In marketing, focus is always critical. Losing focus, especially in challenging economic times, can lead to ‘the end’ for brands. In what ways should a brand marketer focus? First, one should be very specific about the target customers and audiences to which the brand is intended to appeal. That drives everything else.
In today’s business climate, one thing stands out. All the rules are up for grabs. At least from where consumers stand, everything they’ve taken for granted can no longer be taken at face value.
One thing consumers believe they have learned for sure from this recession is betrayal. Consumers have concluded that the real trouble came not from those they didn’t trust to begin with, but from the very ones they were relying on to watch their backs. Consumers see, too, that their subsequent efforts to be more responsible are being matched in name only by many of the companies at the center of this crisis.
What is the single biggest thing weighing down the consumer marketplace right now? The answer is uncertainty.
During long and deep recessions companies look to shift resources away from poor performing brands to more profitable ones.
