Are you Prepared for the Upturn?

A natural reaction during testing times is to hunker down, concentrate on the day-to-day running of the organisation and pare overheads down to the absolute minimum. As a consequence, marketing the company and planning for the upturn can easily be put on the back burner. Then, before you know it, business is on the rise and you find your competitors have stolen a march on you.

So, why is it so crucial to maintain a marketing programme, even when the storm clouds are gathering and the doom mongers are shouting from the rooftops?

At the start of this recession the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) published a White Paper entitled “Keep Calm and Carry on Marketing”. Now, three years on, the title might be a bit old hat, but the principles are still pretty sound – any organization which fails to address their marketing function, does so at their peril! I’ve pulled out a couple of key highlights:

Management Consultants, McKinsey and Co found that in the last recession, of the companies they sampled, those who performed in the top 25% had overspent on marketing compared with their weaker competition by just over 9%. Similar research revealed that organizations who increased their marketing spend through a recession recovered three times faster when the economy finally stabilized. And, as the report reminded me, if we go back to the great depression of the 1930’s there is no better example of the power of marketing during a recession than Coca-Cola. At that time a brand called Moxie led the field, but when the depression struck they felt it would be insensitive to advertise. Coca Cola were rather less reticent, plugged their brand as the perfect pick me-up and wiped out the opposition!

In times of uncertainty the organizations that thrive are those who can instill confidence, communicate effectively, retain customer loyalty and adapt, not only to changing customers’ needs, but also in the way they do business.

Now, here at Chapman Consulting, we recognize that for many companies within our industry, no matter how much they might want to prioritise their marketing effort, the reality is that they simply do not have the resources to devote to implementing an effective marketing programme. This is where we step in. With over twenty years experience of marketing within the construction sector our expertise is second to none. Our unique marketing audit tool enables us to assess your business then formulate and implement an effective marketing strategy. We conduct our audit and deliver a business development programme specifically tailored to your business within one month and at a fraction of the cost of retaining an in-house marketing function. With a strong team of associates, all of whom have extensive experience in their particular field, we will work with you along the way as you grow and develop your business.

As the key economic indicators suggest we may be leaving the darkest days of the downturn behind us then marketing and business development must be pushed to the top of the list in order to capitalize on the opportunities that are appearing. If you would like Chapman Consulting to guide you in growing your business then contact us to find out what we can do for you.