Marketing in a Soft Economy
2007 was a rough year for entrepreneurs in all sectors of business but mishaps like the subprime loan debacle, that cost Merrill Lynch a quarterly loss of $2.24 billion, and the "medicinal bong" proclaimed by a prominent diabetic blogger costing Pfizer $2.8 billion in write-offs, made small business owners feel better about their nominal loses due to the soft economy.

Coming into 2008 those very same business owners are still in a financial pinch and the small loses are turning into big problems for many. As accountants are called and budgets fall, decisions need to be made on what stays and goes in order to keep the company afloat. Based on my initial research one of the first major budgets cut is advertising and marketing, as business owners feel they can survive for now on repeat customers and word-of-mouth. This way of thinking is illogical for a couple reasons; first being your current customers will spend less because it's not just you in a financial bind, it's everyone; second, you have to work twice as hard to sell your service or product during tough times and prove it's worth the risk, investment and late car payment.

Instead of cutting your marketing budget while on the verge of a global recession, you should actually increase your marketing efforts and try new ways to reach your target audience. Experienced entrepreneurs use soft economies to really get to know their customer base by testing different promotions and determining the best communications technique that persuade slender spending habits. Based on BtoB's "2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans" survey, companies plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2008 despite the soft economy. Budget increases were stated as the following, "27.8% plan a 5% to 9% increase in spending; 24.6% plan a 10% to 14% increase; 12.7% plan a 20% to 24% increase; and 10.3% plan an increase of less than 5%.".

The primary marketing goals for these businesses were customer acquisition, brand awareness, and customer retention, all of which delve into communicating better with your client base. As the New Year is upon us, analysts report that the country's financial state isn't getting better anytime soon. With 2008 being the Year of the Rat, it's only fitting that you become more resourceful in order to survive another year of a suffering economy.

Photograph Courtesy of Wally Gobetz

A New Year Brings About Change
2008 is sure to be an amazing year, right? The leap year, presidential election, summer olympics… that two week vacation I’ve promised to take for 5 years now (keep your fingers crossed for me). There’s so much to look forward to coupled with the refreshing feeling we all have at this time of the year- “This is the year!” Sound familiar?

For us, this is the year for change. Well, not really. But I think that mantra will be imbedded in my head for quite some time. At Ace Inc. this year our focus is on aligning our core strengths....

Finish this story and read more at our new blog

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Localizing the Brand
"Our mantra," says Protto, "was 'Assume nothing.'" The first move was to get a better understanding of who their customers were and how to get the wine in their hands.

Innovation: Customers Speak the Language of ADVERTISING. Do You?
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Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool
TO its true believers at small businesses, it is a low-cost, high-return tool that can handle marketing and public relations, raise the company profile and build the brand.

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