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The marketing leaders from Baylor University, Henry Mayo Newhall
Memorial Hospital, Aricent, and ACCENT Marketing Services on:
The Role of Marketing
Innovation in an
Economic Downturn
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Baylor University
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing, Aricent
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer, ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
I
n todays down economy, marketing budgets can, unfortunately, be among
the first to be cut even while competitors are responding to falling sales
with more aggressive tactics. Consequently, the core mission of marketing
(to build a brand identity that will attract customers) remains more important
than ever even at organizations which might eschew the concepts of brand
management or, even, marketing. The four marketing authors of this
ExecBlueprint discuss how marketers can meet the challenges while embracing
unprecedented opportunities during this period. Suggested innovative strategies
for doing more with less include co-presenting with customers at industry
events, leveraging volunteers as your organizations ambassadors, and gain-
ing free media exposure. Examples of new opportunities are negotiating better
rates and taking advantage of competitors reduced efforts. But, most impor-
tantly, the authors urge, dont neglect your existing customers/donors. Give
them deals, recognition, and thanks because only one thing is certain: in this
economy, the ROMI for retaining them is still high. n
Action Points
I. What TypicaI ChaIIenges Does Marketing Encounter
in an Economic Downturn?
In todays poor economy, not only are marketers pursuing
fewer customer and donor dollars, they must also perform
this more difficult task on lower budgets. Moreover, the
customers who are still purchasing are now a tougher sell.
Such trying conditions can lead to feelings of discourage-
ment among staff that must be addressed.
II. The Bottom Line
With marketing budgets especially tight, you must
demonstrate that your campaigns are appropriately targeted
and exerting maximal impact on the customers who are
still buying. Consequently, your research should uncover:
Who are your current customers? What is motivating
their decisions? Why are they presently buying from your
company?
III. Must-Have Marketing Strategies for EconomicaIIy
TroubIed Times
While you may be asked to do more with less right now, a
down economy can provide unexpected opportunities for
better rates and increased market share as your competitors
cut back. Approaches that have proven effective include
seeking free publicity, locating alternate markets, eliciting
volunteer support, and updating staff with customer news.
IV. The GoIden RuIes for Nurturing CustomerIDonor
ReIationships
Now, more than ever, you must treat your existing
customers/donors as more important than any mere
prospect which they are. You can help them by offering
special pricing, hosting personalized appreciation events,
and sharing useful industry data. In addition, even if their
business/donations are not what they used to be, dont
forget to thank them.
V. EssentiaI Take-Aways
Examples of marketing innovation can be informative
messages about how your products/services enhance
lives, or profiles of your best customers that can help
identify similar people in other markets. However, in a down
economy, you may have to extend the concept and become
a cheerleader for the home team the staff at your
company.
Contents
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2
Iohn M. Barry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3
Andie Bogdan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.6
Keith Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.9
Patrick M. Scheen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.12
Ideas to BuiId Upon & Action Points . . . p.14
Books24x7, 2009 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2
About the Authors
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Baylor University
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing, Aricent
W
ith 25 years of university-based
management, strategic communi-
cations, public affairs, and mar-
keting research experience, John M. Barry
has served as vice president for marketing
and communications for Baylor University
since August 2006. In this role, he reports
to the university president, and oversees a
team of 40 full-time strategic communica-
tions professionals and a budget of approx-
imately $5 million. His divisional
responsibilities include media relations,
marketing editorial services, marketing
design services, video services,
university magazine and special publica-
tions, university photography, Web and
electronic marketing services, community
relations, and public broadcasting affiliate
KWBU. In addition, he serves on the
universitys executive council.
Previously, from 2002 to 2006, Mr.
Barry served as director of the university
communications office for the University
of Connecticut where he oversaw a staff of
27 full-time professionals and a budget
of approximately $4 million. His responsi-
bilities included providing strategic
communications counsel to senior
university leadership including the president,
chancellor, vice president of student affairs,
academic deans, and athletic director.
Mr. Barry joined the University of
Connecticut as manager of the user services
department in the Roper Center for Public
Opinion Research in 1989, and prior to
his current position, also served as associ-
ate director for the Roper Center and
associate director for the university
communications office.
A
ndie Bogdans first assignment at
Henry Mayo was to help the admin-
istration persuade creditors to
accept 22.5 cents on the dollar. The second
was to recruit nurses. The third was to
manage media relations during the hospi-
tals Chapter 11 (since her first objective
didnt pan out). After that she started their
marketing department.
Ms. Bogdan first established this pat-
tern of reverse-engineering her career by
starting at Ogilvy & Mather in New York
City, working her way across the U.S. to
Los Angeles, and then to Prague where she
opened the Ogilvy & Mather office one
of the first free-market ventures in at least
45 years.
