John Kusik• ConsultFocus.com • 120 North Main Street • Chagrin Falls, OH 4022
Phone 440-914-0200 • Fax 440-542-1504 • Johnk@consultfocus.com
At last it’s here in the showroom now!
It’s the 2011 Economy Model !
If you think you’ve seen this model before
you’re in for a surprise!
Challenge
Enclosed malls, strip malls, shopping “towns”, free standing stores, big box chains … they’re everywhere. Original store concepts and knock-offs trying to look like the biggies are lined up, too. Chain restaurants abound just as the retail stores do, but there is very little basis to separate one from another. All of this retail confusion has gone too far to be supported by you and me and everyone else – CONSUMERS.
Challenge
Brand identities are confused and disappearing. You can go to your friendly Ford store and buy a Ford Explorer with a pick up body; or you can buy a Ford 150 pick up truck with a 4-door cab. The interiors look the same and, believe it or not, so do the exteriors. Seems like every car line now has a “crossover.” Very creative, no?
And the best brand confusion comes from the fast food business, Subway added pizza to its menu and Dominos Pizza added sub sandwiches. Not to be outdone, your pharmacy added clothes and lawn furniture, and Wal-Mart added a complete grocery department. Wow, am I confused.
Challenge
How much stuff have you accumulated? How many cars, TV sets, CDs, DVDs, outdoor grills, decks, and microwaves, can the market absorb? Did demand cause the recession or did the recession cause demand to slow way down?
Challenge
Customer service and salesmanship were removed from the marketing equation. Think about those calls to customer service that were answered by foreign accents that were difficult (impossible?) to understand. Outsourcing customer services to other countries was corporate masochism that saw customer loyalty disappear. Lazy and sloppy salespeople and inept managers made money hand over fist as they sang, “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Consumers kept buying no matter how poorly they were treated.
Challenge
U.S. manufacturers began ordering parts from Chinese companies. Smart buyers knew they had to, “order twice what they needed … quality control is so bad you will throw half of your shipment away.” The good news in this challenge is that many manufacturers are bringing those orders back to the USA and ordering from companies in this country.
Summary
The economy has really upset businesses. In the wake of the economic recession, marketing has totally changed. Many see marketing today as an ugly monster.
Turn the ugly monster into OPPORTUNITY!
When you get through feeling sorry for yourself, feeling beaten by the economy, knowing “they” are out to get you, and wishing you were back in the old economy 3 or 4 years ago, move forward quickly. There is opportunity out there, and it’s not going to wait for you. The new opportunities have a whole new set of requirements. They are time-tested, reliable success principles business owners and entrepreneurs have drifted away from. Getting back to these forgotten principles has to be the FIRST PRIORITY to move forward in this new economy. To sum it up:
- There are new opportunities
- There are new requirements
- Neglected principles must be restored
The 2011 Economy
- Power has returned to the consumer.
- Consumer tolerance for ordinary products and/or service and incompetence -- is zilch.
- Assume greater secrutiny by consumers before buying. They will demand what they want before buying, and they will demand value in what they buy.