Recession-proof
Your Business New
& Noteworthy Clients – SynCor, USFHA MCG
Host Maureen McCarthy
Morris Creative’s New Look Resources:
Sell Your Soul? -
Recession-Proof Your Business
Bush the Older used to say it. So will we. “Stay the course.” Don’t cut back! It’s a temptation that’s easy to fall prey to. In many companies, marketing is seen as a necessary evil. A line item that goes directly to overhead. So it’s no small wonder that it’s the first thing to get cut when times get tough.
Rethink that strategy. Are your competitors cutting back too? Maybe so. Maybe not. Certainly, if you can verify that they are, the market share lying on the table is yours for the picking. How? By maintaining your marketing efforts or even increasing them. Make sense? Your competitor cuts back. He’s less visible. You increase your effort, swoop in and gain his vulnerable market percentage points. Logic. And strategy!
The truth is, most of us are struggling this year. So what can you do to recession-proof your business in uncertain times? ADVERTISE. I know. It’s likely contrary to what you’ve been thinking, and it seems self-serving for us to suggest it.
But research shows that any short-term financial impact is more than offset by long-term gains in increased revenue and profit growth, when economic conditions improve. Although this is admittedly a difficult research area, the evidence* is that generally:
- The most successful companies maximize long-term
shareholder/stakeholder value by maintaining their advertising investment
when the economy slows down and weaker competitors cut back.
- This enables them to build market share at a lower cost than when the total market is growing.
- The most successful companies keep going, i.e., hold firm to their long-term strategy.
- Regardless of economic conditions, every firm needs a clear strategy for its major brands, based on the classic marketing principles of segmentation, competitor analysis, targeting, and positioning. Advertising strategy, including how much to invest, should be an integral part of this wider strategy.
- These principles still apply when the economy slows down, although details, such as the relative importance of different segments, may change.
- The financial markets look for long-term shareholder value, not just short-term financial performance. If a firm has a convincing strategy and good investor relations it can keep investing in marketing and product innovation even if the economy slows down, without a negative reaction from shareholders.
| COMMERCIAL
TRANSPORTATION COMPONENT PACKAGE Indexed Cumulative Profit* |
|
 |
When profits were measured for a portable safety product after 16 months, it was clear that more advertising had resulted in higher profits. |
| *Measured profits are defined as estimated sales revenues minus advertising costs (full-rate cost of media placement) and factory product cost. Index of 100 represents pre campaign profit level. | |
| Source: Cahners Advertising Research Report, No. 130.4 | |
In one sense, the need for a distinctive, credible marketing strategy has nothing to do with the state of the economy, but an economic slowdown can bring the issues to a head. This can be the opportunity to sharpen the discussion about marketing strategy in general. Deciding how much to spend on advertising should be just a part of that wider discussion.
We want to help. As a small business that happens to be going through the same thing, Morris Creative Group LLC would like to partner with you to help your company emerge from this recession stronger than ever. We offer cost-effective solutions to marketing challenges, and we focus on bottom-line results.
Business management guru Peter Drucker once said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” So I have a question for you. What are you doing right now to ensure you’re marketing for today’s revenues and tomorrow’s growth? Do one thing right now while you’re thinking about it: I invite you to call or e-mail us to schedule a brief (20-30 minutes) appointment or phone conference to see if it even makes sense for us to explore working together. Maybe so. Maybe not. Fine either way. Of course, there’s no pressure and no obligation. In any case, keep on marketing! You’ll be glad you did.
* “Advertising in a Recession,” Professor
Patrick Barwise, London Business School
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New & Noteworthy Clients
SynCor Corporation MCG provided naming,
advertising tagline, and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office consultation,
as well as designing the corporate identity
system and standards for this engineered label and graphics company.
U.S. Field Hockey AssociationMCG is
currently working with the USFHA on logos and design standards for their
“Futures Program.” When completed, a suite of 4 logos will be
applied to apparel, printed materials and merchandise for the next 4 years
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MCG Hosts Maureen McCarthy
Morris Creative Group recently hosted Maureen McCarthy, author of The State of Grace Document, and Zelle Nelson, owner of Know Place Like Home, for Fast Company magazine’s Company of Friends meeting. Maureen is an author, speaker and change agent that is passionate about how we engage one another in relationship – whether business or personal. Her company is called Engaging the Soul @ Work. Her husband, Zelle, is a geographer who is vitally interested in making our workspaces function on a different, and liberating, level – something that feels more like home.
http://www.stateofgracedocument.com
http://www.knowplacelikehome.com
http://www.newunderground.org
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Morris Creative’s New Look
It’s true; change is inevitable. We have always been advocates of the
benefits of a strong corporate or brand identity, and we are certainly
no exception. So when it became clear that our existing ID didn’t, well,
identify us as well as it used to, we began the somewhat arduous
process of revamping it.
The consensus was that we should adopt a corporate identity that was more reflective of our total service offering, rather than pigeonhole us as “just a design firm” – something more simplified and sophisticated. After all, as we’ve matured as a company, doesn’t it make sense that our identity should mature as well?
After numerous runs through type and symbol studies, we put our respective heads together and passed the logo from designer to designer, tweaking it to its final state. The new logo made its debut this spring, and in the following months found itself applied to everything from business cards to baseball caps, from bookmarks to vinyl banners, from computer desktops to morriscreative.com.
So now that you’re thinking about it, what kind of shape is your identity in? Get in touch with us today and let’s discuss what we can do to revitalize your company or brand.
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Resources: Sell Your Soul?
Discover how to sell yourself without selling your soul. Visit http://www.PRsecrets.com
to get the equivalent of a mega-course in PR. Read the articles and newsletters
and see the resource section – all FREE.
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