Marketers Respond To Bad Times

Written By Ted Grigg

Here I am at Starbucks drinking Pike's brew coffee listening to Christmas music preparing to write this post.

And then it struck me. Things are not going as usual. So I decided to share my thoughts  at a more personal level than usual. 

We hear the discouraging news that somehow blunts a joyful season for many. Jobs lost, homes going through foreclosure, sales dropping, terrorist attacks in India and a new President many trust and just as many do not trust. 

Even if some of these things have happened to us, we still have a lot to be thankful for. And let's give credit where it is due. God takes care of us even when we paint him out of the picture.

How is the marketer supposed to respond to all of this?

For one thing, marketers tend to be optimistic and resilient. They don't despair, but think through the problems to come up with creative action plans. They see opportunity in chaos.

Those who loose jobs seek new opportunities. And those with shrinking marketing budgets now have the time to fix costly and inefficient processes, learn more about their customers or rework key strategies.

Now is the time to refine your understanding of the core strengths of your company, your staff and even your own.

Think hard, plan and then by all means, do something that leverages those strengths.

It's amazing how hard thinking and hard work subdue fear and replaces it with success.

It's OK to get discouraged, but don't let it freeze you into inaction. I lost a few good clients due to the economy and could really use more work. So I'm giving myself the same advice.

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

  • Are acquisition goals economically realistic?

  • Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?

  • Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?

  • Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?

  • Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?

  • Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com
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