Smart Marketing in Tough Times

By Chas Schmidt / Jan 09, 2009 / No Comments

Deer Crossing Sign The recent news that industry giant, Dow Chemical, is planning to lay off employees and shutter many of its plants triggered memories of my experience with the company in headier times.

While working at one of Dow’s advertising agencies in the late 80s – early 90s, I made the 5-hour roundtrip drive between Grand Rapids and Dow’s sprawling Midland campus more times than I can count. I still clearly recall the numerous bleary-eyed, coffee-fueled, deer-dodging commutes necessitated by day-long series of meetings that frequently kicked off as early as 8:00 a.m.

As an early riser by nature, I wasn’t troubled by the on-the-road-before-daybreak routine. And, having grown up in Michigan, I had fully developed the fortuitous ability to detect the glowing retinas of distant roadside deer as they stared into my approaching headlights. The worst part of the commute, by far, was straining to maintain bladder control after 12 ounces of coffee had worked its way through my system.

Fully two-thirds of the route between Grand Rapids and Midland consisted of state and county roads winding through rural areas that lacked even the crudest facilities for the bladder-challenged traveler. On more than one occasion, passing motorists witnessed the spectacle of a guy in a three-piece suit and sheepish grin desperately irrigating the graveled shoulder of US 10 from behind the cover of an open passenger-side door.

My flirtation with potential arrest for public indecency notwithstanding, what is truly most memorable about my salad days as copywriter, and later, copy/contact account manager, for Dow’s now-defunct Packaging and Industrial Foams division, are the lessons I learned about client/agency relationships.

Back then, our agency was regarded as an integral part of the product management team. We were welcomed into the inner circle of product stakeholders, meeting regularly with product managers, product marketing managers, product development specialists, research scientists, field sales personnel, and even high-level corporate executives. We were admired for our inquisitive natures and our ability to talk about features and benefits in the often arcane vernacular of their customers and prospects. Our clients appreciated the wisdom of our counsel, entrusted us with even the most proprietary information, and placed a high value on effective, well-funded marketing efforts (even during the 1990-1991 recession).

By virtue of our being fully embedded in the product sales and marketing process, and with the enthusiastic support of our marketing partners at Dow, we found it relatively easy to develop comprehensive, integrated branding and marketing programs that delivered measurable, bottom line-enhancing results.

Unless its philosophy has changed dramatically in the intervening years, I would fully expect that of the numerous companies currently feeling the pinch of a tightening economy, The Dow Chemical Company isn’t going to be one that compounds the problem by pulling the rug out from under its marketing efforts. As much as it hurts to institute layoffs and curtail underperforming operations, smart companies recognize the intrinsic value of consistent marketing and aren’t afraid to fund it adequately in good times and in bad — especially when they are confident in the agencies with whom they partner.

If more companies followed Dow’s example, they would surely emerge with an enhanced competitive position once the economy finally starts turning around.