MACRO MARKETING ANSWERS TO THE RECESSION
MACRO-ANSWERS
The reason I wrote my last, emotional blog is that everything I have been discussing is about reaching target markets. Now, we need to concentrate on the more subjective and far more difficult parts of marketing: deep down understanding of your markets and creating the right messages. These will be less factual and more based upon my own sensibilities and opinions. So, here we go.
We are in the midst of a near depression. Certainly, people out of jobs and foreclosed upon feel that way. I feel it is a recession that will begin to end in August or so. (Note the word BEGIN – it will take years to come all the way back.) I have lived through a number of recessions, and it always feels like the end of the world. It’s not.
There are a lot of micro-reasons that we got into this spot. Greed from people who wanted homes while knowing full well they could not afford one; greed from sub-prime mortgage lenders; unbelievable greed from some bankers and Wall Street brokers; an energy crisis never faced by 100+ years of greedy politicians and administrations; a war in Iraq created to destroy and then privatize an oil-rich area; privatization of the armed forces; the military industrial complex and its lobbyists; nations all over the world (including OPEC nations, China and India) sapping the jobs and wealth of the USA (their biggest market) until nothing was left – and us letting them; 24-hour news networks so entrenched in politics that they cannot help but exaggerate and inflame; and on and on.
On a macro-level, we evolved into a have and have-not economy, right here in the USA. This nation was built on a strong, vibrant middle class. It was never meant to be so lopsided.
But there is yet another macro (and even mega) reason things have changed so much in America. The reason is demographic change. That’s also the reason Barack Obama is President and conservatives are moving farther right. It also gives smart marketers opportunities to help everyone.
Baby boomers – 70+ million people — are starting to retire. They are starting to cash in. They need money for retirement, for their elderly parents, for their adult and college aged children, and their grandchildren. What’s more, for the first time since they were hippies (in those love-happy 1960’s), they are starting to look past money and remember about values, character, and life.
They’ve stopped spending so ridiculously. From now on, their homes won’t be McMansions, but rather smaller, greener jewel boxes. Their cars won’t be Jaguars, but fuel efficient hybrids. They won’t support people who hate us – from Arabs to Russians to Venezuelans, from the Taliban to Al Qaeda – by spending freely on oil. They want off of oil. They love quality, but not at an unacceptable price. They are turning against opulence and extravagance. They are going on all sorts of diets and health kicks.
The huge new consumer market to replace them is Generation X, followed by Generation Y and the chil dren of the baby boomers, the echo boomers. And that means a whole new way of thinking. Generation Xers are even more spoiled and demanding; Generation Yers are much more tied into technology and the Internet. Eco boomers were born into technology, like the Internet, I-pods, texting on cell phones, etc. They don’t want to die or kill in oil wars. They want healthier, more natural food, cleaner water, and cleaner air. They expect to be given opportunities. They tend to value their free time as much as their work time. They are more liberal and far less racist. They are a new majority made up of many minority populations; white is fast becoming the new minority. They are very smart and cannot easily be duped.
It’s time to re-think your markets, especially your target markets, their needs, and the messages they will value, if you (and all Americans) are going to survive this recession and thrive in the future.
Ed Sucherman
The Marketing Machine
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