January 07, 2009
Marketing when Change is the only Constant
Most of the talk these days is about uncertainty, that sickly feeling that permeates our discussion of everything from consumer confidence to corporate fiscal feasibility. The driving force behind this uncertainty is our obsession with predicting the future and more carefully specifying the timing of past events. When did we actually enter into a recession? When will the markets finally rebound?
This preoccupation with predicting timing of past and future events is more than a distraction; it has the psychological effect of casting us as victims being tossed hither and yon by market forces beyond our control. We forget the fact that we as marketers, strategists, and managers, always have the ability to shape the market. We do not shape the market with pinpoint forecasts, but rather with a disciplined, strategic, non-reactive approach. This is even more important to remember when markets are fluctuating wildly, when uncertainty threatens to drive our perspective and decision-making.
Consider advertising spending. A classic response during sales downturns is to cut advertising budgets in an effort to shore up profitability. However, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that firms who maintain or increase advertising expenditures during economic downturns reap the benefits in future years; for example, see Kamber: The brand manager’s dilemma: Understanding how advertising expenditures affect sales during a recession. This work and many others clearly demonstrate the relationship between disciplined, non-reactive marketing spending and sustainable growth. The issue here is not whether the relationship exists, but rather whether we have the wherewithal as managers to master our fears, control our reactivity, and act with a long-term, strategic focus. The first step toward accomplishing this is to stop worrying over forecasts and historical assessments, accept the fact that change is the only constant, and respond with a constancy of our own.
By Christie L Nordhielm
Posted under » Articles
