Guest Blogger - Marketing In A Recession

When I created this blog, I wanted to have some guest bloggers now and then. Well, today I am happy to present to you our first guest post by Linda Linham:

Marketing In A Recession

Dozens of scary words have been used to describe the economic outlook for the rest of the year and into 2009. The signs of a recession are all around us. The spillover from the mortgage crisis seems to be weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending--much of it on credit--that has been floating our economy. The proposed bailout is a temporary "band aid" to the current economic situation, or, to use jargon I’ve recently heard, it puts “lipstick on a pig”. We can expect continued pressure for Federal and State tax rate increases; consumers will feel poorer and be more conservative and cautious in their spending. This creates a great opportunity to reassure consumers and also means reassuring the consumer is a vital ingredient of successful marketing during a recession.

Business owners and marketers should fasten their seat belts for a bumpy ride in 2009, but consideration of these factors when making marketing plans for the coming year could mean a much smoother ride:

1. Maintain marketing spending. This is definitely not the time to cut your marketing budget. Experience tells us that brands that increase their marketing during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known businesses although you may need to consider new, less expensive methods or tactics. Try to negotiate lower advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of your advertising by shifting from 30-to-15 second spots, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of direct marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact and is usually more effective and efficient for small business owners.

2. Research customers. You will need to know more than ever how customers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Consumers take more time searching for products and services. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Brands, products and services that are known and trusted are highly valued. Volume buying to save money becomes more prevalent. Getting back to the basics will help here—if you have not asked your customers what they value, try simple surveys, customer profiles, experience mapping or simple personal phone calls to key customers.

3. Focus on family. In economic hard times, we tend to retreat to our comfort zones. Cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising may replace images of extreme sports and adventure, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home and also stay connected with family and friends.

4. Rationalize product/service offerings. Optimize the way your company delivers your product and service so it can be absolutely the best it can be. Reforecast demand for each item in the product/service lines since consumers may trade down to those that stress good value, with fewer options. Tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products. Unprofitable and low sales product lines should be trimmed. In grocery-products categories, good-quality own-brands gain at the expense of national brands. Industrial customers prefer to see products and services unbundled and priced separately. Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in. New products, especially those that address the new consumer reality and thereby put pressure on competitors, should still be introduced but advertising should stress superior price performance, not corporate image. Now is also the time to spot trends for product development and make plans to act on them in 2010 and 2011.

5. Consider pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. Avoid cutting list prices but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce minimums for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing key customers and price smaller sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer response than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.

6. Emphasize market share. Most companies are battling for survival or market share. Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact. Taking the time to know your net margin on each product and service you offer will be time well spent. Companies, with the most productive cost structures in their industries, can expect to gain market share. Other companies with healthy balance sheets can gain market share by acquiring weak competitors.

7. Focus on core values. Although some companies will have to cut back on employees, others can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people. Business owners who spend more time with customers and employees will benefit.

During my corporate career, in economically challenged times—which was continual it seemed--I spent a great deal of time running interference between the heightened importance of the finance director's balance sheet over the sales and marketing management’s income statement. Managing working capital always attempts to dominate managing customer relationships. Whether large company or small company, the lesson I learned was always the same: successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.


Linda M. Linham is an entrepreneurial coach, consultant and founder of Successful Ventures LLC

Lunch

I went to lunch today with a friend of mine. He was having a bad day, so I went there thinking I would cheer him up. But I have to say that by the end of the lunch, I was very frustrated with him (and told him so). I'm sure he will be upset if he reads this, but there is a good lesson to be learned here.

Just because this was a casual lunch and not a business meeting doesn't give anyone the right to waste a person's time. During our lunch, he was texting on and off. Now I understand that there are sometimes reasons why you must answer your phone or reply to a text during lunch. But to do it the entire time sends the message that he or she really doesn't care about anything you are talking about. I found this article on Lunch Etiquette by Catherine Franz which addresses this issue and more.

My lesson learned from this is to be respectful to others. Cancel the lunch if you have issues you need to address and reschedule for another time when you can give the person your full attention. Stay focused.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Last night was Trick-or-Treat on the Square in downtown Newark. The Chamber's Downtown Newark Committee plays a big role in this annual event. Not only did they hand out candy to over 700+ people who come out for this event, but they also dressed for the occasion, as seen here.

Thanks to the 25+ businesses and organizations who participated!

