Marketing in a Global Crisis

You don’t need to see into the future to know that things are not going to be all that great economically. During the 2009 economic downturn, many people will be looking for value rather than luxury. Saving money, products that last longer. Expect growing demand for retail outlets that offer well-made, basic things at low cost.

Marketing will struggle to meet the challenge of online communities. Most consumers trust the opinion of friends and strangers more than official advertising. That is why online communities such as TripAdvisor have become so powerful.

You can type in the name of a hotel into Google, but if the comments by people who stayed recently are awful, you are not likely to believe the claims on the hotel’s own website. So future marketing strategies will look for ways to encourage positive news to spread about a brand online.

Expect rapid growth of positional marketing – where advertising is triggered by where you are or by what you are doing. It could be a special offer arriving in your mobile phone for example, just as you are walking by a restaurant. Or advertising while you are surfing the web which is linked to lifestyle choices you have made in the past.