If you're a 'half full' person, you might be forgiven for thinking more positively at the moment. Compared to 12 months ago, when the bottom seemed to fall out of the economy, there's some good news around:
- Big company M & A is back on
the corporate agenda with the news last week that Kraft has made a bid for Cadbury
- The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) concluded recession is probably over in the UK, with the economy growing during the the third quarter, albeit at a rate of 0.3-0.4%.
- Manufacturing is growing at the strongest rate for 18 months
- Manpower suggested jobs market is also slowly recovering
Whilst this positive view is fiercely contested by many - including Harry Dent in his book: 'The Great Depression Ahead' - after 12 months of cost cutting and resource focus,
the time has come to for marketers to extend that competence of good
cost management and focus seriously on return on marketing investment.
I was
asked last week where i would invest an additional sum of marketing
money - something i haven't been asked for a while, but a question that every marketer needs to know how to answer. The answer today should be very different to 12 months ago and offers marketers a real opportunity to convince finance and sales colleagues that marketing is a serious driver of profitable revenues...an investment, rather than a cost!
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