She came back to the U.S. by way of
Vienna, gaining client experience on endur-
ing brands such as Duracell, Tiffanys,
AT&T, American Express, Kraft and
Seagrams. Her first exposure to the health
care business was at Tracey-Locke in Dallas
where she worked on the Gaviscon and
Os-Cal brands and a new HMO and PPO
health insurance product that TransAmerica
and a national network of hospitals were
then developing.
Ms. Bogdan is a member of the Advisory
Board, the Society of Healthcare Strategy
and Market Development, and the
International Association of Business
Communicators.
K
eith Higgins brings more than 20
years of communications industry
experience to his marketing posi-
tion, and has a key role in accelerating
Aricents momentum as a strategic supplier
to the worlds leading communications
infrastructure, application, and service
providers.
Prior to joining Aricent, Mr. Higgins
was vice president of marketing at Stoke
Inc., developers of wireless broadband
infrastructure for carriers. Before Stoke, he
was vice president of worldwide marketing
for Copper Mountain Networks where he
played a pivotal role in the companys
growth, through its IPO to over $450
million in revenue.
Mr. Higgins also held senior marketing
positions at StrataCom, a provider of ATM
and Frame Relay WAN solutions, which
was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1996 for
$4 billion. Prior to StrataCom, he held a
variety of senior sales positions with
CompuServe and Telenet/Sprint.
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer, ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
P
atrick Scheen, chief marketing officer,
is responsible for all marketing oper-
ations at ACCENT, a position that
encompasses account management, data
analytics, print and fulfillment operations,
product development, and corporate
communications.
Mr. Scheen has more than 20 years of
domestic and international experience in
contact center management, direct market-
ing, and consulting. Prior to joining the
company, he spent 10 years at Digitas, a
leading marketing and strategy consulting
firm based in New York City.
His career background includes design-
ing and executing in-market programs for
Fortune 100 clients including AT&T,
FedEx, GM, AMEX, Braun, CIGNA, BT,
and Kingfisher. Additionally, he has man-
aged internal corporate and external
service bureau operations and directed
numerous consulting engagements
supporting call-center optimization.
Read Johns insights on Page 3
Read Andies insights on Page 6
Read Keiths insights on Page 9
Read Patricks insights on Page 12
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Baylor University
Books24x7, 2009 John M. Barry ExecBlueprints 3
Our Financial Demographic
We are a private university that is
not supported with tax dollars. As
a result, we are almost entirely
tuition driven. The socio-economic
status of most of our customers,
therefore, must be able to support
at least a portion of the cost of a
private university higher education.
At the same time, our desire to
provide a diverse cultural experi-
ence for our students as well as the
faith component of our mission
forbids us from limiting enrollment
to only families that are able to
pay the full cost of a Baylor
education.
Our development organization
raises money for endowments that
are used annually to offset the price
of tuition. We also allocate money
from our operating budget each
year to support financial aid. As a
result, less than 10 percent of
incoming students, on average, pay
the full cost of tuition. This pro-
vides both a marketing opportunity
and challenge for us. On the one
hand, very few students will actu-
ally be expected to pay the sticker
price of a Baylor education. Thats
good news that we want to pro-
mote to prospective students and
their families. On the other hand,
owing to their strong personal
financial situation, other students
will be expected to pay the full cost.
So, we have to be careful in our
messaging not to alienate or anger
this portion of our audience.
Consequently, our communica-
tion on the subject tends to be
indirect. We developed and posted
on our Web site a tool we call a
financial aid estimator and we
encourage families to use it. Based
on a series of inputs, the estimator
will inform a student what he
or she might expect to pay to
attend the university. In our mar-
keting we do our best to encourage
students to use the estimator since,
if they do, most will find out that
their actual tuition costs are likely
to be lower than those advertised.
Role of Economy in
Enrollment
We know that the economy is
affecting students and their families
in a number of ways. From research
we recently commissioned, we
know that parents are now sitting
down with children to discuss the
costs of higher education, and spe-
cifically, what they can afford.
Students are visiting fewer colleges
and universities, theyre putting
fewer private institutions into their
college selection mix, and they are
looking at educational options that
are closer to home. To increase
their options, they are also apply-
ing to more colleges, but are win-
nowing down their choices much
more quickly based on the quality
of the financial aid packages that
they are being offered. Their final
selection pool is much smaller than
those of previous students. As a
result, our brand messages, includ-
ing our value proposition, are more
important than ever in ensuring
that the university remains in a
strong competitive position.
Researching Behavior
We are researching our customers
behaviors and preferences during
this downturn. We want to know
how the economy is impacting their
choices, if it has increased concern
over cost, and if it is changing their
patterns of behavior with regard
to college visits, applications, or
enrollment. Our goal is to uncover
Iohn M. Barry
Vice President,
Marketing and Communications
Baylor University
During an economic downturn, the
role of the brand manager needs to
include head cheerleader.
