i'm tired of being asked, "how's business?"

i know from experience, clients and friends that our business is no more volatile than other industries in tough economic times.  yes, we are a service business and that comes with inherent risk.  but we're actually growing right now...and i'm thrilled to say that's not an accident!

but for every article that's been written about why brands should not cut marketing and advertising during a recession, 100 brands actually do just that.

there is something about the historic language of marketing and advertising that makes it easier to wonder about how its working and why it should continue...and i can see some of that.  and changing the language of the industry and the tens of thousands of people that practice it is simply not realistic!

but what if, for example, marketers embraced the language of finance and R&D?

what if we started calling marketing communications "value proposition R&D" as a way to signal that just like product R&D, marketers are trying to test new ideas, get learning and rollout value propositions to drive sales?

the reality is, right now, the cost of marketing is down -- media outlets are hurting, agencies are vying for revenue, production vendors need work.  maybe marketers should be doing dollar-cost-averaging for their marketing investments...continuing to invest in a down market means they will get an even greater ROI!  not to mention increase share as all the academic and business experts have declared.

just trying to provoke...