Blogging For Business

Recently the Chamber has been trying out some new "stuff", including an online poll each month. We then publish the results in actionNotes. The poll questions that we just sent out pertain to social networking. I wrote about this in a previous post. Blogging can also be considered social networking, but there are good reasons why businesses should consider creating a blog. It is an opportunity for you to showcase your products or services and is also an excellent way to interact with your current and future customers. I did a little research to see if I could find some member companies who are using blogging for their businesses. Here are some that I found:

• MedBen


• Hopewell Federal Credit Union


• Owens Corning


• Walmart


• Boeing


• Best Buy


• McDonalds


• Verizon


• Coca-Cola (not a member, but a staple in my diet)

With all the tools out there today, setting up a blog is relatively easy. Try it.

The Nightstand Stack

As I have mentioned before, I love to read. We all know the saying that you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep; but it has also been said that the same is true by the books they read. My husband bought a book the other day and finished it already. He then gave it to me to read. It is called the The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I wrote about Randy when he died this summer. (See my previous post here).

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I thought about when I might have time to begin reading this book and then I looked at my nightstand and became discouraged. I used to be one who would finish a book before starting a new one. That is no longer the case with me. Depending on what kind of mood I am in determines what I am reading on a particular day. So I am now going to bare my soul and tell you the books that I have started, but have not finished - I do intend to finish them - at some point.

The Nightstand Stack

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki - My husband added this one to the stack and I have started it a number of times.
2. Boomtown USA, Jack Schultz - Started it a few years ago.
3. The Writers Art, James J. Kilpatrick - Haven't started it, but probably need to very soon.
4. Writing That Works, Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphealson - Same as #3.
5. Hershey, Michael D'Antonio -This is a very interesting read about Milton Hershey. Am about halfway through it. Perfect for one who loves chocolate!
6. Smart Women Finish Rich, David Bach - Picked this up at the airport (I am bad about buying books at airports), but only read the intro.
7. Pitch Like a Girl, Ronna Lichtenberg - Started this a few years ago, but now have forgotten what I read. Will need to re-start this one again.
8. Cure For The Common Life, Living In Your Sweet Spot, Max Lucado - I love Max Lucado books. Am about halfway through.
9. The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, Elise Primavera - I am reading this fiction book with my daughers.
10. Web Analytics, Avinash Kaushik - Sounds quite geekish, I know. I can only handle a few chapters at a time.
11. Unstoppable Global Warming, S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery - Haven't started this, but I have heard it is very good.
12. The Reagan Diaries, Douglas Brinkley - This is a wonderful book. A must read for anyone who likes politics. I am almost through it.
13. Blogger, Lee Jordan - This has been very helpful to me. It is a book that you read one chapter and apply what you learned to your blog before moving on to the next chapter.
14. Good To Great, Jim Collins - This is one of my favorite books and yes, I have finished it, but keep it close to refer to from time to time.

Not sure how I will be judged after this posting, but this is a part of who I am. I should note that in addition to the books listed above, I also have my Women's Health and Cooks Illustrated magazines on the nightstand along with the many newspaper articles my husband cuts out that he thinks I need to read. And I didn't even address the stack on my desk at work of things I need to read.

At least I know that as long as I continue to read, the learning process will never stop.

What Can Be Learned from Nirvana and Kurt Cobain

There is a great post today on Lateral Action. The title caught me by surprise - The Kurt Cobain Guide to Startup Success. For those of you who are not into music, or early 90's music, Kurt Cobain was the lead singer and guitarist for Nirvana who sadly ended his life in 1994. Brian Clark does an excellent job of relating entrepreneurship with rock stars. A very interesting read.

Here's to you Kurt Cobain:

Lifetime Achievement

Today my husband and I went to the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Reception sponsored by the Licking Memorial Hospital Development Council held at The Reese Center on the OSU Newark/COTC Campus. It was a beautiful day and a very tasteful event. Many people from our community were recognized including:

• Nursing Awards for Clinical Excellence - Jamie Hartman, R.N. and Lisa Hayes, R.N.
• Managers of the Year - Rhonda Maddern, R.N. and Rob Thompson
• Volunteers of the Year - Janet Anderson and Elizabeth Ann Wood

Also mentioned was the 100 Top Hospitals Award given to Licking Memorial Hospital for the 9th time. Quite an impressive achievement. The afternoon ended with the two top awards of:

• Building a Healthier Community Award - Hospice of Central Ohio Bereavement Services
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Glenn F. Abel

Congratulations to these deserving recipients and to Licking Memorial Hospital.

Reality Check

I have three daughters, ages 13, 11 and 6. I decided to surprise my first grader today and show up to eat lunch with her at school. She was happy and we had a nice visit. During our lunch I was sitting among all these young children and was asked a bunch of questions including my age. I didn't answer. My daughter looks up at me and said "mom, she asked you a question". So I look at the child and asked what the questions was, pretending like I didn't hear it the first time. So she asked me again and before I had a chance to answer, my daughter shouts out "39". Hearing that, the little girl said "Wow. You are older than my mom AND my dad". Love those first graders.

