Businesses Need to be Zagging when the Market is Zigging
It may sound crazy, but I love chaos. I love having drastic change effect business and life. I even love tornadoes, snow storms, floods and earthquakes. Maybe I should have been a Fireman, but that is besides the point. I love chaos because it means opportunity and to me, there’s not a more opportune time to be in marketing than right now.
Whether you own a business, help run a business or are thinking about starting a business, there is no better time to be reevaluating your company. Some of the greatest companies have come out of economic hardship. Here is a short list of some great companies that have started in economic downturns.
- Hyatt Corp.
- Burger King Corp.
- IHOP Corp.
- The Jim Henson Company
- LexisNexis
- FedEx Corp.
- Microsoft
- CNN
- MTV Networks
- Trader Joe’s
- Wikipedia Foundation Inc.
- Sports Illustrated
- GE
- HP
And some businesses that have excelled during recessions:
- Salesforce
- PayPal
According to Enterprise Architecture and New Generation Information Systems By Dimitris N. Chorafas, “Companies must reinvent themselves every 2 years to survive in the internet world.” Recessions happen. Business Cycles happen. What does a major recession tell business owners? The market has reached saturation for products available. The companies that will not only survive a recession, but come out ahead in the end will use the down market to reinvent their business so they are more compelling when buyers are ready to start spending again.
This goes double for marketing and advertising. What is your company spending money on? What has worked in the past? Where are the dollars starting to go?
According to emarketer, advertising dollars are starting to move online. This is not a shift in the traditional sense because the internet is not a traditional media outlet. When advertising moved from print to radio, it was basically the advertisement being read for the listener. When advertising moved from radio to TV, it was basically the ad being read with moving pictures. But when ads move to the internet, businesses must be prepared to respond to customers from the ad instantly. This is a medium of communication, not broadcasting. The companies that understand that the best will capture market share the quickest. Your company may not see the quick sales bump promised by some, but acquisition bonds will be stronger.
