You know that times are tough when “fuel” is a four-letter word and the word “staycation” has a good chance of being inducted into Webster’s Dictionary.  Every facet of business has felt the effects of the economic downturn, and companies are grappling with how to brand themselves to consumers whose interest in consuming is lessening. 

Here are some good practices to follow in this regard:

1. Don’t change your basic brand identity — just reframe your messages within the context of current conversations and consumer concerns. 

2. Rather than cutting out your market research altogether, use the recession to get to know your customers better and cater to their changing needs. 

3. If yours is a high-end brand, don’t necessarily lower prices to accommodate spending habits.  Focus on enhancing the quality and value of your brand.

4. Be receptive to potential new audiences.  These economic times force people to look at how they spend their money in different ways, and you may be able to lure some new customers your way as a result.Â

Every once in awhile, I hear — or read – one of those graduation speeches that really stays on my mind.   This one came my way via Tom Harris, a founder of the multi-national PR firm, Golin Harris, and a treasured friend of mine.  Tom wrote in his most recent newsletter about the celebrated historian, David McCullough, conveying these words of wisdom to a graduating class at Boston College this past spring:

“Information, let us be clear, isn’t learning.  Information isn’t poetry.  Or art.  Or Gershwin.  Or faith.  It isn’t wisdom.  The value of information, facts, figures and the like, depends on what we make of it — on judgment.  Facts alone are never enough.  One can have all the facts and miss the truth.  Learning is not found on a print-out.  It’s not on call at the touch of a finger.  Learning is acquired mainly from books.  And from teachers.  And from work, concentrated work.  Therefore, read, read, read!”

“And please do what you can to cure the verbal virus that seems increasingly rampant among your generation.  I’m talking about the relentless, wearisome use of the words ‘like’ and ‘you know’ and ‘awesome’.  Listen to yourselves speak.  Just imagine if in his inaugural address John F. Kennedy had said, ‘Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country.”Â

Consumption.  I like that word for several reasons:  I enjoy typing it…like most words that end in -tion.  “Consumption.”  I also like saying it, but more importantly, understanding consumption in the context of key audiences is an important part of what we do every day.  How your key audience consumes information, news, entertainment, advertising affects the conversation — the conversation we (as PR people) need to have with our key audience.  

As we know, consumer’s habits are always changing.  One only has to look in the mirror to understand.  If you told me 10 years ago that I would prefer to order a pizza online as opposed to over the phone, I wouldn’t have believed you.  I am as fast at texting as I am at typing, and that was one of those changes I made reluctantly. The point is my habits changed, eventually.  And I’m certain they will change again. 

That’s what makes consumption so unique — we all adopt technology at different times, and we become more adept at varying speeds.  We have more options than ever before when it comes to consumption.  This presents quite a challenge when trying to reach a certain group of people, whether the key audience is made up of baby boomers looking to retire or pet owners wtih a minimum income of $150,000.  It keeps it interesting.     

And tidbits like these help us have better conversations:

A recent study by Media Planning Group found 90% of people with DVRs don’t watch commercials in recorded programming.  As a result of this shift, spending on paid product placements in the U.S. increased by 33.7% in 2007; that’s according to PQ Media.Â

There’s been a lot written lately about the US Olympic Men’s Basketball team…the one labeled “The Redeem Team” after our disappointing last Olympic outing.

The coach is someone who knows a lot about winning: Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. And I suspect one of the reasons he wins so often is the intelligence and insight he brings to competing. He may use it on basketball, but its relevant to any operation.

A reporter for Sports Illustrated (the best written magazine in the world..despite the departure of both Steve Rushin and Rick Reilly) asked coach K about selecting the team. His response was “no one ever ’selects a team’; you select people and hope they become a team.”

We all need to remember that, not so much in picking people but in how we manage folks once they are on board.

OK…everybody back to work.

If your new employer would pay you $1000 in return for your resignation letter before you ever really started working…would you take the deal? 

Apparently that’s the offer to new employees at Zappos.  I read this fascinating article about the online shoe retailer.  While the CEO’s logic behind the $1000 proposition makes sense — I’m not sure what’s more ingenious — the deal or the way it plays in the media…

For full disclosure, I am a Zappos shopper and I can vouch for the incredible customer service.