Uber marketer Joseph Jaffe hosted a great conversation about the death of podcasting. Is podcasting dead? Have a listen and find out from podcasting’s elite (Jaffe, Adam Curry, Mitch Joel, and many more).
Or click here for more options if you don’t want to stream it.
Hope your 2008 was awesome. If not, put the past behind you and move on. Let 2009 be the year you shine!
The Salt Lake Tribune ran an article on the impact of lower tax revenues on tourism advertising. On one hand, cutting advertising will obviously save money. On the other hand, it is incredibly difficult to regain the traction lost from not advertising.
In Utah, “State tourism officials say Utah is getting back $11 in tax revenue for every $1 it spends, according to study results released last month.” That’s actually a very good ROI, better than I’ve seen almost anywhere!
My advice is to cut frivolous and non-measurable forms of advertising - TV, glossy print ads, etc. Focus on leveraging the web and social media, which is measurable and considerably cheaper. Build a community around your destinations, and create a network of loyal enthusiasts. The impact of these types of efforts will have more positive long term effects than simply cutting advertising, or worse, using old media that no longer works.
Peter Schiff predicted the recession, when everybody called him a fool….look who the fools are now. While Peter is a bit dramatic at times, he’s dead on in his assessment that the American consumer economy is on an irreversibly destructive path.
Why do I focus so much on economics, despite this being a marketing blog? Because economics and consumption drives marketing, and vice versa. It’s yin and yang.
CNBC has an article about desperate consumers stooping to new lows as their means evaporate. Beg, borrow, or steal, some people are now in “survival panic” as the money runs dry. Truly interesting times…
As a marketer, I have ethical issues with the current state of affairs of my industry. Since the 1920s, marketers have become incredibly sophisticated at influencing people to buy crap they really don’t need or want. When you get down to it, the main talent of a marketer is switching the consumer’s impulse from a “want” to a “need”. One one hand, generating new demand is essential to growing the economy; on the other hand, it perpetuates a cycle of rampant, silly consumerism. People with no money are resorting to stealing crap they don’t need. Something is wrong.
I believe marketers need to re-evaluate their ethics and priorities. Are we not better an industry than carnival hucksters or used car salesmen? Now is a good time for the marketing industry to go back to the drawing board and create a better industry. Not doing so will only contribute to the collective stupidity that got us into the current economic mess.
Worst line extension - almost a perfect oxymoron. Line extensions suck, period. No matter how cool you think your brand is, never stretch its footprint more than necessary.
“…the Burger King underwear was selected as the single most inappropriate line extension according to 45.5 percent of those polled. “Marketers are so in love with their brands that they think consumers are as well and will go to the lengths of wearing their brand name on their underwear,” said Laura Ries of Ries & Ries brand consultancy. “While people love the Whopper, they don’t want to parade around in underwear that says, ‘This is where my big, fat ass came from.’”"
A bad economy will force suppliers and retailers to cut back on inventory. Inventory is both a blessing and a curse, and a good company will balance their inventory accordingly. Companies will operate very lean, and those who don’t will die a quick death due to oversupply.
What does this mean for consumers? Fewer product choices due to a lower sku count and stock position, and possibly higher prices as suppliers and retailers need to compensate for lower supply. This will make the job of a marketer all the more interesting, since it will require generating demand for a smaller selection of goods. For a product that captures the consumer’s imagination, less competition will also create a rare opportunity to cut through the clutter and generate more sales.
The world truly is going to hell. It’s even getting harder to recycle the basics (aluminum, paper, etc). From the article, “Just months after riding an incredible high, the recycling market has tanked almost in lockstep with the global economic meltdown. As consumer demand for autos, appliances and new homes dropped, so did the steel and pulp mills’ demand for scrap, paper and other recyclables.”
I remember selling soda cans when I was a kid, and made decent money for a youngster. You know these are tough times when you can’t even get rid of the junk you could sell for the last several decades.
Some other things I’d look out for are gas prices. If gas prices drop further, that’s a huge indicator for a recessionary/depressionary economy due to lack of demand (remember when gas prices were nearly $5 a few months ago?). Prices shouldn’t fall that quickly.
Six months ago, inflation was the worry - $150 oil, $5 gas, rising prices on everything else. Now, we’re looking at $25 oil, $1 gas, and falling prices on everything else. These are two diametrically opposed paradigms happening within a half a year of each other. And with the government printing money like it’s going out of style, in the long run, you can expect disastrously massive inflation in the near future. The see-saw continues…
How do you market in world where prices oscillate so wildly? Focus on the value you provide for the consumer, above and beyond price. Anybody can compete on price, and it’s ultimately a deadly game that destroys margins and categories in the long haul. Avoid it at all costs.
Instead, invest in the lifetime value of your consumers. Make them feel special and part of something important. If you can’t do that, you have no reason to be in business.
From the WTF?!!! vaults, I present to you this gem from the 80’s - “Santo Gold” (not the band).