With university since 2006
Oversaw universitys new visual and
interactive communications program
Previously director, university
communications, University of
Connecticut
B.A., M.A., Communication Sciences,
University of Connecticut
Mr. Barry can be e-mailed at
john.barry@execblueprints.com
During an economic downturn, the best strategy
is to actually enhance marketing efforts and
spending as much as possible.
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Baylor University
Books24x7, 2009 John M. Barry ExecBlueprints 4
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Baylor University (continued)
data that will directly impact our
marketing programs. We ask very
specific questions about the exact
impact of the economy on families
decision-making process, such as if
students were talking with their
parents about the cost of higher
education. Although we never
would have asked such questions
in the past, their answers now have
informed our enrollment modeling,
including the timing and number of
acceptances we make, the quality
of student we admit, the types of
events we host, the places we recruit,
and the sorts of message that we
include in our communication.
Determining Visibility
Part of the responsibility we have
as brand managers in the university
setting is to establish strong brand
awareness in our target markets.
We do this in a number of ways
that range from very direct to very
indirect. Because we do not have
large budgets, we cant afford to
build this awareness through most
indirect platforms, such as paid
advertising. We just cant finan-
cially support the levels that would
be required to achieve saturation
through a paid medium. The excep-
tion to this, of course, is major
collegiate athletics. The exposure
generated by a television appear-
ance can be extremely valuable,
and especially so as our teams
achieve high levels of success. This
is television time that we do not
buy (and could not afford), yet we
benefit from it enormously.
The University of Connecticut
has been a basketball powerhouse
for many years. Early on, however,
it was largely unknown nationally.
During one of its earliest appear-
ances on national television,
legendary sports broadcaster Jim
Nance kept referring to the team as
the Yukon. Today, UConn is a
well established brand moniker
that is widely known and respected
around the world. There is no
doubt of the effect that years of
basketball games televised nation-
ally have had on the universitys
visibility!
Otherwise, we increase visibility
through direct communication with
our audiences. Active, timely, and
strategic communications programs
help us to identify, engage, and
retain customers. These programs
are both print and electronic in
nature. Whenever possible, they are
also personal and infused with
information specifically targeted to
the individual.
Top Marketing Challenges
The economy is clearly our top
marketing challenge right now
and it is testing us in two very
1. Increased competition for fewer tuition and donor dollars
2. Reduced institutional budget for marketing efforts
3. Loss of morale among staff and the institution as a whole
During These Troubled Times:
Three Top Marketing Challenges at Baylor
Books24x7, 2009 John M. Barry ExecBlueprints 5
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Baylor University (continued)
significant ways. The first has to do
with the families that send their
students here as well as the philan-
thropists that we rely on for private
giving. As the downturn in the
economy has negatively impacted
personal finances, it has also
increased the competition for fewer
available tuition and donor
dollars.
The other way in which the
economy is creating a heightened
marketing challenge is that it is
increasing the competition for insti-
tutional dollars. With less money
available at the institutional level,
it is easy to fall into the trap of
spending less on marketing, brand-
ing, and advertising. Of course, this
is the worst course of action right
now. During an economic down-
turn, the best strategy is to actually
enhance marketing efforts and
spending as much as possible.
Another challenge we face as
marketers and brand managers in
the current economy is discourage-
ment. People are suffering
personally; our institutions may be
suffering, and, in ways that are
insidious, such gloom can begin to
infiltrate our organizations and
staffs. At these times, our internal
marketing efforts become critical as
we remind our organizations of our
core values, about what makes
our product valuable, why we do
what we do, and why it matters.
For our own staffs, we also need to
assume a higher touch personal
marketing strategy. As brand man-
agers, we need to be communicating
to our own people their importance
to the organization as professional
marketing staff, the impact their
work has on the bottom line, and
the appreciation we have person-
ally for their high level of dedication
and professionalism.
Marketing in Higher
Education
Even in this day and age, the notion
of marketing within the university
context is still a relatively new
concept for many institutions. Chief
marketing officers, who are part of
the institutions executive leader-
ship team and report to the chief
executive, are still a very new
phenomenon in higher education.
