The Retail Sky is Falling
by Vic Drabicky on 04/13/2009 at 4:48 pm in Commentary, Opinion Editorial, Within Range
The list goes on and on – and needless to say, you don’t have to look very far to find bad news. Correction: you don’t have to look very far to find catastrophic, world-ending, save the women and children because we are all going to end up out of our jobs, homeless and living under a bridge type of news. But to be honest with you (“you” meaning my mom since she is likely the only person reading this), I am sick of the bad news. I am sick of everyone screaming the world is ending. I am sick of hearing that consumers will never shop full price again. I am sick of hearing that everyone from the big guys like Saks and GAP to the small mom and pop stores are all doomed. So please, just stop.
True, we are not in the best of times – the retail world is hurting for sure. But the hysteria flooding the market right now does little but produces more doom and gloom and further skew everyone’s perception of what is really happening. Instead, I propose a two-pronged approach to handling this little “recession” we are in:
- Celebrate the Good News – For all the bad news out there, there is a decent amount of good news as well. Retail stocks are on the rise as of late, March losses are less than expected and Jos. A Bank’s is even reporting a 15% jump in net profit last quarter. This by no means is an indication the recession is over and we can go back to our free-spending ways, but it is a sign that not everything is terrible. Celebrate these pieces of good news as signs that the end of the world is not the only possible outcome.
- Don’t Cower in the Corner – Yes, times can be scary, but cutting budgets and cowering in the corner and crossing your fingers isn’t the solution. Instead, use this time to challenge your teams, your agencies and your partners to innovate and become more efficient. Use this time to improve your business – find ways to run smarter campaigns, improve your customer experience, make customers happier!
Yes, this approach may seem a little idealistic and is definitely easier to write than it is to execute, but think of it this way: would you rather be Chicken Little always worrying that the sky is falling or would you rather be the person that just happened to improve your company (both short term and long term) should the sky just happen to stay up in the sky?