I then waited 15 minutes to see my middle daughter. She walks through the door to the lunch area and looks at me and asks why I am there. I politely tell her that I came to eat lunch with her younger sister and thought she might want me to eat lunch with her too. She looks at me, and without hesitation, says "No". Gotta love those fifth graders too.

Community Capitalism - Update

Back in August of this year I wrote about a new book called Community Capitalism that was given to me to read (see my review here).

Hundreds of books have now been distributed, thanks to the Newark-Heath-Licking County Port Authority.

Town Hall Meeting

We are now asking everyone who received a copy to read the book and attend a Town Hall Meeting. They are being held on November 11, 7:30 a.m.; November 18, 4:00 p.m. and November 19, 7:00 p.m. at C-TEC. We are very fortunate to have Dave Brenner and Pat Jeffries as moderators. These meetings are being held to discuss the assets, possibilities and opportunities for our community.

The Economic Development Committee of the Chamber has been tasked with compiling the results of these meetings, so stay tuned. . .

Brain Fingerprinting

Huh?? That caught my attention today at our Rotary meeting. Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer was today's speaker and mentioned some advancements in science and medicine that will impact the judicial system in the near future. He said it is a possibility that down the road a picture of a brain scan may be something a jury will be looking at to determine the level of activity in the suspects brain at the time of the crime, thus linking him or her to the crime scene.

Sounds like an episode from CSI if you ask me.

Actually this has already been used and upheld in an Iowa court case. Very interesting. Read about it here.

Rt. 161 Phase 1 Now Open

Today marked the first of two openings for the Rt. 161 Expansion Project. Now open is a seven mile section from Franklin County to Watkins Road. Thank you to everyone involved with this project, especially Congressman Pat Tiberi and State Representative Jay Hottinger.

ROMEO

Here is the quote of the day:

"We call ourselves ROMEO's. . .not the kind of men you may be thinking about. We are a group of Retired Old Men Eating Out"

Election 2008 Coverage

Last night we held our annual Candidate's Night at C-TEC featuring the candidates running for Licking County Commissioner: Tim Bubb vs. Doug Moreland and Mark VanBuren vs. Brad Feightner as well as candidates running for State Representative for the 71st and 91st House Districts: Jay Hottinger vs. Howard Hill and Dan Dodd vs. Bill Hayes.

It was an enjoyable evening and I want to thank our sponsor, Hopewell Federal Credit Union for their continued support of the Chamber and a big thanks to C-TEC for hosting the event in their beautiful facility.

Tim Fitterer also deserves kudos for making the program run smoothly. Tim is the chairman of our Government Affairs Committee. And I also want to recognize Lois Ridgley, our Event Coordinator, for all her time and effort in putting this event together.

Here is short video from the event last night:

To see the complete program, Time Warner Cable will air it on channel 2 at 8:00 p.m. beginning Monday, October 20 - Friday October 24. And on Saturday October 25 and Sunday October 26 at noon. You can also view it anytime on Local On Demand under the News and Info tab starting Wednesday, October 22.

Another way to view the event is to log on to http://www.wclt.com/. They will also air the playback on the Commissioner portion of the program on Saturday, October 18 at 6:30 a.m. on 1430 and Sunday, October 19 at 7:00 a.m. on T100. The same schedule applies for next weekend, October 25 and 26 for the State Representative program.

And if you didn't catch The Newark Advocate, you can read the story here.

Going Green

Last week the Chamber participated in a recycling event sponsored by RR Donnelley, Waste Management and Sony. See my previous post here. When I pulled up, the men working the event said we were their best customer. You can see why.

Happy Faces

I would like to congratulate all the companies who received checks yesterday at our monthly Safety Council meeting. In all, $ 217,718.99 was given back to companies who successfully participated in the BWC's Discount Program. This distribution represents a two-percent discount from paid premiums. An additional two-percent bonus is available for employers that reduce either their frequency or severity of claims by 10-percent or more below the previous year, or that maintain both frequency and severity at the previous year's level.

Also I want to recognize Vicky Crist for her hard work and dedication to the Licking County Safety Council. She truly has a concern for the safety of our Licking County companies and employees. Nice job Vicky!

What $20 Bucks Can Buy You

I have been reading posts for quite a while now on the Get Rich Slowly blog. I have found some very good advice and helpful tips. I especially liked this post. Simple, but very beneficial and something that everyone should take advantage of.