It has been a long time coming,
but universities have finally mus-
tered the courage to admit that we
exist in a competitive environment,
that we are selling a product to
smart consumers who have choices,
and that to continue our forward
progress we need strong leadership
in the form of someone who goes
to bed each night and gets up each
morning thinking about ways to
enhance, extend, and grow our
competitive position. And we still
have a long way to go; were
still facing mountains of challenges
related to our role as brand man-
ager within the structure of the
academic enterprise. But, were get-
ting there. We finally have a seat at
the table. n
A little more than 10 years ago, I helped to completely reorganize and
reorient the strategic communications function around marketing
and brand management goals at another university. But we couldnt use
the term, marketing in the name of the new organization. The fear was
that the faculty would scorn a university marketing department as a crass
and crude methodology full of every kind of shenanigans, double-talk, and
smoke and mirrors hardly something with which a serious academic
institution wanted to be associated!
John M. Barry
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Baylor University
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital
Books24x7, 2009 Andie Bogdan ExecBlueprints 6
Effects of Economic
Downturns
Like most communities, the eco-
nomic slowdown has taken a toll
here. Because our community had
previously experienced an annual
compounded growth rate exceed-
ing 3 percent (which we expected
would climb), many local busi-
nesses, including our hospital, were
banking on a higher level of growth
and more disposable income. The
first major blow came with
the slowdown in home building
and a decline in the retail, new car
sales, and construction businesses.
Our hospital felt it first on the
philanthropic side because the
majority of our donors run local
businesses whose volumes dropped
as much as 50 percent. People
began to postpone elective proce-
dures and, in some case, screenings.
Businesses that closed or down-
sized left some residents without
health insurance. We immediately
began education in the media to
remind folks that some health care
should not be postponed, such as
breast cancer and childrens immu-
nizations where neglect can be
risky or more costly later.
By the second quarter of the
economic downturn we identified
an increase of uninsured patients
admitted to the hospital through
our emergency department 30
percent more than the same quarter
the year before. While the numbers
are small, their impact on the hos-
pitals income and ability to reinvest
could be damaging if the trend con-
tinues. We also noticed a spike in
attendees at our quarterly health
screenings up by 50 percent in
the last quarter. Again, this rise was
due to the fact that many attendees
had lost their own insurance. Weve
changed the exit survey at our heart
fairs to help learn who is insured,
whos not, and how we can connect
the uninsured to a local clinic.
Serving the Under Served
Meanwhile, births at our hospital
are declining, and this trend appears
to be caused by two factors that are
both associated with the economy.
The first is that would-be parents
are postponing plans to grow their
families. The second is that more
women do not have private insur-
ance to pay for their maternity
care. In our community there is a
conspicuous lack of local obstetri-
cians who can serve these patients
due to the state-run plans low pay-
ments, so these patients leave our
community for maternity services
and deliver somewhere else.
Both local clinics, however, are
reporting increases in patients,
including pregnant women. One
clinic in particular has completely
run out of space and is unable to
meet the burgeoning demand for
low-cost services. The likely role
for the hospital is to advocate fund-
ing for their expansion. If local
obstetricians on the hospitals med-
ical staff are also able to take on
the delivery of these babies, the
hospitals marketing department
will clearly need to inform clinic
patients about our pre-registration
and maternity services.
Weve got to love and nurture our faithful donors
even more now than ever because the economy
will bounce back and these relationships should
get stronger after having endured these difficult
times.
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital
Working with our donors during this
difficult economic period is somewhat
a matter of managing the fear of the
unknown our own fears associated
with bad debt and making ends meet,
in companionship with theirs. We
simply dont have enough information
yet to know if were seeing a trend or
a blip.
Established the hospitals marketing
department
Previously opened Ogilvy & Mathers
Prague office
Marketing clients included Duracell,
Tiffanys, and AT&T
B.B.A., Western Michigan University
Ms. Bogdan can be e-mailed at
andie.bogdan@execblueprints.com
Books24x7, 2009 Andie Bogdan ExecBlueprints 7
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (continued)
Engaging Volunteers
One unexpected response to the
economy came as a result of an
article we published in our quar-
terly magazine on the virtues of
volunteering. We received more
than 90 applications to volunteer
at the hospital! Apparently the
numbers of newly unemployed,
combined with the timing of our
article and a call for volunteering
by our nations president, resulted
in this avalanche of requests. The
processing and placement of this
large number is beyond the hospi-
tals capacity to find meaningful
work for these folks. I am, how-
ever, dusting off a walking program
idea that was previously shelved for
lack of internal interest. It may now
get new life if we can give the vol-
unteers branded shirts and incen-
tives to gain mileage and solicit
friends and family to walk. Its one
way to funnel these impassioned
souls to help us improve the
health of the community, it reduces
the service issues around the slow
or lack of processing the volunteer
applications, and potentially it will
draw more ambassadors to the
hospital for future focus group
participation.
