By Ray Lamont
As a former WBZ-TV news producer, and now the CEO of Skyways Communications, a Norwood-based marketing firm, Lu Ann Reeb is keenly aware of the national media coverage of today's economic storm, and its focus on the plight of major corporations from GM to Citicorp.
But the issues they face in weathering the economic straits are different from the vast majority of America's businesses — the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that make up 99 percent of the US economy, Reeb told those gathered for last week's second and final "Weathering the Storm" forum at The Gloucester House.
"And I believe that all of us, with a little bit of help, will lead the country out of this," she told the 40 local business and community leaders at the breakfast event.
The forum served as a wrap-up for the series hosted by the Gloucester Daily Times, in conjunction with the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Business. Reeb, whose specialty at Skyways is new-media marketing, was joined by Suffolk Professor of Marketing Michael L. Barretti, who, after a business career with Polaroid, moved over to academia and serves as the university's director for the Institute of Executive Education.
Both followed up first-week speaker David Hartstein, the founder and CEO of KaBloom! flowers who spoke of the business world's version of education's "3 Rs" — in this case, the 4 Ps of product, price, place, and promotion. Barretti reiterated their importance last week, noting that, in economic "storms," it's "important to get back to the basics."
"Remember the 4 Ps," he said. "They've been around, and they're time tested — all four of them."
Reeb focused squarely on the last of those Ps — "promotion."
"When there's a down economy, that's when you need to market," she said, "I know it costs, and I know it might sound crazy, and the finance people go crazy.
"But when things are going good, maybe you don't have to work as hard," she said, "But it's in times like these that you really have to reach out."
In today's environment, "reaching out" means making the most of the many marketing opportunities available, especially online, Reeb noted. Emphasizing the need to know one's customers, she noted a line of questions business owners should consider as well: Who are they? What are their demographics? What are their spending habits — and where are they?
The "where" these days doesn't mean a location in the traditional sense, she noted; in reaching young consumers, for example — so-called "Millennials" born between 1980 and 2000 — it means reaching them online.
"They had computers when they were 3," she noted. "They can live without televisions, but they can't live without their computers — and they're a real target audience."
To reach them, Reeb offered several suggestions, noting that local newspapers often package advertising opportunities that pair print and online opportunities.
She also noted the importance of utilizing online video and blogging to set your business apart from competitors.
"If you an tell your story in a two-minute video, you're going to reach a lot more people who will watch that, but who won't take the time to go through your whole Web site," she said. "And if you have a Web site, you should have a blog. You're the expert about your business. It's a chance to share your expertise."
Barretti noted that weathering an economic storm like today's climate can come down to focusing on the same tenets of business in general.
"Always be thinking, 'how do I put myself in the mind of the customer?'" he noted, adding that today's promotion can cross several platforms.
"If that means marketing through a Web site, use that newspaper ad to drive the customer to your information online," he said. "Think about where your customers are going, and how you can get them there. That's where your information needs to be."
Ray Lamont can be reached at rlamont@gloucestertimes.com
