Posted by Frances Laing on Wednesday 9 September 2009
What will September bring?
Are we really looking at an upturn in the economy? And if so, are you ready?
As I sit on the train into London, I’ve been wondering over the last week what September was going to bring. I’ve had a few email newsletters from various sources saying how the markets are picking up, and things are starting to improve – and I can honestly say that at breeze we can see that too. However my question is more about how ready you are for an upturn – or even another downturn in the markets, and the potential impact that may have on your business.
Many companies have cut back on their marketing expenditure – rightly or wrongly – over the past months, and as such may have nothing ready or in the pipeline that can be easily switched on. That is something that can probably be rectified – after all, marketing is what we do on a day to day business, so to come up with some ideas and get them implemented should be straightforward. But do you know how your customers’ attitudes have changed over the last few months? Do you know how important your product or service is to them at the moment? Have their values changed?
I do constantly talk about the need to understand your consumers, but this still remains key to being able to accurately and effectively communicate with them at any given point in time. If you look at some of the banking messaging at the moment, we are hearing less about interest rates for savings (inevitably) and more about who the banks are, and what they represent. NatWest is a case in point – currently talking about the branches that they have locally, and how they can best service you. Clearly, the financial markets have some significant ground to gain as far as consumer trust is concerned, and it will be interesting to see who wins that battle.
But I turn the challenge back to you – have you understood the change in your market? Two-way contact with your target audience remains essential – perhaps now more than ever.
If you want some help in taking the current temperature of your target audience, then do get in touch with us. We have a number of innovative, low-cost ideas that you might be interested in.