Marketing Challenges of
Down Economy
The first marketing challenge asso-
ciated with the down economy is
handling the donor-vendor rela-
tionships. Some of our marketing
vendors are also donors to the hos-
pital. As private business owners,
they have made some significant
cash contributions or time invest-
ments on our behalf. In these
economically challenging times,
and particularly in light of the mar-
keting departments need to
measure ROI, the hospital has
experienced difficulty making a
straightforward business decision
involving these vendors.
The second challenge is employer
relationships. Employers faced with
tightening budgets will pass more
of the costs of health care on to
employees. With higher deductibles
and the accompanying price sensi-
tivity that were now experiencing,
we know that theres a possibility
that more individuals will postpone
needed health care or become
entangled in difficult-to-sustain
payments to the hospital for
services rendered.
The third challenge is health
care reform. Desperate people
do desperate things and with
Marketing Healthy Habits on a Reduced Budget:
One Hospitals Innovative Approach
Campaign: A walking program, run by hospital volunteers
Strategy: Volunteers receive branded shirts and incentives to gain mileage
and solicit friends and family to walk.
Objectives:
Improve the health of the community
Elicit meaningful participation from greater numbers of volunteers than traditional
volunteer duty assignments could accommodate
Draw more ambassadors to the hospital for future focus group participation
Books24x7, 2009 Andie Bogdan ExecBlueprints 8
Andie Bogdan
Director, Planning, Marketing, and PR, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (continued)
increasing national unemployment
and political pressures to change
(quickly), there is a vast unknown
future for our entire industry
especially including the physicians
we depend on to provide care.
Overcoming Challenges
Whats the right response, given
these challenges? Weve got to love
and nurture our faithful donors
even more now than ever because
the economy will bounce back and
these relationships should get stron-
ger after having endured these
difficult times. The marketing
department wont be cutting back
at all on recognition or messages
that appreciate our donors, even
though the gift amounts and donor
numbers are not what they used to
be. While we dont yet have a
magic formula for building value
into our services, Id like to better
quantify exactly who is affected
and how.
Well respond to the media storm
around health care reform by hir-
ing an outside PR firm who can
help us stay on top of the demand
for information while we continue
to get our arms around this issue.
We are the only hospital in the
community and our highly experi-
enced CEO is already viewed as an
expert in industry issues, so his
point of view will be sought not
only by the local media but by local
movers and shakers and voters in
general. n
Reaching Beyond the Community
At the moment, the down economy has not changed our view of our primary
service area (our local community) and has not inspired us to seek the medical
tourism market, where some hospitals are entering successfully. But I do wonder
if we will need to offer specific, advanced services beyond our local community
and the Los Angeles metro area in order to grow. People do shop and travel for
some medical procedures and the question is whether or not we should reconsider
our strategic focus and expand on the 200 square miles we serve. The age of the
Internet makes this a reasonable and affordable opportunity and one that we
would previously have never been able to afford.
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing, Aricent
Books24x7, 2009 Keith Higgins ExecBlueprints 9
Capitalizing on an
Economic Downturn
Offering cost reductions in engi-
neering services and product devel-
opment and capabilities is part of
our fundamental value proposition,
so our customers diminished finan-
cial status will drive more demand
for our products. An economic
downturn requires our customers
to get more done with smaller bud-
gets, and so they are more likely to
turn to us than if they were able
to afford building their own
team to do certain things.
Our customers basically want to
know how our offerings can help
them manage through this eco-
nomic downturn, what saves costs,
and what kind of temporary reduc-
tions we can give them. While these
needs dont represent a major
change from the past, five or six
out of every 10 inquiries used to
concern innovation, new ideas, and
the commercializing of new con-
cepts, while the rest would have
been related to cost reduction and
efficiency. However, Im thinking
this balance may have shifted some-
what so that now there are a few
people who believe that this down
market is the best time to invest.
Meanwhile, a lot of other people
are taking the more conservative
approach and simply looking for
ways to become more efficient.
Using Customized
Research Strategies
We dont use a lot of pure market
research to measure customer
behavior in economic downturns.
We do, however, spend a lot of time
with our customers today and tend
to validate what we think we are
hearing with market research. Most
of our customers are long-term,
service-contract customers not
transactional. We do some pretty
diligent customer satisfaction sur-
vey work, which gives us a direct
sense of how behavior and buying
preferences change.
A large portion of our job
involves providing customer feed-
back and shaping requirements
into the product management arm,
whether it is for a product or a ser-
vice. Capturing trends, organizing
customer feedback, and analyzing
that feedback are the traditional
roles of marketing. While you are
filling the funnel with leads, you
are also filling the funnel with new
product and service ideas that tend
to get tightened up and prioritized
as they are processed by the
product management teams.
