Posts Tagged america recession business
eBrand Media Research Brief: How 8 behavioral types cope with the recession
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Richard Storey, chief strategy officer for M&C Saatchi, London, suggests that recession is discussed as if it were a singular phenomenon, and that consumers have taken for granted the notion that there is one single, inevitable and all enveloping global crisis. News headlines tend to report macro trends, making bleak reading: slowing economy, falling house prices, rising food and fuel costs, or decreased consumer spending.
The problem, he says, is macroeconomics that would have us believe that the recession is a macro phenomenon with a single, reasonably predictable outcome, but understanding the dynamics that lay beneath these conditions could identify more interesting and effective recession strategies for businesses.
M&C Saatchi‘s ‘Reacting to Recession’ study uncovers the attitudes and behavior adopted by different groups of consumers and finds eight consumer typologies with distinct approaches to spending and economizing. Understanding and adapting to each segment presents opportunities for businesses, says the report.
Through a program of qualitative and quantitative segmentation, the study separated different consumer typologies. Each has adopted a different predominant behavior or ‘strategy’ to cope financially with the downturn and it is this behavior that defines each grouping:
Crash Dieters… 26%
Scrimpers…13
Abstainers…15
Balancers… 9
Treaters … 12
Justifiers… 12
Ostriches… 9
Vultures… 4
Posted by Tom Polanski in The Economy, Trend Tracker on June 9th, 2009
Economy back? Gene’s gonna miss the recession. Here’s why
By Gene Marks
Rats. Looks like this recession thing might be turning around. The market’s been rising. Houses are beginning to sell. Durable orders are up. Banks are detoxifying. Bernie Madoff and Jim Cramer have (finally) been publicly humiliated. Is this the beginning of the end of the economic downturn?
If it is, I’m going to miss this recession.
Make no mistake. I’m not talking about such unfortunate events as the frozen credit markets. Or that sick feeling I get before opening my 401(k) statement, or news anchors and talk show hosts screaming “catastrophe!” and “meltdown!” every time I turn on the TV. I’m definitely not going to miss knee-jerk mass layoffs of good employees by profitable companies. Microsoft, for instance, had net income of $4.17 billion in the most recent quarter yet unveiled plans to slash as many as 5,000 jobs. Microsoft — really?
But as a business owner who buys and sells technology, I find the end of the recession marks the end of some pretty good times for me.
For example, those of us with a few bucks left in the bank have been picking up bargains galore. Like oceanfront properties in Florida and $2-a-gallon gas. When it comes to tech, we’re loving the rock-bottom prices of new computers, servers, and other hardware. The global demand slowdown has depressed manufacturing costs and fueled a surge in unsold inventories. Truckloads of liquidated equipment chugging out of Wall Street have driven down costs for the survivors. Thanks, Bear Stearns.
My negotiating power has exponentially increased. When I need to buy a new server, I shamelessly press for discounts. When times were better, sellers would laugh in my face. Now, instead of pleading poverty, I can blame the economy. Hardware salesmen make sympathetic clucking sounds and whip out their erasers. Software reps, never known to show much spine, simply cave.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Opinions on April 3rd, 2009
How to Keep Your Business Humming in a Down Economy
By Tom Polanski
Sub-prime mortgage crisis, housing slump, credit crash and more are just a few of the buzz words you’ll hear when you turn on the news today. The media is having a feeding frenzy on the unfortunate downturn of the economy – and there’s no relief in sight.
So what can you, as a business owner, do to make sure you don’t end up a statistic in this recession?
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising on April 2nd, 2008