Verizon is doing the right and smartest thing they can do in times as these. The talk of this economic downturn has gotten all in a tizzy. Businesses large and small are near paralysis in which move to take next. The usual indicators that companies, their CEO’s, and boards have used to guide their moves of business have been found to be faulty. Billions, and yes that’s with a big capital ‘B’, Billions of dollars and market value have been “lost” through unsound business leveraging, over-extension of solid financial positions, and Ponzi schemes.
Through the name of fairness a.k.a. a Socialist agenda, the Feds have created and sustained as long as possible a currency bubble upon a credit bubble upon a housing bubble which was set up to mitigate the natural peaks and valleys of the American economy cycles through.
On the home front, being an employee is more tenuous than ever: businesses and banks are failing, thousands being laid off, budgets being cut or put on hold. All prognostications, depending with whom you talk, point toward in the least a long recession and at worst a deep depression of the world markets. Individuals from coast to coast are being directly affected by this bleak news and the onslaught of market corrections that are in process of a reset.
Although this house of cards looks like it may crumble at anytime, the free market system must move forward. Capitalism, that has built a nation as great as America moves on. Businesses risk being left in the wake of such economic waves to sell off and close their doors, or to trudge onward by keeping on with the Marketing and Advertising that made them successful in the recent past.
Keep spending on Marketing and Advertising? As you did before the bottom of the economy fell? Isn’t that irresponsible of a company to do that?? For some odd reason most in charge of a company’s bottom line feel that the lifeblood of a business, the actions that bring in new business, and maintain profits as proper Marketing Strategies do, are expendable and the first to be curtailed, cut off, deferred, in light of the money crunch being felt by the company.
I’ve never understood this, why stop bringing in new business, why hamper or stop the processes that would keep the doors open? Why would you tie up or cut off the hands that are feeding you? To stop your Advertising and Marketing efforts is to do just that!
One fine example of what to do in these turbulent times is Verizon. In a highly competitive industry with Sprint, Alltel, the iPhone and Tmobile they have maintained their spending on advertising on television and radio as before. However they have been uber-smart with the way they have been creating and sustaining their presence online as well. I am one who is primarily online, ya know because of what I do, and as I search my Ad Recall, Verizon is the one that stands out to me as the one who is doing it right. Their ads using the voice talent of Jim from the Office and of Chuck from Chuck with their spotlight of satisfaction that can be achieved using their network are hitting on all cylinders. They have balanced video 30 second commercials in the right places with the banners they scatter across portals and web sites that their target market frequent.
It doesn’t mean they with continue to, only means they are doing it now. Compare this to Tmobile. They nearly have no presence online for two months now, they do the static banners here and there… but for those active in video streaming… Tmobile is dropping the ball.
Another example of this principle in a dire time was Ford vs. Chevrolet back in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Ford had dominated the market since the Model T. They being so big, so widespread, and so highly sought that their executives at the time as 1933 rolled in they stopped doing any advertising as a cost saving measure. Surely, they could float for a while on what they had done in the past. It was like every 1 in 5 cars on the road was a Ford, how could they not remain dominate? Along comes Chevy, who took the aggressive approach to make a name for themselves, while Ford rested on their haunches. They went to town on their advertising… on radio, in newspapers, in catalogs and in the movies. By the time WWII rolled around, Chevy was poised to overtake Ford as the leading auto manufacturer in America, having won over the American people because they had been in front of the public more than their competitors.
Whatever the company, Chevy… Verizon… or Mom and Pop’s Shop on the corner of Center Street and Main… Learn the timeless lesson, just because there is a downturn in the economy, doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a downturn on the demand of your product or service. Online sales don’t dip significantly because it is any less convenient now than it was before the downturn to buy from you.
That much the harder and more frequent you need to be in your Marketing efforts in times that we now find ourselves in. Just be smarter about when and where you place your messaging and have in place before the start of the Campaign the measuring sticks that you can see right away if one medium or message is working or not. If so successful, you can ramp it up and do more of, and if not, you can turn it off and move to another medium or message.
So what company are you, the one that wants to try to eat their crumbs with the stubby ends of their arms, or one that will delicately pluck out each morsel it can with their proverbial fingers? It’s your choice if you want to remain in business through all this or to close its doors, and become a greeter at the local Mega Market!
