[Previous entry: "Why Marketing is important for not-for-profit organizations"] [Next entry: "What is Tim up to today?"]

10/14/2009: "Marketing Works in Recessionary Times"

The recessionary times we have faced during the last months have clearly shown that organizations that understand and practice strategic marketing have succeeded. On the other hand, organizations that have resorted to cutting prices, in anticipation of securing customers, have seen their strategies fail.

Here is a great exercise to try with your class: List a few car brands on the board (Ford, GM, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Smart, BMW, etc.). Ask students to guess which three car brands actually fared well during the recession. Ask students to justify their answers. You can do this as part of a group exercise.

The brands that fared well were Subaru, Kia, and Smart. The reason is that these brands have developed very distinct brand identities, which gave customers a reason to do business with these brands. On the other hand, brands with weak identities did not do as well.

Here is what these brands did well:
Subaru: Known for rugged, outdoors experiences, helped by four wheel drives.
Kia: Known for being a cheap, but reliable, car.
Smart: Known for changing the way people think about small cars.

I welcome your comments at asirsi@schulich.yorku.ca