Blog: November 2009

What ended the recession?

I came across a very interesting marketing / business fable the other day (below) and it got me thinking... A few months ago, all I ever heard of was the recession. Agencies were telling me that they were struggling and that because of their financial woes, they would be cutting back significantly on spending. They were working with less projects from existing clients, gaining fewer new clients and seeing a big decrease in billable hours. Times were tough indeed. Then I looked at the paper one day and saw an interesting headline, "The Recession is Over" it read. "Ya right", I thought to myself, "like it can end just like that. Like people are going to just go out and start spending again". Well... it happened. All of the sudden I wasn't hearing about the recession as much. Actually, I stopped hearing about it at all. Instead, I started hearing great stories about winning marketing pitches and exciting new projects starting up. New work was coming in and agencies were becoming much more concerned with process, productivity and efficiency. It was as if Principals of agencies were more concerned with how to avoid a future downtown than they were about how to get out of the current one. Agencies were hiring again too. I spoke with a lot of managers that were combing the recent grad lists from design schools looking for fresh new talent. Times were picking up indeed.

But how and why? I read later articles that spoke of contraction. Experts were saying that while the worst is behind us, we're still in serious trouble. But there was one positive theme that kept popping up and continues to do so; consumer confidence. Consumers are the major shapers of overall economic activity and it makes you wonder, did we only need a little boost of confidence to get us back on track? Was being told the recession was over the actual reason for it's end?

I'm not sure, but here's an interesting fable that is sure to make you think...
There was once a hot dog vendor who sold the very best hot dogs in the city. His business was booming, people loved his hot dogs, and his business steadily increased month after month. The man loved his business and believed in the need to provide great food at a great price.
This man was so busy advertising and selling his hot dogs and making lots of money, that he didn't even have time to read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Consequently, he never heard a word about a predicted recession or the need to cut back to save for the potential economic slowdown. As long as he continued to offer his delicious hot dogs, his customers bought them. He kept advertising, and they kept coming. He kept selling, and they kept buying.
Then one day his college educated son came to visit him. His very intelligent son told him that an economic recession was surely coming. His son told him that people wouldn't have enough money to buy his hot dogs. The successful hot dog vendor had a lot of faith in his son and assumed all the money he's spent on his son's education must be good for something. So he believed his son, took his advice and cut back on his advertising. Additionally, he started ordering less supplies and product, because after all, people would be cutting back soon. He even went so far as to take down many of the billboards that lead to his roadside stand. And sure enough, people stopped coming to him. People stopped buying his hot dogs, and he eventually went broke.
Then he thought to himself. "How smart my son is in predicting this horrible economic crisis."

Labels: advertising, agency software, Contraction, Creative, Downturn, Economy, Efficiency, Productivity, Rebound, Recession

As a newly appointed Account Executive here at Function Point, I have to say: ‘To be able to be the voice that reaches out to people with services that help them increase their profit margins and cut costs a 1000 fold is definitely a privilege’.

No matter how you slice it, when everyone else is panicking and things look bad, there has always been 'opportunity'. If you are diving in or expanding what you are doing, or just managing your risk a little tighter, remember that there are plenty of goods and services that people need and want, no matter what the economy is doing.

In a time of short days and increasing numbers of pink slips, it is easy to let our concept of what is possible for us narrow down with the early twilight. But one of the few upsides of the recession is the opportunity to re-evaluate not only what you want in order to grow but also who we are.

Talk to you soon.

DJ Rana

It has been a long time since I have opened a novel. I’m the kind who likes to read journals, newspapers, articles on business and so on. What many would consider boring. As my not so friendly friends put it, “Chris, you are putting me to sleep with all that time sheet stuff. LOL.

But I find a lot of value in a lot of what I read. That being said, this week I posted on our twitter account a link to an article I am going to act on with our team. “How to Align Employee and Company Interests”. I found the article really applicable as I want to see our team grow and remain engaged with all things Function Point.

The article from the Harvard Business Review, talks of asking each team member to prepare a list of their top five priorities. Then in review ask three questions:

1) Which of these priorities do you think will have the greatest impact for the firm?
2) Which of these interest them the most?
3) Which would they be the most successful with?

Of course the ultimate outcome would be an alignment where one of the priorities is identified when answering each of these questions. Makes sense, but of course we are all human and the likely hood of this is rather small.

The article continues with process for getting everyone onto the same page. Communication, instilling confidence and aligning interests with responsibilities.

So the long and the short of this is related to my upcoming team member reviews. I am going to follow this suggestion and use it as a starting point for personal engagement with each of us in the office.

I am a big believer that the small things that we do today makes a big difference tomorrow, next week and in the next quarter.

With all the great successes we have been having lately I can say the team is doing great work. I feel privileged and can only express how the team at Function Point has never been stronger and more able to move our customers, our product and their own careers forward.

My Gosh, I was just handed a hard cover! The age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant. Something bigger than an article yet related to my passions. I'll read on...

Thanks Jane

Chris