Apr 8, 2008
When Waters Get Rough, Marketing can be a Lifeboat
A woman I talked to at Xplor Document University, whose company I would describe as a hot prospect for the Mailliner, told me that she had grave doubts about adding something new during a recession. She said that her business, which serves the financial services market, is all about cutting costs and helping clients survive and not about “soft” benefits, such as marketing.
I explained all about the cost reduction aspects of Dynamic Envelope Creation and sent her a copy of the Madison Advisors report on the true costs of traditional inserting. There is a compelling business case to be made for Dynamic Envelope Creation without getting into the marketing aspect of it. But it did get me to thinking: the last few conferences I’ve attended in the print/mail industry have largely been about Transpromo, yet businesses still consider marketing a luxury item, something to be added in the good times, not now.
Big business is fraught with contradictions. A few years back, American companies were embracing ideas about “enhancing the customer experience” and adopting CRM technology and talking about “one-to-one marketing” saying the “customer is king” while simultaneously off-shoring customer service to places like India and the Philippines. It made no sense then and it makes no sense now. There is nothing like a good customer service call to reassure a customer that the company is competent, conscientious and capable. On the other hand, according to a survey conducted by Purdue University a number of years ago, some 63% of customers said that they would cease doing business with a company after a single bad customer service call. I’m with them.
Likewise, it may be that just when Transpromo (or whatever you want to call it) is becoming accessible to the average company due to improvements in technology and color print coming down to a reasonable price point and other factors, we may see its progress stalled because the economy is in bad shape. And, as with the example above, this would be both a contradiction and a shame, because the benefits of steady helm marketing are far from soft and actually mean more to a brand and the bottom line of a company in a down economy than they do when times are good.
I’ve discussed blue oceans in this space before so I’ll spare you the explanation. But an economic recession can be a “blue ocean” opportunity. It’s an opportunity to separate oneself from the pack, to rise above the din and send your message with a clear voice in a way that gets heard and understood.
As one technology develops others become obsolete. Things can change so fast in business that it is easy to ignore this simple fact. When times are good there is little impetus for change. After all, no one likes change. Success masks a lot of disconnects, inefficiencies and outdated processes. But, when times are tough opportunities abound.
Recessions, for example, provide rich opportunities to fine tune or even completely overhaul faulty processes while providing ample proving grounds for new technologies. One can no longer ignore inefficiencies once business conditions go south. Systemic problems and organizational challenges must be met in order to survive.
Marketing is an easy cut for many businesses. It is easier to spend less money on trade advertisements and collateral than it is to cut other expenses. Marketers are among the first to become unwanted overhead, especially when the relationship between marketing and the overall bottom line is relatively unclear.
However, while cutting marketing dollars is an easy call for many business leaders to make, it does a disservice to the company by failing to promote key messages and by not positioning the company for success. Short term, near term, long term: marketing matters.
Cutting out marketing directly affects both consistency and differentiation, two of the most important components of a successful brand. Successful brands turn opportunities into increased sales and profitability.
Companies that spend huge amounts on marketing during the good times and very little on marketing during bad times compromise their chances for long-term success. Companies that spend steadily over the years, even if the overall expenditure is lower, reap the benefits of consistent and successful lead generation, lead qualification and closed sales. Consistency contributed to a strong, stable, credible brand and provides clear differentiation during down economic conditions, when each dollar spent has a larger impact on the target audience.
The transactional document is a corporate asset. It is paid for, accounted for, and often serves multiple purposes: revenue generation, regulatory compliance, customer contact. Adding promotional messages—especially to the outside of the envelope—means that you show up while other companies cut their advertising budgets. And as Woody Allen once said, 90% of life is just showing up.
If you are thinking about adding Transpromo messaging to your customer relationship strategy, continue to do so even as the economy recedes over the next few quarters. Add the technology, re-design the documents, consider the envelope…you’ll be in a better position to clean up when things look rosy again. That’s blue ocean thinking.