Dec
19

It’s Coming: Is Your Brand Prepared for an Economic Downturn?

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Economic Downturns: How Marketers Can Prepare

The warning signs of a recession are all around. Economic growth slowed down earlier this year, Treasury yields are down, freight shipments are slowing, and 60% of economists surveyed by the NABE expect a recession by the end of 2020.

Marketers would do well to heed the early warnings. Recession-proofing takes time and steady effort, and you will hit unforeseen speed bumps. With a head start, you can overcome those obstacles to ensure you have strong promotional offers, strategic product segmentation, and new creative ready in the wings when you need them.

Proactivity can also make you nimbler. “Set it and forget it” is an excellent strategy for your Crock-Pot, but it’s an outdated approach for marketing. In our “tradigital” media ecosystem, we need to build for agility. Many traditionally minded media companies—those that rely on ads for revenue—can’t shift quickly enough and might not make it through.

Tight times mean tighter budgets

To understand the need for a proactive recessionary plan, consider the effects of a recession on consumer behavior and brands’ media planning strategies.

As a recession rolls in, consumers make drastic changes to their spending habits:

via It’s Coming: Is Your Brand Prepared for an Economic Downturn?

Combining Physical and Digital Customer Experience: 3 Tactics for Brands

There is a clear trend of B2C brands that once existed only online opening physical locations: Everlane, Glossier, Bonobos, and of course Amazon are just a few examples.

Being online-first allowed those brands to tap into the convenience that digital offers, gradually building a strong audience of loyal customers. Now, the same brands are revitalizing brick-and-mortar retail.

It seems we have gone from physical experiences to digital, and now the pendulum is swinging back to physical. Why is this happening?

Digital transformation is all about moving from the physical world into the digital world. It’s about re-establishing processes and modernizing legacy systems to enable engagement with customers in an entirely new way. However, last time I checked, we still live in the physical world, where experiences can connect with all five senses. Yet, many brands have gone all in on digital, overcrowding customers and relying on two senses: sight and sound. Some 44% of companies have already moved to a digital-first approach for the customer experience, according to IDG.

Thinking of a customer experience in digital-only terms is limiting. I would argue that for brands to stand out and truly capture (and keep) customer attention, they must incorporate physical elements and appeal to all of a customer’s senses.

Like those digital-native brands that are opening storefronts, it’s about striking a balance.

An Unexpected Mailer Breaks Through the Noise

via From Physical to Digital and Back Again: Three Ways for Brands (B2C or B2B) to Stand Out

 

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