Economic Depression 2.0
BRAND EQUITY By Erik Qualman, Search Engine Watch, Oct 2, 2008
Columns | Contact Erik | Biography
We live in interesting financial times. Many pundits are pontificating and guessing about what it all means for the global economy, but what does it mean for us in the online world? What are the short- and long-term ramifications?
We've had some dips (dot-com bubble burst, 9/11), but nothing like this. Using these other low times as historical guides, what follows are some estimates on what the online world might expect in the coming months.
1. Online Marketing Spend OK
As we've seen during tough financial turns in the last 14 years, proven online marketing channels are often the last to be cut because they're so efficient. The medium is trackable to a hard ROI, so companies often shift a higher percentage of their total spend to online. Paid search and e-mail are the last two pillars to be cut.
Some of this depends on which vertical (business segment) your company is in. For example, Proctor & Gamble is probably more likely to cut paid search than Hyatt.
2. Paid Search is Often the Least Affected
Let's look at a tangible example. Suppose you run a cruise line that caters to baby boomers in their late 50s. Most likely, your buyers are on fixed incomes and travel is perceived as a luxury.
Also, let's assume they probably had a fair amount of money tied up in the financial markets and their net worth has taken an unforeseen dip. Because of this, through no fault of your own, the demand for your cruises just went down dramatically in the last few weeks.
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Biography
Erik Qualman is the Global Vice President of Online Marketing for EF Education, headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland. EF Education is the world's largest private educator (Student Tours, Language Schools, Smithsonian, Hult MBA School, Au Pair Exchange, Student Exchange, etc.). Qualman works out of the 850 person Cambridge, Massachusetts office.
Prior to joining EF Education, Qualman helped grow the marketing and eBusiness functions of Cadillac & Pontiac (1994-97), BellSouth (1998-2000), Yahoo (2000-03), EarthLink (2003-05) and Travelzoo (2005-08). Qualman holds a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Qualman is a frequently requested speaker within the Internet and marketing community. He's also an acclaimed fiction author -- more information is available at American Novel. A former basketball player at Michigan State University, Qualman still finds time to follow his beloved Spartans.
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