Is this really the End of the Recession?

Are You Ready for the Recovery?

Dear Friends and Clients,

Last week Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada, said the recession in Canada is over. Now people have started asking me “how should we adjust our marketing ready for the recovery?"

Well, let’s think about the mechanisms at play as a downturn progresses and leads into recovery....

At the start, customers stop buying, but as time goes on the pressure to buy the products and services they need does not go away. However, during this process they generally develop very different attitudes towards buying from the ones they had before.

Business customers likely want keener prices, better terms, different order quantities or to hold less of your product in their inventory.

Consumers become used to bargains and deals and this is what they will continue to expect.

Consulting Offer for First Five Callers

Some customers have become over-cautious during the recession. And some of your competitors may think the same way as these customers. They stop spending money on marketing and they aren't advertising or investing, because their advisors have told them to conserve cash.

This means there’s a great opportunity for a company to move quickly and increase market share while their competitors are still waiting and watching

Maybe you need to reposition a little - develop new, less expensive marketing methods. Develop a different message, emphasize your overall value proposition, and prepare your company for the new trends that will be dominant as the recovery gets under way.

Now that we are nearing the end of the recession, this unique opportunity to jump ahead of the pack is still available but will not be there for long! Now is the time to act. Stop thinking about the timeline of recession/recovery and seize the opportunity to upgrade your marketing strategy now!

In honour of the coming recovery, I am following my own advice and offering a deal: a half-day's consulting on the house. Call me at 416-500-7287. (First five callers only, so don't delay).

Tony Baker
maww marketing
Tel: +1.416.500.7287
Toll-free: 1.877.399.1649
Email: tony.baker@maww.com Web: maww.com
marketing • management coaching • research • alliances
international business development

Now that I'm a CITP

After years helping clients “go global” and teaching international trade courses, I am delighted and honoured that Canada’s renowned Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) has awarded me the prestigious Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation.

I am hoping this will help me to spend even more time in one of my favourite activities: helping businesses grow by developing into international markets.

President Obama has just said that the recession in the USA is approaching its end. In Canada we appear to be a little ahead and this will maybe give us a jump start on our exporting endeavours south of the border. I think we can be pretty sure that other countries will soon be seeing the dawn light and then their markets will be ripe for our exports too.

Most companies are already active internationally through sourcing if not through selling, but there are always more markets to grow into.

Growing into a new market can be very refreshing to your way of thinking about business. There’s no law that says you have to operate in a foreign market the same way you do in your home market. In fact, very often it’s simply not possible to work the same way overseas as you do at home.

Savvy companies often use a foreign market for a different purpose than their home market. For instance, a company may try out a new product or new ways of marketing without having to explain the change to existing customers. You may try out a new business model, develop new types of alliances, share the risks with distribution chain partners rather than take it all yourself, use simplified procedures, limit your product range, make greater use of e-marketing, sell older products into a market which does not know them yet and where a premium can be charged. The list of possibilities goes on and on....

There are many good reasons for growing into foreign markets. Please call me at 416-500-7287 and I will be happy to discuss how your company could seize this opportunity.

For ideas on how your business can expand, please call for a chat at 416-500-7287.

As they say: "Carpe Diem"!

Where we can meet ....

I attend many seminars and networking events in the Greater Toronto Area as well as speaking on marketing and international business topics. Please call or email and I’ll let you know where I shall be in the next week or two. I am always happy to find a quiet corner during or after events to chat with people who have marketing or international business questions.

I am attending the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce Networking Breakfast at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Wednesday, August 12th, and hope to be at a similar event of the Toronto Board of Trade at the Strathcona Hotel on the 31st.

This month I shall miss the British Canadian Chamber's Pub Night (third Tuesday of every month) but hope to get to the following one on September 15th.

Call or email for a no obligations chat or to arrange to meet us to see what we can do to help you position your business for the recovery.