[Editor’s note]2013Year8month187930_7988

How can w88 casino games login leverage counter-cyclical marketing to rise against the trend?

(Source: "Hangzhou Daily Business News" Date:2013-08-18）

Business Daily reporter Wu Jiali, intern, Yin Haoting, drawing, Chen Xiao

Any company will encounter economic cycles and product cycles. If a company can follow these laws and carry out counter-cyclical operations, it may put the company into a dangerous situation, but it may also allow the company to rise against the trend and gain new development space.

Friends who are in marketing know that products have a life cycle. The product life cycle generally has four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The economic cycle is a phenomenon in which economic expansion and economic contraction alternate and cycle periodically in economic operation. It is also a fluctuation of total national output, total income and total employment. The economic cycle is the same as the product cycle, and there are four stages: prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery.

When external demand decreases, corporate sales will also encounter difficulties. However, a crisis does not necessarily mean a market downturn. The key is to find new opportunities and change your thinking, so that you can survive the winter peacefully, or even step onto a new platform to achieve growth against the market.

What risks will counter-cyclical marketing bring? How should companies carry out countercyclical marketing? When is the best time to engage in countercyclical marketing? In this issue, the Business w88 casino invited three experts to discuss this topic——

1.

What risks does countercyclical marketing bring to enterprises?

Expert group in this issue

Feng Pengcheng: Director, Associate Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow of China Capital Operation Research Center, w88 casino

Zhu Qiangxin: expert in practical marketing competitive strategy and distinguished professor of Tsinghua University and Fudan University

Zhang Xukun: Professor at the w88 casino of Economics at Zhejiang Gongshang University and Director of the Zhejiang Business Research Center

2.

Counter-cyclical marketing focuses on policies and economic trends

Zhang Xukun: To discuss countercyclical marketing, we must first understand the concept of countercyclical. Enterprises have two life cycles. The first is the life cycle of the product. For example, TVs used to be black and white. As the times progress, color TVs enter people's field of vision, and black and white TVs gradually fade out of people's sight. The second is the industry cycle, such asITThe industry was in a prosperous period abroad at the end of the last century, but gradually became dull in the new century. The domestic textile industry is also experiencing this bottleneck. The textile industry used to be very developed, but now it is in a dull period. In addition, the macroeconomic cycle of the entire society is also something that w88 casino games login need to pay attention to. Facing different cycles and different macro situations, w88 casino games login need to take different measures.

Feng Pengcheng:The economic cycle is closely related to the external macro-environment of corporate development. When external demand decreases, corporate sales will also encounter difficulties. If every company obeys the laws of the economic cycle, then if a company performs counter-cyclical operations, it is likely to obtain excess returns, which of course will also bring additional risks to the company.

During economic downturns, the market share of small and medium-sized enterprises is often squeezed. The reason is simple: when market demand is strong, industry leaders or major competitors do not pay attention to many differentiated small needs, or have no time to take them into account, so that small and medium-sized enterprises can gain survival space. Once there is a downturn in the economic cycle, these demands are accompanied by a reduction in market demand. At the same time, due to sluggish sales demand, large w88 casino games login have begun to try to meet these lower-end needs, making it even more difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to survive. At this time, the best thing for small and medium-sized enterprises is to maintain their characteristics, do a good job in market segmentation, and avoid competition with large enterprises as much as possible; of course, if the enterprise has completely lost its competitive advantage, then the best choice is to sell it.

Zhu Qiangxin: The biggest risk for enterprises in counter-cyclical marketing is that "a tiger cannot be like a dog". Counter-cyclical marketing is inherently risky for w88 casino games login, so don’t do it blindly. Countercyclical marketing is actually a kind of speculative behavior. Generally speaking, it is easier for w88 casino games login with high IQ, strong marketing planning ability or strong innovation ability to carry out it. The rise of Apple mobile phones against the trend is because of Steve Jobs's strong innovation ability. Therefore, for enterprises, if they do not meet the above conditions, they should not easily try counter-cyclical marketing. In addition, just because others are successful does not mean that you will be successful as well. Therefore, w88 casino games login should not blindly follow suit.

Zhang Xukun: In the product cycle, w88 casino games login must not rest on their laurels when developing best-selling products. For example, in the past, fans were very popular during hot summers, but w88 casino games login cannot just indulge in best-selling products and keep producing different types of fans without considering product updates and upgrades. In this way, when alternative products such as electric fans and air conditioners appear, w88 casino games login that are limited to fans will be defeated. Therefore, for products, w88 casino games login should always pay attention to the next stage of alternative products.

The industry cycle is longer than the product cycle, and is generally longer than the human life cycle. Therefore, as a business decision-maker, it is difficult to accurately foresee the decline of the industry, but you can pay attention to the rise of emerging industries.

The macroeconomic cycle is shorter than the industry cycle, generally in10Year or3—5Year. Entrepreneurs need to pay special attention to macroeconomic booms and busts. Many w88 casino games login that do not understand and do not pay attention to the macro-economy are prone to borrow large amounts from banks and invest in projects during periods of macro-economic prosperity. However, they do not know that if the macro-economy is too prosperous, the government will tighten and bank loans will not be so easy. If the investment project is not completed at this time, the company's capital turnover will be difficult. Some w88 casino games login may borrow usury, and then some w88 casino games login may go to a point of no return.

