Ariamedia will host an exclusive reception for clients, guests and friends on September 30th at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Preview Center. Just days before the grand opening, guests will hear from Arts executives on the impact and vision for arts and culture in Dallas.
Today I came across a very well thought out campaign (via Organic) from T-Mobile. What’s interesting about this campaign is that it was very intentionally designed to be captured by onlookers, using phones, camcorders, etc., not a professional camera crew with a $50k rig. What stands out is the campaign’s approach. It’s not some manufactured movement that feels forced. It was simple, well executed, and beautifully genuine.
Although rare, viral can be intentional.
By Tony Passarello, Senior Associate with Ariamedia
Among companies that were considering relocation before the economy took a U-turn, the intuitive reaction is often to postpone the move indefinitely. After all, there’s enough uncertainty already and the potential carrying costs for unsold homes of relocated executives only raises the ante.
For companies that still have the cash or credit lines to fund a corporate relocation, though, there’s good reason to take a counter-intuitive tack.
A commercial real estate market reeling from vacancies is offering big incentives for new owners and tenants.
Rising unemployment has made it an employers’ market, with plenty of experienced and highly motivated talent eager to work for very competitive wages.
Municipalities reeling from layoffs and business closures are more likely to employ tax and other concessions to replace lost jobs.
A residential real estate market glutted with great homes at great prices means that relocated executives get a windfall bonus with the purchase of a home in their new hometowns.
The bottom line is that companies with a long view vision and the wherewithal to act on it have an unprecedented upside to making a strategic move.
Ariamedia’s CEO Ryan Thompson was interviewed this morning on KRLD CBS News Radio (1080am in Dallas) to share our views on the economy and how to thrive during it.
Here’s our take on how to Thrive in today’s economy:
1. Review your target markets segments. Are they more economically stable than others? Do you have customers in market segments with which you can tell a compelling value proposition? If so, expand your marketing to those groups and write a case history to prove you have experience.
2. Address the economy in your go-to-market messaging…..and try to avoid “doom and gloom”! Its really really easy to talk about how dismal the economy is currently but…its old news and its not productive. Step back and think about your offerring: Do you have products or services which create efficiencies, reduce labor, increase profit, etc? Its very likely that you can make at least one compelling argument in this area. For example: At Ariamedia, we provide digital marketing and advertising services to build online experience and insure they are successful through online marketing results. Because we’re highly targeted (not mass blast) and because virtually 100% of our work can be measured through analytics, we provide a much more “efficient” solution for your advertising and marketing dollars. Thus, our go to market is about Marketing Efficiency and insuring that your agencies prove their value.
3. Find Qualified Advice: It never hurts to gain insight from third parties. If you’re a small business CEO, you’re likely an “island”. That is, you make all the decisions, report to no one, and have no advisory function around you. Are your decisions the right path? I suggest building an advisory group and doing so at zero cost. Here are several ways:
4. Maintain a Positive Attitude. Look, I know the economy sucks for many but what are YOU going to do about it? Negative is like a virus and it often causes procrastination. Remain positive, explore deeply to find existing opportunities, create new opportunities that address the economy and most of all, ACT! Inaction is far worse than incremental failure. You must move forward and make tough decisions.
Feel free to continue this discussion on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariamedia
By Tony Passarello, Guest Author and Strategic Advisor to Ariamedia
The grim economic news of recent weeks doesn’t table the need to grow your enterprise; it only heightens the sense of urgency to do so and provides a sharp context within which to re-tool your growth strategies.
It should not go unforgotten that plenty of fortunes were made during the Great Depression. Those with cash snapped up tangible assets for cents on the dollar. Construction of factories and skyscrapers stopped, but makers of building supplies and equipment fueled massive public works projects. New car sales stalled, but public transit thrived. Beverage distillers and Hollywood studios alike profited handsomely from providing the masses with inexpensive diversions from sobering workaday news. Barter and resale became widespread retail practices.
In todayʼs new economic landscape, consumers will trade down, and price and margin cuts will become so widespread that theyʼll become an expectation rather than a distinctive competitive advantage. Smart marketers will look not only to hang onto their current customers, but to garner more than their fair share of trade-down. Along with institutional service providers, theyʼll also be looking to automate transactions wherever possible in order to trim their staffs and budgets. The savviest among them will do so in way that bakes into their service and product offerings a value proposition defined by more than just price.
No business or institution wants to present a sloppily branded image, but in the current economic environment marketers and institutions will have far less tolerance for marketing expenditures with predominantly cosmetic outcomes. Theyʼll insist instead on benefits that they can take to the bank. Now more than ever, branding will mean more than talking a sexier talk; it will mean walking a leaner, meaner walk.
It’s been well documented that brands which marketed strategically and assertively in each of the recessions of the last half of the 20th century not only found themselves on the bleeding edge of economic upturn, but emerged with a larger market share as full prosperity returned. Business-to-business service providers who can speak distinctively and convincingly to these simple mandates will continue to capture marketplace attention and grow their businesses. The only certain losers are those who continue to do business as usual, and those who pull in their horns and hunker down awaiting the upturn.