Maintaining Customer
Loyalty
All companies who have customers
want to show appreciation for
those customers and increase their
loyalty, so our practices have
evolved like everybody elses. We
have found, however, that customer
preferences for loyalty programs
vary greatly by geography, type of
customer, etc. So the question is,
What is the best way to handle
that, and can we do it in a seg-
mented approach? Our strategies
have become more segmented over
the years as we have realized that
there is no one-size-fits-all annual
appreciation event; those days are
over.
We do tend to have meaningful
engagements with our customers
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing
Aricent
Many companies are focused short-
term right now on getting through the
next six to 12 months. While I am not
an economist (and I am speaking only
of what I see at Aricent), things do
seem to be a bit better today than they
were six months ago.
Over 20 years of communications
industry experience
Previously vice president, marketing,
for Stoke Inc.
B.A., Marketing, Ohio State
University
Mr. Higgins can be e-mailed at
keith.higgins@execblueprints.com If you and your
customer go to a
very visible industry
event and present
how you have solved
some challenging
problems together, this
tends to be one of the
most powerful ways
to convey your key
messages and value
proposition.
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing
Aricent
Books24x7, 2009 Keith Higgins ExecBlueprints 10
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing, Aricent (continued)
monthly, quarterly, and bi-annually.
Because we offer many customer-
nurturing programs today, we are
able to have plenty of natural dia-
logue with our customers. We tend
to work a lot with customers onsite
as well as at customer appreciation
events, and try to introduce our
customers to new ideas and deliver
things of value. For example, we
run across a lot of data in market-
ing, which we will package into a
report and provide to our custom-
ers. We do this as a favor to save
them from having to scour all over
the Web for these different pieces
of information. We also provide
newsletter material that is not nec-
essarily marketing propaganda,
but real data that can help their
business planning.
We use standard benchmarks to
track effectiveness in the down
economy. We track and trend every-
thing from the visitors to our Web
sites, abandonment rates, campaign
registration amounts, the number
of new leads, number of new qual-
ified opportunities, and return on
investment. We tracked all of those
indicators in an up economy as
well, so I dont think we have
located any new benchmarks for
the down economy. However, in
other times, some of the results
might have looked a bit prettier.
The ROI for retaining loyal cus-
tomers in a down economy is high.
From a profitability and reten-
tion standpoint, your best
customers are your existing cus-
tomers. A lot of people have
regrouped to ensure that they are
delivering above expectation to
their existing customer base
because, at this point in time, those
are more important than yet-to-be-
acquired customers.
Addressing the Challenges
of a Broad Customer Base
We are moving into an age where
our offerings occasionally cross
function areas within our customer
base. For example, the marketing
team objectives for our offering are
not aligned with what the IT team
would like. That has been one of
our biggest challenges. A customer
may say what they want delivered
and lay out what is required in
other areas of the company to sup-
port it. What we sell, therefore,
may need to be designed partially
for the chief marketing officer and
service provider, while other parts
need to be designed for the chief
information officer. Making sure
that wish list happens is sometimes
challenging. Because those func-
tions can be somewhat siloed at our
customer companies, communicat-
ing a combined value proposition
can be difficult.
Primary Challenges of
Marketing to a Down
Economy
The top marketing challenge in the
down economy is, obviously,
resources. Because marketing is
expected to offer more leeway from
a budgeting perspective, prioritiza-
tion becomes very important.
Alignment with the sales force and
the business unit is also key. You
Visitors to the company Web sites
Abandonment rates
Campaign registration amounts
Number of new leads
Number of new qualified opportunities
Return on investment
Tracking Marketing Effectiveness:
Important Indicators for All Economies
Books24x7, 2009 Keith Higgins ExecBlueprints 11
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing, Aricent (continued)
also have to make sure you have a
marketing model that can be dialed
up or down very quickly because,
as we have seen, the economy can
change faster than most had
thought.
Addressing such challenges will
require a lot of thought. We
will have to do more with less and
look for ways to improve efficiency.
Because investments have been
slightly reduced, we will have to
reset some expectations as to what
we can we do in the near future
versus what we have done in the
past. I think that we can still do
the most important things which
are to support our sales team, help
our customers, and improve our
awareness in certain areas. In our
case, budgets have not been reduced
to the point where we have to
meaningfully adjust our course and
speed from an overall marketing
perspective.
Working with Your
Customer
I think the most powerful market-
ing driver is to do things jointly
with your customer. If you, for
example, go to a very visible indus-
try event and present how you have
solved some challenging problems
together, this tends to be one of the
most powerful ways to convey
your key messages and value
proposition. The press release
avenue and trade shows are tradi-
tional machinery, but I think intro-
ducing thought leadership pieces
with customers in the right venues
is probably the best way to raise
awareness of your company and its
solutions.