Feng Pengcheng:Entrepreneurs must choose a good industry in the early stages of starting a business, and learn to rationally deploy procyclical and countercyclical industries. For example, during a period of depression in the steel industry, even some outstanding large-scale w88 casino games login may not be able to withstand the pressure and withdraw from the market. However, on the contrary, when the economy is not good, industries such as the training industry and social networking sites may become popular. These can be called countercyclical industries. Of course, whether a company chooses a procyclical industry or a countercyclical industry, the most critical thing is to build its own core products. Enterprises must learn to add and subtract, focus on the big and let go of the small, mobilize all efforts, focus on the company's core business, and also compress some extended businesses, because the return on resource investment in such businesses is lower and more unstable.

At the same time, if the company has good capital advantages, mergers and acquisitions are a good way. In a normal economic cycle, most w88 casino games login develop relatively smoothly, and it is difficult for w88 casino games login to achieve mergers and acquisitions even if they have funds. However, in the context of economic downturn, some w88 casino games login sometimes experience operating difficulties or are interested in being acquired. For enterprises with capital advantages, if they choose to merge and acquire at this time, it will be much easier than during the peak period of operation, and some small and medium-sized enterprises with good development potential can be acquired at a lower price. Of course, mergers and acquisitions also have risks. According to statistics, the success rate of mergers and acquisitions is only30%—40%, but compared to passive waiting, mergers and acquisitions may usher in new business opportunities for enterprises.

Zhu Qiangxin: The most important thing for enterprises to carry out counter-cyclical marketing correctly is to understand the situation clearly. For example, Japan’s MUJI emerged despite a poor overall economic environment. What does "无print" mean? There is no concept of brand, but the quality is good. When the overall economic environment was sluggish at that time, consumers' wallets were also stagnant. Although they wanted to buy brands, they did not have the funds. Therefore, although on the surface it goes against the overall economic environment, it actually conforms to the current situation of the entire consumption environment and caters to the public psychology.

In a declining economic environment, small and medium-sized enterprises are under great pressure to compete with large enterprises, but there are still opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises should be the leaders in market segmented industries and do the parts that large enterprises do not want. For example, Gome and Suning are big w88 casino games login in the electrical appliance industry, but Hongtusanbao founded by a boss in Nanjing has suddenly emerged. The reason is that it is a professional computer and mobile phone store and does not sell refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions and other home appliances. In addition, Ctrip is the leader among air ticket and hotel booking websites, but why can Qunar.com be evenly matched with it? The reason is that Qunar.com has created a platform. Although it does not provide ticket booking services itself, it integrates all website resources related to air tickets and hotels to provide consumers with price comparison search services, allowing consumers to make a choice. Qunar.com is actually a professional search engine for air tickets and hotels, and it also follows the path of market segmentation.

3.

Counter-cyclical marketing requires choosing the right operating nodes

Zhang Xukun: announced every quarterGDPand published monthlyCPIIs an indicator for w88 casino games login to understand the macroeconomics.GDPat8%left and right,CPIat3%—4%It’s relatively normal. I don’t think the government will take any big action. onceGDPGreater than10%, w88 casino games login should start paying attention, because I think the government may adopt austerity policies next. If w88 casino games login pay attention to this early, they can take countermeasures in advance: such as starting to reduce their dependence on banks, borrowing less, and retaining more liquidity. When the macroeconomic situation improves, w88 casino games login should make full use of it and expand their scale. They may wish to consider borrowing more from banks. Small and medium-sized enterprises need to be more cautious and pay special attention to macroeconomic trends.

Feng Pengcheng:Counter economic cycle is a reverse operation on the surface. The most important thing is to judge whether or when the economic cycle will end. If judgment is wrong, especially when the process of recession to depression is reversed, the company will be in danger. At these two points in time, when recession leads to recovery and depression leads to recovery, it is more appropriate to perform reverse operations and it is relatively easy to succeed. But for w88 casino games login, it is difficult to grasp the timing. Just like buying stocks, no one can accurately grasp when they will reach the lowest point and when they will rebound. Therefore, what w88 casino games login can do is to predict what economic crisis will come and prepare in advance by tracking the economic situation, the number of industries, and changes in supply and demand relationships over a long period of time.

Zhu Qiangxin: As the saying goes, there are no goods that cannot be sold, only people who cannot be sold. As long as a company has sufficient innovation capabilities, it can conduct countercyclical marketing at any time. The reason why Xiaomi mobile phones are successfully marketed when traditional strong mobile phone brands such as Motorola and Nokia are in decline is because of its innovative marketing techniques. Xiaomi mobile phones took advantage of the rise of the Internet and achieved good response through online marketing, fan marketing, Weibo marketing, and topic marketing.

Once a company succeeds in counter-cyclical marketing, first of all, the company will become a star in the industry and consumer groups and quickly build its own brand; on the other hand, when the industry is not prosperous, counter-cyclical marketing can quickly seize the share of competitors and play a role in attacking opponents; finally, w88 casino games login can reduce marketing expenses and quickly build brands at low costs. Generally, countercyclical marketing is a marketing method that breaks through the conventional ones, including innovative marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, fan marketing and other methods. The costs of these methods are very low, reducing costs for enterprises.

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