Memo - For When Things Get Better

The Hawaii Chapter of the American Marketing Association is gathering nominees for its "Marketer of the Year Award." As I looked at likely candidates for the honor this year, something struck me. During the good times (and, boy, we had very good times in Hawaii for four years running) these companies invested in marketing. They updated their products. The refined and expanded their promotions. They sharpened their branding. And, guess what? When the bad times came (and, boy, we've had some bad times lately) these companies took less of a hit than some of their competitors. The message is almost biblical: be prepared, because you do not know when the day of reckoning will come!

Others in the market, by contrast, maximized profits in the good times by only doing the necessities for product improvement, minimizing advertising (Why advertise? Business is good), and generally falling under the unrealistic expectation that the good times would last.

Memo to self: 1. There are business cycles. 2. Don't neglect to invest when times are good.