A New Year – New Rules for Marketing

There is one thing for certain, people or organizations may not change on their own, but they will change when forced to. It’s simply a matter of survival. For any organization that has been humming along for some time enjoying prosperity without experiencing roadblocks, there is a new set of challenges to contend with that will affect changes that no one would have predicted 6 months ago. The same can be said by consumers now faced with job losses and/or any other myriad of financial challenges brought on by the economy.

The 2008 numbers will be in soon enough for the official analysis but hindsight may not be very meaningful in this case. The landscape is changing at a pace that will not make sense until the dust settles and there is time to digest the newfound methods for a successful business model of the future.

Spotting trends that will stick in such a transitional state is not always easy to achieve. Let us look at the marketing buzz words of the year - buzz, guerilla, viral, word of mouth all quite popular topics discussed ad nauseam in blog after blog post. What will stick in the New Year? With organizations facing 40% reductions in sales, it’s natural to apply similar budget reductions in marketing/advertising and any other personnel which may not be considered mission critical. This means to survive and regain sales those that remain will need to do more, work smarter (I actually do not care for that expression) but more importantly they need to work in a way that has not been considered in the past.

Circumstances for the consumers have changed as well. In order to succeed, organizations must listen to consumers in new ways and apply solutions that meet those consumers’ needs in a way that makes economic sense. Since most organizations are not eligible for government bailouts, it will be up to them to adapt or parish. That means leveraging marketing and staff in innovative ways. Changing the old approach to adverting in general will also be necessary. However, this may not be a bad thing for anyone but the agencies supporting those efforts.

Will this lead to less ads altogether or merely a reduction in ad prices to make up the difference? My bet is a combination of the two. Ad prices must come down to attract advertisers and those that purchase will be much more cautious about where they spend their money.