Where the Action Is, According to Some Marketing Presidents I Know
In the last week I have talked to a couple presidents at different marketing services providers. When I asked them if things are better, they all responded pretty much the same way:
- “The free fall is over and clients are thinking about spending money. Money in the sense of “you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” In other words, if I spend it now in an opportunistic manner it is gone; if I wait, something better or worse may help me make the right decision.
- A number of clients are sitting on no inventory so they have lived off the fat of product already produced and paid for. To make more will be at an incrementally higher cost of goods.
- There is no such thing as a long-term plan. The clients seem to want windows of commitment that are only a few months in duration.
Interestingly, certain categories of goods are running hot and cold:
- People are buying store brand foods, not the big well known logos. Yet I also read that there is evidence that people are returning to their old brands. Personally, I think there is a large number of people out there who are still playing it safe and buying private label.
- Politics, this year, is going to be hotter than anyone expected.
- Commercial and residential construction is spotty by town and parts of town; forget the idea of regional trends.
- Health providers are up and down on a singular basis.
- Health and Beauty products seem to continue to be healthy; lipstick and moisturizers are not an expensive way to pamper oneself.
- Casual dining is in the dumps.
- QSR is relatively flat, except for McDonalds.
- Retail seems to have gone back to sleep after the holidays.
- Domestic automotive is pretty dead except for Ford……but who knows what the “Toyota Effect” is going to do.
- Auto aftermarket is up; people have to keep the old set of wheels rolling. The whole national fleet of our cars keeps on aging. Written by Tony Reynes - Visit Website
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