Recession Proofing: Is That Like Winterizing?

by Parks Blackwell on 04/20/2009 at 1:32 pm in Observations, Opinion Editorial, Within Range

Marketers these days really have your back. Well, not in a bar fight sort of way, but if you happen to lose your job, marketers are making it easier to get all sorts of stuff for free.

Here’s what I mean. If you lose your job, there are tons of promotions that will give you money back if you spend with the company in question and then get the axe. Some seem rather strange and some seem spot-on. For instance, my favorite is that the Minnesota Timberwolves will refund season tickets for games not played if you lose your job. This would be, to me, an example of something not quite necessary. If you are worried about losing your job, why are you investing in season tickets to a mediocre basketball team who just finished a season at 24-58. But I digress. Something that might make more sense? JetBlue will refund your plane tickets, Virgin Mobile will waive charges for a 3 months. Though all of it raises the question, should you even be making this purchase in the first place?

The term most recently being used is “recession proof”. This makes me a little concerned. Marketers calling things recession-proof? And car companies providing “assurance”? Scary. Car dealerships aren’t typically known for being trustworthy. But what do I know? It seems like these promotions are actually working. It’s not drawing people out of the woodwork, but it is causing a bit of an uptick in large ticket purchases like vehicles. Terms like sympathy and compassion are being tossed about quite often as well. From car dealers. Possibly even with straight faces.

The concern? It’s just another guarantee that probably won’t provide long-term success. And just as soon as someone tries to return a car that her eight cats, two dogs and a football team drove around in for a year, we’re going to have a little PR nightmare on our hands.

Be a smart marketer and stick with what you know. Provide more detail and more clarity into your fine print. Give people more options for payment. People are looking to save money by making smart buying decisions. This new phase of recession-proofing purchases is just cluttering the conversation.

I’m confused, that’s for sure. I’m beginning to think that getting fired doesn’t look so bad. Maybe I will fly to Minnesota for the season opener of the Timberwolves and buy a car while I am there, drive it back to Texas and do some shopping at every outlet mall between here and there.

They’ll take it all back right? And just wipe my slate clean? Right???