Marketing in turbulent times

Turbulent times have come to stay, must be factored in marketing plans of companies and they are filled with opportunities, says the head of one of Sri Lanka’s top advertising agencies.

Thayalan Bartlett –CEO JWT Sri Lanka, speaking at a recent LBO-CMO on ‘Marketing in the age of turbulence’ in Colombo, says there is too much negativism in business and that is why ‘we are feeling the hard times.’

“If you don’t know how to ride the winds of turbulence positively, you will surely be hit by it. So wake-up! Sri Lanka. Turbulence is a good thing! So long as you know how to deal with it and not allow it to deal with you,” he argues.

Extracts of his presentation:
“The very mention of turbulent times tricks us to believe that the magnitude of terrorism is wreaking havoc across our marketing plans. While terrorism is likely to be a cause in most countries, it is not the only formidable force that we are dealing with. The collapse of global debt markets, to the rising threat of climate change to the extreme sensitivities related to sweatshops and child abuse singularly and sometimes collectively unleash its force on marketing plans around the globe making the business environment hostile.

In a Sri Lankan context it is not wrong to assume that terrorism is the basis of the rough times we are facing as an economy. But this is only to be assumed if we define our business realm within the confines of Sri Lanka. But it has been years since we as a country acknowledged our presence within the realm of globalization and opened our economy to facilitate this transformation. So we need to think beyond terrorism as we deal with the term ‘Turbulent times’.

Lack of vision in the quest for opportunities
The vision for opportunities gets blurred by the troubles of turbulence. Turbulent times are like nowhere land. Nothing is clear, things deteriorate rapidly and the times are uncertain. We could all empathise with those symptoms.

Turbulent times affect marketing plans because they affect consumers. But consumers don’t shift to commodities in sacrifice of brands. They still want to buy brands. Marketers must ensure that they deliver on value. It’s not enough to create value in a brand…. and the all important question is how to extract value. The consumer’s feelings during turbulent times can be very emotional. The worst thing a brand can do is to insensitively and irrelevantly communicate with them.

Consumers are looking for value in difficult times but this should not be decoded that he is looking for a cheaper price. Revisit your brand footprints and look within the brand’s proposition and consumer insights to extract that value like in the case of these two brands.

MNC brands will survive and they will continue to grow as they are based on sound international business practices and are more resilient than local brands in such situations. Large local FMCG brands must watch-out as they are the most complacent. Relatively smaller brands are constantly searching for opportunities and are faster, sharper to innovate and differentiate in turbulent times.

A good example is the retail fashion business ODEL: ODEL has revolutionized the retail fashion business and moved shoppers out of traditional shopping places like Majestic city and Liberty Plaza into their stores in turbulent times. In turbulent times people still want to look their best and are seeking brands that will complement or enhance their look and personality and are willing to pay a price for it.

At a different level “House of Fashion” has cleverly moved out shoppers from Pettah and the pavements into their stores - also achieved in turbulent times.

The growth of “modern trade” spurred by Food City and Keells are moving consumers from the Pola to the environs of super marketing.

Take a look at what Abans has just done to the debt market to manage its own electronics business. They are well known to be an electrical super store to which banks brought customers and encouraged them to buy. Today they have cut –out the banks and finance companies and Abans is talking to customers directly about deposits and financial solutions. This example is not about the quality of advertising but their boldness to innovate and differentiate in turbulent times.

Struggle for consumer attention
Companies slash budgets to ensure two things 1. Write back their saved advertising spends into the bottom-line. 2. To fulfill a belief that advertising is a waste in turbulent times.

There are two things companies must begin to adapt. Consider innovation the biggest motivator in turbulent times. Differentiate, differentiate and differentiate- Because the chance of propositioning your consumer is greater when your competition is cutting down budgets.

Contrary to global belief that ATL (Above The Line) is not delivering impact, here in Sri Lanka, ATL still has an edge due to the lack of other choices. But there is a lot of wastage in ATL. Advertising in turbulent times requires precision targeting to manage wastage of media budgets. It will continue to be so, if we as an industry do not drive change.

Activation is certainly being adopted but needs to be further exploited. Ambient media is only seen as an award opportunity and is not fully exploited by clients. Digital media is the most engaging with precision targeting capability but Sri Lanka likes to believe that we are not ready for it. Why?Because our industry likes to believe in figures. “I think we need to stop believing in figures and start making figures that we can believe in”

It’s true that the penetration of the Internet is as low as 2.5%. Household computer ownership is still a dream in Sri Lanka. The web is largely seen as a one way information source and is not offering value and I am not surprised with these figures. What have we done as an industry to make the digital age a productive and engaging media vehicle? Today 99% of websites in Sri Lanka are information heavy seriously lacking interactive and engagement capability. If consumers want to know about you, they will call for an annual report or a product brochure. Look at the digital area taking shape and we are just not seeing the opportunity.

It’s immaterial if the time is right or not. It’s no consequence to anyone if the penetration of computers is going to improve or not….the point is that the web is going to take control of Sri Lanka very soon and the industry is going to be caught with its pants down.”