The Basket

A friend of mine passed this site along to me. It contains pictures of unusual buildings throughout the world. Guess what - we (Newark, OH) made the list. Check it out here:

http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world/

Thanks J.

Local Leaders Breakfast

Our fall Local Leaders Breakfast featured Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Jon Husted; Representatives Dan Dodd and Jay Hottinger. They talked about the economy, education and economic development. Here is brief video from the event:

Today's Dose of Humor

Being Creative

I just checked out Lateral Action, and found some great posts called the Creative Rock Star series. Although I'm not sure I would fit into the mold of the "creative type", I do agree that when you do something you love, even if the money isn't what you would like it to be, you are a much happier person and it reflects in your job performance.

And when everyone is happy in the office, it becomes a fun place to work; a place that you don't dread getting up in the morning for.

Taking Risks CAN Payoff

If you have followed this blog at all, you know I love to encourage entrepreneurs. There is a blog I like to read called Self Made Chick. She has an encouraging post today - How I Gave Away Everything And Ended Up With More.

Welcome back Christine.

Beautiful Day in Licking County

We're Dealin'

I can't believe it has been a year since our first DEAL OR NOT A DEAL event. It was such a big success, that we have decided to make it an annual event. On November 20 at the Midland Theatre you will have an opportunity to be randomly chosen to play our version of the TV show. We even have our own Howie - Mr. Casey Claxon! He did a super job last year and we are very excited that he is back with us this year.

Win Up To $1,000

We will be playing four rounds, with the top prize of up to $1,000 in each round. We even have local celebrities as the "Banker" dudes, as well as high school students from around the county who will be holding the secret boxes. I would like to thank our sponsors: First Federal Savings; National City Bank; Park National Bank and Cardinal Federal Credit Union. In addition to these sponsors, I would like to recognize our pizza box sponsors too: Pizza Cottage; Christy's Pizza; Domino's and Donatos.

Fast Cash In A Flash

New this year is Fast Cash in a Flash. Two randomly chosen contestants will be given a opportunity to win some cash between rounds of DEAL OR NOT A DEAL.

They will have an opportunity to make a deal with the Banker and win cash or prizes! We can thank our sponsors for making this new game possible: Fiberglas Federal Credit Union; Heartland Bank and Adornetto's Italian Restaurant.

Get Your Tickets Today!

Tickets are now on sale for $12. Call the Midland Theatre Box Office at 740.345-LIVE. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. You won't want to miss this.

Special thanks to our Events Coordinator - Lois Ridgley - for putting this outstanding event together! Way to go Lo!

Ecolab Exceeds Goal

A big Thank You to the employees of Ecolab for exceeding their goal for the United Way campaign this year. Way to go!

Images and the Internet

I just returned from a trip to Nashville where I visited the headquarters of Journal Communications, publisher of our Images magazine. They now have over 130 publications across the US and Canada and have 90+ employees. It was a great trip. I thought I would share some good lines I heard over the last two days:


"Find the good - and praise it" - Alex Haley

"No one loves you or your money more than Southwest Airlines"

"Be on their case and in their face"

"Boardroom Community vs. Bedroom Community"

"Quality of Place instead of Quality of Life"

"This success was a Happy Accident"

Statistics to Think About

• Out of the 6.7 billion people in the world, 1.46 billion use the internet


• 337 million people in North American use the internet (73%)


• There are over 105 million websites which include 30 billion pages


• In March of 2008, 11.5 billion videos were viewed online


• 96% of 9 - 17 year olds have used social networking on the internet


• 71% of them use it weekly


• Facebook has over 60 million active users and add 250,000 new accounts per day


• MySpace has over 110 million users with 300,00 new accounts per day


• 84% of people who use social networking are 18 years or older

Thanks Journal for a wonderful opportunity!

Think Green

Reduce. Reuse. Respect. Recycle.

On Friday, October 10th and Saturday, October 11th from 8 am to 3 pm at RR Donnelley, in partnership with Sony and Waste Management, is hosting a FREE Electronics Recycling Event. They are located at 190 Milliken Drive in Hebron.

Recyclable Items Include: TVs, computer monitors, CPU's and peripherals, scanners, printers, fax machines, ink jet and printer cartridges, stereo equipment, VCRs, phones (including cellular) and rechargeable batteries (NiCad, NiMH, Lilion and small sealed lead).

Items that will NOT be accepted: Microwaves, smoke detectors, household appliances like refrigerators, washing machines or air conditioners.

For more information, please call Waste Management at 866.588.0572 or visit www.sony.com/recycle.

Job Description

I came across this line in a job description, authored by the employee and had to share this with you:

"Talk endlessly on the telephone to people who "must" talk with me"


Hmmm. I guess this person is of great value to the organization???