I’m no naysayer, and certainly no harbinger of doom, but I do believe all the talk in the papers about an economic recovery can be loosely defined as ‘utter bullshit’.
I actually believe the hype, quite aside from being ill-founded and created to jump-start big companies feeling the pinch as people save, rather than splash, is counter-productive. And venomous; in defibrillating the economy while it needs to be kept in a coma, this hype will trigger a worse crash than we have seen through the rocky months from 2008.
Does that make me the doommonger? I hope not. I hope people will learn from our mistakes in the past and keep a tight ship despite utterances from the Government (which, let’s be honest, has quite a lot to gain from a resuscitated money market) that we no longer need to take cover.
The arse-clenching we’ve all (except Apple) had to endure in recent times has clarified what consumers want, and expect, from the marketplace. What your business needs to survive in the 21st Century.
How do you know if you’ll win this time around? First of all, you either
- sell on the internet, or
- offer a real-world experience
If you’re clicks, no mortar, you either need to be purveying
- Things you can touch. Name me a product you can’t buy cheaper, with more choice available, over the internet?
- Services that enhance the web experience. All your web 2.0 apps.
- Services that enhance your life. Things like augmented reality (layar), property hunting a la rightmove,
If you’re bricks and mortar
- you inspire the senses
- you offer value
- your product goes beyond expectations
- people talk about you
- you’re unique in at least one way
Irrespective of which camp your enterprise falls into, your marketing needs to tell stories. Your customers are as much a part of your brand as your products and services. You don’t sell product; people want to buy it.
Whereas web-only companies need the net alone, your experiential enterprise needs both physical and electronic presence. I stress need; I think we all understand that your representation on the internet is as important as your real-world address. Don’t ever lose sight of the free marketing opportunities the web offers to you, whatever your proposition. Being internet-savvy is like holding the key to unlimited word of mouth marketing. On a global scale.
On the net you have an incredible chance to develop your business by complementing its USPs with electronic offerings. Film a viral video, create an incredible Twitter presence, sing about your successes online. The level playing field metaphor is so true. Make it real, make it friendly, and make it memorable, and you have all the ingredients of a massive internet powerplay.
Can you handle the truth?
Tick the box, and you’re a 21st century company.