Consumers are changing their habits – no change there. Right now the credit crunch is making people much more aware of where they’re spending their money, and what they’re getting for it. Impulse buys are on the wane. Charity shops are having trouble staying stocked. We’re also getting greener and more aware of sustainability. More of us are planning summer holidays in the UK rather than going abroad. No surprise when you look at the costs of travelling. UK consumers are spending – but not as much and not in the same ways as before.

For marketers, this is a new challenge. We can’t just say the credit crunch is wrecking my business. Being absolutely honest means looking at how we can change our products to keep consumers interested. For example, it could mean creating a new low-cost menu  or, it could be inventing a product aimed at helping consumers save money like the Owl™, a gadget that tells you just how much money you’re spending on electricity at any given moment.

If anything, the downturn is a test of our creativity, a real opportunity for marketers to take stock of what’s wrong with a business and take steps to make the right changes.

I’d really like to see what the marketing community has to say about this. If you have a good example of how marketing can work to counteract the downturn, now’s the time to share it.

Facebook. LinkedIn. Flickr, Twitter, blogs. The list goes on. Sometimes, it seems like social networks are taking over the world. And, let’s face it, people enjoy using them. Facebook has 200 million users – more members than some countries have people. Social networks give people a chance to communicate, share ideas, state preference and also do a lot of silly things like find out what great dictator they most resemble. But all joking aside, social networks are growing – and they’re clearly important.

We can agree that people use them. But they generally use them to connect with other people. Not look for products. When you’re sitting down for a drink and a chat with friends, the last thing you want is to be advertised to. Maybe a social network just isn’t the right place to get customers interested in your latest offering. Maybe they’ll too busy talking among themselves to listen to you.

On the other hand, people use blogs, Facebook pages and twitter to talk about products – whether they have negative things to say or positive. So there are important conversations happening. Customers and potential customers could be talking about your business and its products or services without you actually knowing. So, it’s probably a good idea to see if an I-hate-XYZ-widgets page exists on Facebook. And if it does, you might want to find out why, especially if you’re the Marketing Director at XYZ Widgets.

But running a campaign on social networks takes time and money – both of which are in short supply. After all, finding out what’s going on in your industry takes time and research. And blogs don’t just write themselves. When all is said and done, how can you prove your social networking strategy is successful? By the number of hits on your blogs? By the number of fans on your Facebook page. Or, is it the number of people who arrive at your e-tail site from a comment you dropped on your favourite forum? And how do you add all that up? Is one appearance on a popular blog equal to the same amount of space in a magazine?

So, the problem with social networking isn’t just how do we use it, but deciding how we measure its value.

Any successful social campaigns you’d like to discuss?

Mocky Khan

Case studies are great. They tell you so much in such a short space. I think the Together Campaign launched at Romford Dog Track is a good example of what marketing is all about.  It’s practical (free pooper scoopers on offer), well researched (surveys, focus groups) and it even includes a roadshow. And there’s more on the way like events, web work, print ads, internal communications … the works. Even better it’s for a good cause. – improving the local community. But what’s really exciting is that this campaign isn’t for a large corporation, it’s for a local council. It just proves how powerful marketing can be. How quickly it can change and how flexible it is. It can get directly to people and change their thinking. The campaign was developed by one of our own members. So congrats to Dominic Ridley-Moy

What do you think? Have you seen anything amazing lately?  Have any of you come into contact with this campaign? Speak your mind