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(Article first published in January '09. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)
It seems that every day we hear news of another company laying off staff, closing stores and/or going bust. It is very easy when bombarded by the media to develop a very defensive and fortress mentality to your day-to-day business.
We must all remember that the media likes to bring bad news and give very little air time to good news stories. Although based in the UK, I was delighted therefore to hear that John Lewis and JD Sports (both major retail chains) saw growth in the last quarter of 2008 of 27% and 2% respectively. This is in major contrast to the likes of Woolworths and Zavvi (also retailers) and closer to home, Waterford Crystal, who are all in trouble and have called in the administrators.
What does all this mean? It is becoming more and more obvious that the companies that are failing are companies that were in bad shape already and were being kept afloat by the banks. When the banks refused to continue funding them, the house of cards fell apart.
Then there's Marks & Spencers who have seen a significant reduction in sales, but is this really that surprising? Aimed at the high-end of the market in a time when people are being cautious about their spend, it's no wonder that they have seen a drop in sales.
We have also heard about companies like Dell who are laying off the majority of their staff in Limerick. Again is Dell doing that badly or is it purely very convenient to blame the global economic situation and move most of their European production operations to Lodz in Poland?
I have said before that Ireland is somewhat unique in that we were already experiencing the end of the Celtic Tiger when the financial crisis hit. This has compounded the issues we are all facing.
However, coming back to the two retailers who have announced a growth in sales, you can also add the likes of ALDI and LIDL. You could argue that these retailers are simply fortunate and are in the right place at the right time, but that is just too convenient and simplistic.
And so we come to the point, nay, the very crux of the matter. If your business is built on a house of cards then unfortunately you may not survive this economic turbulence. But if you have a financially viable business that is experiencing difficulties then you need to invest in a well planned and well executed promotional/marketing campaign.
How can I be so certain? Just look at the likes of ALDI. They started increasing their spend the moment the downturn began and for almost a year they have been running a tagline which reads "Don't Change Your Lifestyle, Change Your Supermarket". They have this on print ads, billboards, bus-stops, radio and even television.
In summary, don't be paralysed by the news and don't take it at face value. Look beyond the figures and the reality is far less scary. Yes, these are trying times, but invest in your business future now and you will reap the rewards in the future - Just make sure that your plan is sound and it should provide the expected returns you seek.
Franco De Bonis has worked in the field of sales and marketing promotion since 1990 and was most recently the global marketing manager for a major international technology company before setting up DG Group in January 2007.
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