My wife and I have friends who are in the military, and recently we were talking about the world, the lockdowns, and certainly how weird 2020 is at some point in the conversation we talked about basic training in the military, and how the goal is to break a new recruit down, and then build them back up.
And, this is the effect that I think 2020 is going to have on the next 10-20 years, and probably much longer. One really funny post I saw really sums it up: “I always wondered what it was like to live during times of the Civil War, Spanish Flu, Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, and Dust Bowl. Not all at once, mind you, but ya know, “beggars / choosers” and all.” – Cred_Just_Ible
For businesses, our country, and the global world society, we are being broken down. And in this state we have an opportunity to rebuild a better world for ourselves and our children. The issues we face in the US have been with us for decades, and in some cases since the founding of our republic. And now is the best time to rebuild a better country and a better world.
This parallel holds true for many businesses. Today we are releasing a new episode of the LA Business Podcast, interviewing Garrett Smith, the President of American Pop Corn Company. Their brand is Jolly Time, and sales are booming. Even in good times, and what a great time it is to be a popcorn company, they have ways to create
better infrastructure within their organization.
For companies that are hurting right now, as long as you are still in business, there is opportunity. On this front I will highlight three places where there is opportunity:
1. Operations
If business has slowed down and you’ve had to layoff or furlough staff, you’ve made tough decisions about the critical needs of your organization. You’ve already done the hard part of identifying the people, the processes, and elements of your operations that are critical to your business. That’s a big win, and often a tough move to make in a booming economy.
2. Marketing
Marketing is the anti-recession tool, and a way to attract attention, consideration, and sales. It’s also a way to future proof your organization so that as the economy rebounds your brand is top of mind as a resilient and reliable solution for customers. We’re doing more marketing than ever before, and it’s working for us.
3. Product Innovation
Now is the time to innovate. All bets are off. Companies are leaving the market, new companies are entering, and now is the time to test products and services that you’ve been tinkering with. We’re seeing this with big companies like LinkedIn, where they accelerated the number of people who were given permissions to their live stream content.
I’m sure that you can examine your industry and find changes in the last four months that you’ll discover were quick innovations designed to capitalize on the current moment.
So, as we look at this moment in time, we’re seeing decades of change happen in months.
Please take this opportunity to be part of the change, elevate your organization, and seize the opportunities before us.
Finally, to get a full recap of how to navigate the recession with marketing, with case studies, research papers, and real world examples of companies doing this work, go to the link below and download our free recession marketing guide.