We are certainly thinking a lot
about improving our communica-
tions with our customers. We are
also examining ways to drive
costs out and use automation in
everything that we do. n
We recently introduced what we call the dash internally, which is
software that scours news services and creates a compilation of relevant
news that is delivered every day to our employees in an e-mail. A sales
employee who has five customers, for example, may receive everything
that was written about those customers that day. This service enables our
employees to be much more efficient, as they do not have to search the Web,
and we can get the job done in a very centralized manner. This program has
been very successful.
Keith Higgins
Vice President, Marketing
Aricent
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer, ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
Books24x7, 2009 Patrick M. Scheen ExecBlueprints 12
Challenges and
Opportunities in a Down
Economy
A major challenge many companies
are facing today is how to do more
with less. Marketers are feeling the
pain, too, as far too often their
budgets are among the first to be
cut. Especially in todays tough
economic environment, marketers
must increasingly demonstrate a
return on their marketing invest-
ment. Having a data-driven mar-
keting strategy can help marketers
make tough decisions about where
to prioritize their marketing
spend.
While many companies are
reacting to the current economic
climate by laying low and cutting
costs to survive, savvy marketers
see it as an opportunity to advance
their position in the marketplace.
A down economy can also benefit
savvy marketers who seize the
opportunity to negotiate better
rates and strategically increase their
marketing efforts as many of
their competitors scale back.
Using Marketing Research
in an Economic Downturn
Using segmentation and customer
lifetime value models, companies can
create profiles of their best customers
and then use that information to
identify consumers across other mar-
ket segments who share similar char-
acteristics. Its also an opportunity to
identify which customers are most
likely to respond to cross- and up-sell
offers to drive incremental sales and
increase your share of wallet.
Additionally, when marketers are
armed with valuable customer data,
it allows them to more closely evalu-
ate their products and price points to
quickly adjust to the changing needs
of their customers and the market
(see sidebar).
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer
ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
During an economic downturn, its
important for marketers to rely even
more on consumer and marketing
research to identify and analyze
changing customer behaviors.
Responsibilities include account
management and corporate commu-
nications
Over 20 years experience in contact
center management, direct marketing,
and consulting
Previous marketing clients include
AT&T, FedEx, and AMEX
Bachelors degree, Marketing,
University of Kentucky
Mr. Scheen can be e-mailed at
patrick.scheen@execblueprints.com
When marketers have a complete view of their
customers, they can look for other opportunities
to deepen and grow customer relationships, while
creating a revenue stream.
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer
ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
While the value of demographic or psychographic information may be
diminished during downturns in the economy, companies can still listen
directly to the voice of the customer through focus groups, surveys, and
speech analytics, to name a few. Additionally, companies should monitor
social media sites to understand what their customers are saying and how
they are being impacted by the economy.
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer
ACCENT Marketing Services LLC
Books24x7, 2009 Patrick M. Scheen ExecBlueprints 13
Patrick M. Scheen
Chief Marketing Officer, ACCENT Marketing Services LLC (continued)
Overcoming Challenging
Customer Behaviors
Customer behaviors often change
during times of economic uncer-
tainty. As consumers worry about
possible job losses and home fore-
closures, they spend less. Particularly
in the automotive and manufactur-
ing industries (where sales are
down), consumers are less willing
to purchase a new vehicle or appli-
ance. Companies in turn feel the
effects of diminished sales,
decreased service usage, and smaller
share of wallet.
Overcoming these challenges
can be difficult for many compa-
nies. However, when marketers
have a complete view of their
customers, they can look for other
opportunities to deepen and grow
customer relationships, while creat-
ing a revenue stream. This presents
marketers with an ideal opportu-
nity to offer service packages,
replacement parts, accessories, and
extended warranties as a way to
help consumers extend the life of
their current products. n
Books24x7, 2009 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 14
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points
I. What Typical Challenges
Does Marketing Encounter
in an Economic Downturn?
The core dilemma for todays marketing
departments is this: when the economy is
down, they need to be able to compete more
aggressively for fewer customer/donor dollars,
yet they often receive less support if their
own organization is suffering similar financial
hardship. Specific concerns discussed in this
report include:
Shrinking pools of customers and donors
that can afford to purchase from/give to
the organization
Customers postponing purchases that are
perceived as optional or not urgent
Heightened cost consciousness among
customers, leading to a closer scrutiny of
options before purchasing decisions are
made
Competing priorities from different
departments at customer companies
Feelings of discouragement among the
marketing staff
Changes in the political climate that could
impact the organizations industry
II. The Bottom Line
While your market research and benchmarking
methods may not change much in a down
economy, such efforts are more important
than ever to identify and analyze customer
behaviors so that your organization can adjust
to the changing needs of the market and so
that you can demonstrate a solid ROMI. To
effectively gain essential information about
the current buying habits of your customers as
well as measure the results of your efforts, such
assessments should reveal:
Which people/companies can presently
afford your products/services?
