GOOD TIMES/BAD TIMES: You know I’ve had my share
Submitted by Valerie Donati on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 10:41
When all the news is bad, how do you keep your clients’ brands in a positive spotlight? Keep it real…
As a communications specialist I’ve been through my share of ups and downs in the economy. When I started in this business (as a receptionist!) it was the early ‘90s and all our efforts were focused on promoting the “new” low-key vibe of fashion. After all, we were coming off the garish ‘80s. But more importantly we were dealing with a downturn in the economy—the market had just spectacularly crashed. So how did we deal in our fashion public relations firm? We worked with what we had, a much more sober environment. So we promoted the chic state of unadorned fashion (Prada ascending) and pushed two new hot colors: black and charcoal gray.
After the dot-com bust it was carnage, everywhere. So what did we do? We promoted our brick and mortar clients as the “real deal” and pointed out that while e-commerce was here to stay (it doesn’t come up in spell check anymore), regular retailers who had been assigned an untimely death would most likely live alongside their Internet counterparts for years to come (plus, we promoted the Internet companies that made it as heroes).
Today, as we face a crazy host of market killers: war, economic downturn and now pandemic flu, it’s even more important to keep the story real. So, we remind people that vitamin D helps boost the immune system(Viactiv Calcium Chews) that direct marketing businesses have always given motivated people a great way to make a living, that you don’t HAVE to color your hair in a salon (L'Oreal Paris Excellence Crème-To-Go), and that you CAN afford a great designer wardrobe this spring (Cynthia Steffe).
It’s all in the message, as long as it’s real!
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