A story in today’s New York Times digs into the difference between a recession and an economic recovery… when that recovery is moving so slow, it’s hard to note progress. Click here to read the story.
Implications: Before this is all over, we could call this a double-dip, a protracted recession, a very gradual recovery… or my least favorite, the now-cliché “New Normal.”
No matter what you call it, this is reality. The prevailing consumer sentiment varies from one part of the world to another, from one region of the country to another, and indeed, from one neighborhood to the next.
Right now, the smart money remains focused on your micro economy, as a business: Who are the people around you that are still in the market to buy the product or service you sell?
Focus on that target consumer, the deeper benefits she seeks when considering your offer, and whom else she might talk to (your competitors) in attempting to satisfy that need or want.
Yes, we may be living in a period of austerity. But there are exceptions to that rule (items or occasions which lead us to indulge), and companies that profit nicely by appealing to the pragmatic side of consumers. Wise companies will stop defining “value” as the price a consumer puts IN to a purchase, and go back to defining “value” by the benefit she gets OUT of that purchase.
Mike Anderson
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