunchy credit’s getting people down, and it’s really beginning to hit home. Friends and family are getting laid off left, right and center. And it’s getting harder and harder to find new jobs, regardless of your skill set, qualifications and dedication.
A lot of lay-offs and cut-backs aren’t currently necessary. Companies are protecting themselves, trying to increase cash flow and clamp down on expenditures as we hit more turbulent economic times. It’s understandable, but not always sensible.
We happen to be in the business of digital marketing. We create conversations, we help to establish a postive dialogue about our client’s and their businesses, and we do it well. However when it comes to cutbacks, the marketing budget is often the first to be roped in. What a mistake.
Loosing brand recognition
Recessions are quite possibly the most important time to continue to define and promote your brand. Letting people know that you’re still there, working away, persevering and sustaining your promises and presence to consumers. You stop marketing, you stop advertising yourself and building great conversations about your brand – there’s a chance you may slowly start to fade away. Especially in the fast paced digital world of today – it doesn’t take long for people to forget who you are.
Use times like this in the market to solidly define who you are and continue to build brand recognition and credibility. This will be massively beneficial post-recession and in the long-term, as brand-building is a long-term strategy. Short-term tactics (promotions, ‘credit crunch deals’, making redundancies, cutting back on training etc) may help to ease current cash flow but may possibly be detrimental to your brand identity over the coming years.
But it seems everyone’s cutting back. Consumers are becoming choosier about what they spend their money on, which brands they align themselves with and who gives them a sense of security. However, we’re still a consumer nation. Hiding in the shadows, hoping the recession will shrink away soon will do you no favours. Let people know that you’re here and you mean business. If anything, you should be increasing your marketing budget. Marketing is an investment, not an expense.
Using the recession to your advantage
OK, so everyone else is cutting back. Big chains and established brands are going into administration. They’ve stuck with the status quo to long, they’ve been too scared to make a move that may seem a tad risky. Now’s your time to pownce.
The stronger companies, the clever minds and the well-thought-out marketing strategies will push to the front of the pack, the weaker competitors are going to fall out of the race.
And with everyone else slashing marketing budgets, there’s less noise and clamour to be heard over, making it easier to improve your brand recognition – it’s quite possibly the best time to establish your identity. Be heard.
Don’t throw money at marketing
Although the above is true, it’s not simply a case of allocating more capital to the marketing budget. You need to re-evaluate strategies and your message, make it apply to people today. We’re not in the business of ramming information in people’s faces, we’re in the business of crafting stories, spreading ideas and engaging consumers in interesting, authentic conversations to establish a level of recognition and trust.
Stick with the status quo, get left behind. If you’re prepared to change, prepared to take some risks and make some important choices – you might win.
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Tim Kadlec said:
“The stronger companies, the clever minds and the well-thought-out marketing strategies will push to the front of the pack..”
Very well said! It is so important to not let fear or perceived limitations dictate your business decisions. Ultimately it’s the businesses who choose to continue to innovate and push their business forward that are going to be the ones coming out of the recession on top.
Nicole said:
Spending less on marketing is a vicious circle. You market less, people in general spend less (do they?). And recession continues. Hope your article becomes a collective wisdom.
Dape said:
Life is always about challenge and the strong and healthy will survive. My concern is for the people who find it hard to find the right positions when losing there jobs through no fault of there own where the wrong decisions were made at the top. These people who in charge of these failing businesses should be made accountable for there actions. (Rebel with a cause:)
nathan said:
@Dape – I completely agree. It’s never the managers or the bosses that get fired, always the people doing all the real work. I know several people who’ve recently lost their jobs through no fault of their own while the lazy big wigs sit back and blame anything but themselves.
“But it’s a recession, people loose jobs, that’s just the way it is…”
BULLSHIT. Get off your fucking arse and do something. A recession is not an excuse to get lazy. Yes, people are spending less – so it’s your task to ensure that you’re there for your customers. Establish a higher level of trust, build more personal relationships and let your customers know that you’re there for them. They will keep coming back, keep spending and continue to spread the word.
The recession is a fantastic opportunity, not a hindrance. I’m not belittling it’s significance but simply stating that we’re in an economic phase that will see the ‘real’ leaders start to pull ahead of the pack.
Web Design Adelaide said:
Our business has improved during the hard times, but just in the past couple of months a client has asked me to stop work, as they have had a huge drop in sales.
As a whole the outlook is good though i think.
Santhos Webdesign in Meppel said:
Our business improved too, but the recession is less big in the Netherlands I guess. Haven’t done so many projects the same time before. Maybe we’re lucky!
melatonintablets said:
the Economic Recession has been pretty hard on us. some of my friends lost their job because of the massive job cuts. i just hope that our economy becomes better in the following years.
| body detox said:
the economic recession has been pretty hard on us. there is some good progress on the economy this year. i just hope that the economy will continue to recover in the following months and years.
Jacee said:
i am hoping that the global economy would recover from this economic recession. life has been very hard with these massive job cuts.
Acne Scars Treatment Info said:
Economic recession created huge unemployment rates around the world. I think the world economy is already on the road to recovery.
Brighthouse said:
I can’t agree more, I think in the current climate people have less and less disposeable income. Companies should work harder to set themselves apart from the crowd. However this should be the case in normal times as well.
Pisco said:
I hope world economy improves too.
Companies use many awful methods to keep up alive.
Nice article.