How to Stay at the Top of Your Clients' Minds

Remember telling ghost stories with a group of friends? The next tale always had to one-up the last. And then, sure enough, something would creek or crack, and someone would scream. Chaos ensues.

Many of us have feared the economy's potential to fail like kids fearing the cracking floorboards. Granted, there is much more at stake than a group of kids running in all directions. But, as always, if stories of worse-case scenarios are spooking us, we do well to check those fears in check.

After all, recovering the economy will take effort by all of us. Also, it isn't all doom and gloom out there. Morgan Stanley recently published an outlook that isn't heartwarming but presents a realistic version of the coming future that isn't all that scary. Reuters Q3 report for 2022 was similar. Better than we expected, different from what we'd hoped.

So if we move forward step-by-step, we need to consider how our businesses are reassuring our clients, customers, and consumers that we are not afraid. If our Brands are telling ghost stories (or ghosting our Brand Stories), we aren't exactly exuberating confidence.

I have three things for you to consider as we move through Holidays '22 into a future that's worth our investment. They will also keep you top of mind when consumer confidence rebounds.

Don't Ignore The Noise

The noise is like cable news. It finds your deepest fear and feeds it. Cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Ice cream and brownies. We love to indulge, but it's simply not good for us.

The noise is ghost stories for grown-ups.

Acknowledge it. It is so apparent what our people are hearing: Tech layoffs, job insecurities, and uncertain times.

These stories hit home with so many people who have experienced it. So please don't ignore it. But let's put it in perspective.

If part of your Brand Identity is about philanthropy, let's tell the story with a megaphone. If your Brand values Rock n' Roll, keep on rocking in the free world. Turn it up, man! If your Brand is luxury, there's probably no need for an introduction - but let's focus on goodness, influence, and a future that is as beautiful as your products. After all, according to Bloomberg, folks are flocking to luxury products despite the noise.

Reminds of that scene in Titanic when the musicians keep on playing when the boat is sinking. But I digress...

Rise Above The Noise

The noise is there. Ghost stories abound. Cable news dominates the ratings. This is the world we live in. Ce' la vies.

Let's do better.

Let's not add to the noise, y'all.

Recession fatigue has set in long before any signs of a recession have hit the shores. In a recent survey by Clarify Capital, "66% of respondents think a recession would likely cause layoffs at their company. Of them, 81% think they’d be laid off."