The landscape today is filled with an abundance of me-too start-ups. How many of these will be missed when they’re washed out by the recession?
In every downturn there are a few, however, with smart, committed teams that have found a niche and have an up-close, living, breathing understanding of the critical needs of their target customers. They’re working night and day to address those needs, and are ruthless in sizing up how they’re doing and adjusting their plans.
The recession may also help wash out some of the soft thinking in marketing, though here I’m less optimistic. For all of the analytics that the web provides, we still see the mad rush from popular tactic to popular tactic, with sometimes the most tenuous connection with the underlying business. It’s marketing plan by marketing tactic, following the dictates of Sales, or the overbearing direction of a founder CEO, or the crowd, doing what everyone else seems to be doing. (“We need a Facebook page!” Really? “Follow us on Twitter!” Why? . . .) In the echo chamber that is the web, a reassuring voice is never far away.
What’s missing? A strategy that links these tactics to a business objective. Without one, these activities merely drain resources–budgets, staff time, management attention–from what may be far more critical efforts.
One of the defining characteristics of those start-ups that will succeed is that everyone is pulling in the same direction, with the same vision and commitment. It comes in part by staying focused on the long-term while at the same time getting the execs and key members of their groups out into the field meeting with customers and potential customers, hearing from them directly and taking the responsibility to make sure that the company responds.
It’s both challenging and rewarding, and it’s the best way to make it through the downturn and come out stronger on the other side.
