We’ve seen it coming for a while now. In the last few weeks, the economy has taken center stage as every news cast and talk show tells more stories of how home values have fallen or 401k balances have dropped. In the midst of all this turmoil, many businesses may be planning to reduce their expenses by cutting their marketing budgets.
But, in the words of Lt. Nick Holden, “In confusion, there is profit.” It’s one of my favorite scenes from Blake Edwards’ 1959 movie Operation Petticoat and I think it provides a great lesson for us today.
Most of your competitors are pulling back on their marketing spend. While astute marketers should focus their resources, this contraction in marketing spend actually provides an opportunity to gain market share.
If you have been fortunate enough to build a strong business relationship with your customers, you may be able to both protect that relationship with current customers as well as extend it to prospective clients.
While I have been discussing this topic with colleagues over the past few months, it was an article in Deliver Magazine by Meg Mitchell Moore that prompted me to write this post. Her article pressed the point that “a recession might be just the time to increase marketing spending, thereby taking advantage of listing competitors and capturing the attention of cash-strapped consumers.”
No doubt that in order to survive during the next 12 to 18 months, you will need to be competitive with your pricing. The question is, can you provide additional value to your customers and if so, can you successfully tell that story?
On his blog, Achieve Your Success, Terry Brock recently had a great interview with Jim Cathcart. Cathcart explains that while you need to be providing incremental value to your customers, you need to keep in mind that the “value is always determined by the recipient, not the giver.”
Although we have seen gasoline prices fall during the past few weeks, Moore lists Meijer, a Grand Rapids based retailer, as an example of a company providing value to their customers. Founded in 1934 and #19 on Fortune’s 2008 Top Private U.S. Companies, Meijer is a regional Superstore (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky), that sells groceries, apparel and even gasoline.
In order to provide value to their customers, the company “offers you the opportunity to know when the price of gas at Meijer is going to go up before it actually increases at the pump.” The Meijer.com web site continues, stating “by registering your cell number into the Meijer Gas Alert program, you agree to receive text messages from us that will notify you in advance when Meijer gas prices are going to increase.”
The key is this, as the economy begins to cause your competitors to talk to their customers less frequently, you have the opportunity to enter the conversation. If you can successfully articulate your value proposition, you may find the Lt. Holden’s axiom to be true.
Until next time,
Dan