Which of your products/services is in
highest demand? Why?
What is motivating your customers to buy
from you at the present time? How has
this trend changed from the past?
What impact is the economy having on
your customers decision-making
processes?
How many unique visitors do you have to
your Web site(s)?
How many new leads are you generating?
What are customers saying about your
company and their needs in general on
social media sites?
III. Must-Have Marketing
Strategies for Economically
Troubled Times
If its experiencing reduced sales, your
organization may also be suffering right along
with your customers. On the other hand, if
your companys business model centers around
providing your customers with low-cost products/
services, you could actually be faring better than
average right now. In either case, marketing
efforts are possibly more important than ever
to support your organization during these trying
times, even though your actual budget may have
been cut. Effective approaches to make the most
of limited resources include:
Choosing marketing activities that can be
scaled up or down, depending on your
companys needs and marketing budget
Asking the company CEO to provide
education and clarification on critical,
current industry topics
Regularly providing marketing staff with
important news and updates about market
trends and customers
Disseminating information about your
company (or its products/services) that
could garner free, positive media exposure
Eliciting support from volunteers, who not
only can contribute extra labor to your
organization, but also become
ambassadors for its mission
Seeking alternate markets for your
companys products/services
Avoiding the labeling of your activities as
marketing in venues (such as academic
settings) where such a term carries
connotations of inappropriate
commercialism
IV. The Golden Rules for
Nurturing Customer/Donor
Relationships
The ROI for retaining loyal customers/donors
in a down economy is reliably high. From a
profitability standpoint, your best customers
as diverse as they are are your existing
customers. However, even though you may not
have to spend sales resources to acquire their
business, you will still need to continue to build
these invaluable relationships by:
Carefully crafting your messaging so that it
doesnt alienate or anger certain customer
segments
Providing special deals, price reductions,
extended warrantees, replacement parts,
etc., to help customers during these uncer-
tain economic periods
Hosting customer appreciation events that
are customized by region and type of
customer (not one-size-fits-all)
Introducing new ideas to customers that
can support their business planning, such
as reports or newsletter material that
includes real data, not marketing
propaganda
Co-presenting with your customers at
industry events on how you together
solved a particular problem or issue
Giving donors full recognition and
appreciation, even if their gifts are not as
generous as they had been previously
V. Essential Take-Aways
Operating in a world where most customers have
choices, your organization needs someone who
wakes up every morning thinking about ways to
enhance, extend, and grow its competitive
position in other words, a marketing leader.
Moreover, when the business is imperiled by a
down economy, marketing plays an even more
pivotal role to ensure that new leads and
more orders are always entering the funnel. Such
a role, however, entails executing innovative
strategies on many fronts in order to establish
strong brand awareness and ensure that
customers continue to be attracted by your
offerings. These activities include:
Demonstrating, through the use of data
and technology, how prospective customers
will be able to afford your products/
services
Educating the public about the need and
value proposition offered by your
products/services
Creating profiles of the companys best
customers and using that information to
identify people across other market
segments who share similar characteristics
Continually reminding internal
departments of your organizations core
values, the worth of its products/services,
and why it all matters
Bolstering morale among marketing
employees by communicating staffs
importance to the organization, their
contribution to the bottom line, and
managements appreciation n
Books24x7, 2009 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 15
Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)
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10 Key Questions and discussion Points
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1 In the next 12 months, what role do you believe your customers financial status will play in
the demand for your companys products? On which practices and/or behaviors will you
focus? Does this focus represent a change from the past?
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How do you use market research to learn about your customers behavior and buying
preferences during an economic downturn? How do you use this insight to gain an edge in
diminishing markets?
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At your company, what is marketings role in developing products and services? In what
ways does the state of the economy influence which products and services your company
develops? What is the nature of the leadership you receive from the CEO in this area?
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How do you determine when your products need more visibility in a marketplace? What
steps do you generally take to increase visibility?
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What are your best practices for increasing your customers loyalty toward your products
and services in an economic downturn? What role do innovative marketing strategies play
in these practices?
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When it comes to marketing your companys products and services in innovative ways,
what customer behaviors have proved especially challenging? What kind of obstacles do
they present and why?
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What is the ROI for retaining loyal customers in a down economy? How do higher
marketing outlays impact sales and growth of your customer base? How has your
percentage of loyal customers changed over the past five years?
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What marketing innovations are you planning in the next 12 months? What market trends
will they address? How will they differ from strategies youve used in the past?
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What are the top five ways that products or services in your industry receive especial
attention during a down economy? What is marketings role in the attainment of this
attention?
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In a down economy, what are your top three marketing challenges? How do these differ
from challenges faced in up periods?
?