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Marketing in a Time of Crisis

Over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to watch our clients react to the virus and adjust their businesses accordingly. As all our clients are manufacturing enterprises, they’ve needed to adjust their production scenario. Several innovative clients have gone from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3 shifts to achieve proper social distancing with no decline in the output. Most clients have returned to work in the office, as of this writing. Three clients have radically increased their ad spending, with one quoting me my own line, “Smaller pie, bigger slice.” He remembered 2009, all too well. The big difference here, of course, is that the current slowdown has absolutely NOTHING to do with economics.

Too many companies have forgotten how busy they were, before the virus hit. Some of our guys were coming off back-to-back record sales years, expecting a slowdown in 2020. Guess what? It didn’t happen. The economy continued to roar in most every sector. Some of our automotive clients were admittedly doing more business in Mexico than Michigan and there’s obvious hesitation about the future of power sources in cars, but that’s another column. The fact remains, our economy was rock solid and growing at a steady clip, prior to the arrival of the virus from China. This is a fact. As the landmark Harvard study evidenced, years ago, companies that continue a media presence in the market during any down economy come back faster and stronger than those who do not. This is also a fact. If you need more information or a fresh perspective on your marketing efforts in these tough times, call me. In business, as in health, we are indeed all in this together. Stay safe, stay positive and keep promoting what made you a successful company.