Linda's Marketing Leverage Blog

Trading Down Has Companies Looking Up

An article in yesterday's San Jose Mercury News entitled "In Recession consumers turn to small indulgences," reinforces what I've been telling clients and students for months:

First, there are companies who are doing well in this gloomy economy, such as Hershey's, Kraft Food, Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, as well as some that would not necessarily have come to mind, like running shoe and bicycle helmet manufacturers, coin dealers and gardening tools.

Second, a key behavior is for people to trade down from their prior behavior. So people who used to eat out at high end restaurants now move to mid-range eateries; those who used to frequent mid-range eateries go down a notch to lower end restaurants; those who used to go to the lower end restaurants now head to McDonalds or Taco Bell. Or folks who might have eaten out previously are now enjoying a nice dinner at home--a trend that not only helps the grocery chains, but stores like Target as well who are positioning themselves as the key player to help people dress up their "at-home" experience.

This trend is true across many industries--such as hotel and travel, automobile sales and leasing, or clothing. It's not that people are no longer spending; it's that they're spending their dollars much more selectively.

As marketers we need to help our clients focus on reaching the new consumers--those that have traded down to where we are today--rather than those who used to aspire to move up and associate with our brands. The market's out there--it's just dressed differently, with a different set of faces, goals, and challenges than we're used to.

But the opportunity is there for companies to move up by capitalizing on the movement to trade down.

New Podcast: Why Marketing Operations Matters

Listen to our latest podcast with Gary Katz of Marketing Operations Partners, defining marketing operations and discussing why this matters to the marketing function.

Go to podcast.

Things are Getting Better Day by Day

We've all had more than our fair share of doom and gloom, end of the world scenarios, fire and brimstone, the fall of American civilization as we know it, etc., etc., etc.

Here's a different take on things: It's not that bad AND it's going to get better sooner than the pundits predicted.

Right here in Silicon Valley I've seen some very positive signs just recently:

• Cisco Systems released better than expected quarterly earnings last week
• Intel's CEO Paul Otellini was quoted in today's Mercury News saying that the chip business has improved since April: "What we've seen so far is a little better than we had expected...so far, so good."
• Online restaurant site OpenTable announced today that it will price its IPO next Wed the 20th and is expecting to start trading the next day
• My 401K statement arrived with the news that it was in the black for 2009.

All these are signs that contrary to what you hear in the media, Silicon Valley is not dead, and in fact, there are companies who expect to do well and to thrive as the economy continues to improve.

Mark Twain said "the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated." We need to focus on the fact that we've had a correction, we've likely hit bottom, and we're headed for a recovery.

The question is what organizations are doing to prepare for better days ahead. Are you ready for rebound? If not, you should be.

For Ex-HPers: Practical Ways to Market Yourself in a Down Economy

If you're one of the 20,000 or so folks who count themselves among HP alumni, this one's for you.

I'll be presenting to the HP Alumni Career Support group in Cupertino next Monday, May 19th @ 9:15 am. Topic is Stand Out from the Crowd: Practical Ways to Market Yourself in a Down Economy.

If you're an ex-HPer and you'd like to attend, contact Carol Smith, carol@oakgrove.com, for more information.

Free Webinar: Effectively Marketing Your Career in Turbulent Times

Today's challenging job market means that now, more than ever, it's important for professionals to effectively promote themselves and manage their own career development. Standing out from the crowd is critical--whether you're seeking a new opportunity or trying to move up in your existing organization.

Join award-winning strategic marketing consultant Linda Popky, author of Marketing Your Career: Positioning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself for Success, as she shares simple, succinct marketing tools and techniques that can help you take your career to the next level.

Register for this FREE webinar.

Next Monday--Powerful Proposals: The Key to Closing More Business

If you've ever wondered how to use a proposal to turn a prospect from a client, this presentation is for you.

I'll be talking at the Women in Consulting South Bay meeting next Monday, May 11th @ 11:30 am in Los Gatos about how to take a fresh, positive approach to creating business proposals. You'll learn about the key elements of a powerful proposal and my Top Ten Tips for preparing a proposal. We'll talk about hints and shortcuts to make the proposal process more pleasant and we'll discuss why the best path to closing more business might be doing fewer proposals not more.

Register here.

Consultants: Participate in WIC's 8th Annual Compensation Survey

It's that time of year again when Women in Consulting (WIC) conducts its annual compensation survey.

Curious to know how consultants are faring in this challenging economy? Wondering what separates top consultants from others in the profession?

WIC invites consultants of all stripes, sizes, and genders (yes, men are also welcome) to participate in this survey. You don't have to be a member of WIC to participate. The only catch is that consulting must be the main source of income for you over the past year. All participants will receive a summary of survey results.

Complete the survey now.

Survey will remain open until May 11th.

The End of a Bad Experiment: Chase moves away from WaMu's New-Fangled Banking Concept

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal notes that as part of its takeover of Washington Mutual (WaMu), Chase is moving away from the Occasio concept bank branches that WaMu introduced a few years ago.

This is not a moment too soon. As a WaMu customer, it was the time, money and attention to these high-concept, low utility branches that finally put me over the edge and made me a former customer.

It was bad enough that WaMu had fairly poor online banking tools compared to other banks, or that their phone service was not great, but the focus on this ridiculous idea vs. good ole fashioned customer service was just too much. Everyone was confused when these branches were introduced, and no one, especially the poor tellers who had to work there all day, seemed to be enjoying the experience. At my local branch, where a number of the customers don't speak English as a first language, it was total confusion.

The branches did look very nice--warm colors, modern signage. In fact, it looked like what you'd expect to see if Starbucks opened a bank. But here's the catch: I don't want to bank at a pretty bank, and I don't want to bank at Starbucks, I want to bank at a real *bank*--one where they know who I am, they can provide quick and efficient service and we don't have technology for the sake of technology. (The fact that tellers couldn't handle money in this scenario was just plain stupid. You had to go to multiple "stations" to make a deposit, take out cash, complete transactions. What were they thinking?)

This on top of WaMu's total obsession with making home loans to the exclusion of all other services told me to run not walk to another bank. (I wish I could tell you I predicted the banking collapse, but that's not the case...just that WaMu was pretty darn clueless.)

I wonder if they did any kind of testing of this concept with actual customers and employees before rolling it out. And, if they did, did anyone look at the results?

Shattering the Myths About What Works and What Doesn't

Listen to our recent interview with Pamela S. Harper for her blog Accelerating Progress, about what type of marketing works and what doesn't during a recession.

Also, check out our latest marketing myth: Cut Marketing in a Recession to Improve Financials.

New Free Webinar Series: Promoting Your Non-Profit on April 28th

We're taking it to the web with a new BrightTalk webinar channel. Our first freee webinar, scheduled for April 28th at 10am PDT, features highlights of our recent sellout seminar, Promoting Your Non-Profit. Other upcoming sessions include: Effectively Marketing Your Career in Turbulent Times and When Social Media Doesn't Work.

Register.