Burnett or Burnout...

Last night, President Bush warned: “Our entire economy is in danger.”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to minimize the situation. Nor do I want to fuel the fear. I’m not an economist, nor a politico. I’m a sales and marketing consultant.

Here’s how other business managers have been facing the downturn, up until now:

About 28% of respondents to a recent Entrepreneur magazine poll said their response has been to market aggressively. The next response was cutting expenses (22.2%) and focus on cash flow (16.7%).

I’d say do all three. But focus on marketing first.

Leo Burnett, founder of the global ad agency that bears his name, opened his doors on August 5, 1935 – in the midst of the great depression. While others shuttered their doors, Burnett realized the key to success in troubled times was beer marketing. He developed creative advertising that focused on the “inherit drama” of the product or service to sway customers to spend whatever they were spending with his clients.


Today, Leo Burnett Worldwide has 97 offices in 84 countries.

Homework: How are you responding to the downturn? Are you doing all you can? What more can you do to be more creative, aggressive and positive? Is your advertising pulling its weight?