I recently attended a faculty meeting to kick-off the New Year. One of the presentations disclosed enrollment trends that did not surprise, but none the less disappointed some of my fellow faculty. An increasing number of students are enrolling in online as opposed to on-campus courses. In short, the online modality more closely matches many students desired method for consuming education. Although most of the faculty can teach both online and on-campus, their traditional teaching backgrounds creates a comfort level and natural desire to interact with their students in a class room environment. The shift from a class room setting to online just doesn’t feel right to some, and that can make it difficult to embrace change even when the data states the obvious.

Shifting business environments make change necessary, but it doesn’t mean it will be easy. In my role as VP of Marketing there are always struggles to keep new initiatives on track even when the data indicates that the change is not optional. Strong feelings to revert back to the old status quo are often lurking just below the surface. For example, a shift in our media planning recommendations away from traditional media products and into earned media programs at times creates fear, uncertainty and doubt within parts of our organization. You can just imagine the questions swirling:

I was in Junior High School during the early 1970s recession and I can still remember my parent's struggle to keep our small family business from closing. In the late 70s I enrolled in college and completed my undergraduate degree just in time to enter the job market during the recession of the early 1980s. According to a study by Yale University's Lisa Kahn, college graduates who entered the job market during that time period made significantly less money for at least a decade, compared with those who graduated in more prosperous times.

I’m really not complaining, although I will add that I went back to school and completed my MBA just in time for the 1987 stock market crash. Is that funny or what? OK, my timing seems to be a little off, and my children have heard all my ... "the snow was always deeper" ... type of stories. Still, how is your organization listening and learning to what's important to today's cautious consumer?

It's not just a cliché; when people get lost, they really do tend to walk in circles. According to research by psychologist Jan Souman; only when the sun or moon was visible as a reference could the subjects walk in a straight line. Otherwise, they often traced circles without ever realizing it. Reference points are a good thing because humans are perhaps the greatest wanders on the planet. From below sea level at Death Valley to Mount Everest, the highest point on earth, it seems we have a basic compulsion to see what's over the hill. Or under the hill as was the case with two young girls in South Australia.

Walking through storm drains is known as "urban exploring" and has a popular sub-culture following in many major cities. As reported by the Adelaide Metropolitan Fire Service two young girls found themselves lost in a drain system while on such an exploring adventure. Underground the girls lost their frame of reference ... they did have their cell phones though. However; rather than call their parents or 000 (911 in the U.S.) they used their mobile devices to send a message for help out to their friends via Facebook. Glenn Benham from the MFS said it was fortunate a young friend was online at the time and was able to call help for them; although the youth’s fixation on Facebook actually delayed their rescue by hours.

My post "Using Marketing Booth Babes" sparked some lively discussion. The original post asked marketer’s for their opinion on the practice of using booth babes (scantily clad women ... or men) to attract attention to their organizations booth at conferences and trade-shows. The use of sexual tension to create a direction for a movie plot or to sell products is an age-old strategy. However, many readers agreed that using sex as a way to suggest product "sizzle" was no longer very original, and in fact could be risky if it actually alienated potential purchasers.

The September 2009 issue of Inc. magazine showcases the 500 fastest-growing private companies. Forty-eight advertising and marketing companies are listed and a recurring theme among those organizations is a performance-based business model. In other words, the client only pays when customers take action. Pay-for-Call, Cost-per-Action, Pay-per-Sale, Revenue-Sharing, Profit-Sharing; make no mistake, performance-based business models contain elements of risk, and are taking center-stage in our current economy.

Are you friending, linking, tweeting and blogging? Social media is driving a wave of human interaction around the world. In fact, I find myself approaching the triple 3K mark on twitter; 3,000 tweets, 3,000 followers and 3,000 connections. Those are fairly low numbers when compared to many avid twitter users; although high enough to rank in the top one percent of users, at least according to Twitter Grader . But what does it all mean? Do social media sites encourage people to concentrate on their number of connections rather than build actual relationships? Is social media best used by individuals; or will it really change the way organizations engage their customers? And what about the ROI; is the return on relationships something that can (or should) be measured?

Some marketer’s are still eager to list the reasons why they don’t believe in social media platforms.

"Only the Employed Need Apply." According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal many employers are bypassing the jobless to target those still working, reasoning that those still working are really the top performers. Other strategy guru's are pointing out that because of record layoffs; the job market is actually flooded with qualified applicants and this presents an opportunity to hire talented employees – at a discount - who would not have normally been available.

An economic downturn can present an opportunity to reposition your team for the future. However; both hiring strategies have drawbacks. Those still working at other firms are not guaranteed to be top performers under your corporate culture. And if you pay a salary below market value, your employees may be less satisfied, and you risk a higher turnover. In the long run, this can cost your company a good deal in lost productivity and time hiring and training.

Do you consider your employees one of your most valuable investments? If so, the current economic environment could provide the cover to build a competitive "employee-based" advantage. What are you doing to plan your hiring so that you receive an optimal return on your investment in terms of productivity, customer satisfaction and the satisfaction of your employees?

June sales are leaving many retailers anxious about the approaching back-to-school shopping season. Consumers continue to buy less and they are more discriminating than ever. However; many brand consultants argue that the recession has not created a pricing shift but a higher degree of awareness regarding the value of products and brands. Today’s discount shopper is clearly reluctant to spend on premium brands if the value is missing.

I recently pulled out C. Britt Beemer and Robert L. Shook’s book "It Takes a Prophet to Make a Profit ... 15 Trends that are Reshaping American Business." Published in 2001, trend #6 reads:

"Consumers Are Reluctant to Pay Full Retail Price"

Their research showed the number one reason Americans dislike paying full retail price is that they think prices are too high. Fifty-seven percent of discount shoppers expressed that opinion. In addition, they reported:

• 82 percent said they knew the item would be on sale someday.
• 82 percent also said that somebody always has it on sale.
• 79 percent said they normally wait for sales because they don’t need an item right away.
• 46 percent felt that quality has suffered.
• 34 percent said that service has declined.

Grocery store’s who tried to attract customer’s by influencing the customer shopping experience via coffee bars, fancy bakeries and the availability of exotic products are going back to the basics. Major players such as Kroger, Stop & Shop, Publix and other big food chains are now refocusing efforts on the middle aisles where as much as 70% of their weekly profits are generated. In fact, many retailers are also expected to slice the assortment of products in their stores by at least 15%. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (“Retailers Cut Back on Variety, Once the Spice of Marketing”) retailers are trying to cater to budget-conscious shoppers who want to simplify shopping trips and stick to familiar products.

Some 18% of small-business owners surveyed in April said they are working a second job, according to the latest findings from the American Express Open Small Business Monitor. It’s an indicator that many business owners are experiencing challenges in an economic environment that they haven’t faced before. It also sheds a new light on the lead generation process. The media landscape has expanded with a proliferation of channels touting more eyeballs and deeper customer engagement. More eyeballs and deeper engagement are both great. But when sales are down and you are forced to stop drawing a salary in order to deal with reduced cash flow you’ve got to be asking yourself;

"Where are the local customers who are ready to buy right now?"

According to research from comScore, Knowledge Networks/SRI, and other leading consumer media usage organizations; technology has dramatically improved the ability for consumers to research and shop before purchasing, causing previously used benchmarks like circulation to become weak indicators of expected sales. So, without relying on circulation numbers to derive a semi-accurate measure of expected sales how does an advertiser know where to spend their advertising dollars in today’s mix of print and online local business directories?