Houston Marketing Report – JANUARY 2009

NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW CHANGES 2009 is here and its time to reboot your marketing strategy. The New Year means its time for change. Change-is-a-coming. Change is good. Change brings many opportunities. With change you can make many things happen that have not happened before. What do you want to change? What do you want to do this time that you couldn’t do last year? Marketing in the Houston economy is not the same as before. It needs a unusual way of thinking. Think customers. Think revenue. Think marketing opportunities. Think new attitude, new strategy, and a new marketing outlook. Whatever you did in 2008 is past and gone. This is the time for fresh opportunities and new growth. Its time for a new lease in your marketing initiatives.

THE SECRET We enter the new year with a down economy, unemployment, recession, people losing their homes, company closings, government buyouts, and a lack of consumer confidence. Yet the modern year also brings a new attitude and a new resolution to make things happen. 2009 will peer your Houston marketing and promotions efforts play a Huge allotment in the success of your company. Your marketing will determine how you will rob the hearts, minds, and soul of your customers. Your marketing will determine what consumers will buy, what they will do, and what they will want and need. Creative Marketing will help you capture market share. NonTraditional Marketing will help the little guys survive. Strategic Marketing will serve you beat your competitor. Culture Marketing will get you thru to your customers. The secret to success in 2009 is MARKETING. Any type of marketing will make it better for you. Without MARKETING you will become a statistic in the Houston economy.

DOWN ECONOMY? NO PROBLEM. Here’s ten strategies to achieve marketing success in Houston’s economy.

1. Hug your Customers. Your customers are your lifeline to success. Make them feel welcome and wanted.

2. Advertise – Advertise – Advertise.

3. Focus on getting customers, not buyers.

4. Database Marketing. Touch your customers frequently. Remind them who you are and what you do.

5. Focus on your core competency. Strive to be the best in what you do best.

6. Invest in Internet Marketing.

7. Go back to basic marketing: flyers, posters, grassroots marketing, referrals, signage, narrate mail, etc.

8. Create marketing partnerships and synergies.

9. More bellow mail to your customers.

10. Create internet store front to give you outreach and access to more customers.

WHAT HOUSTON MARKETERS ARE TALKING ABOUT.

1. Burger King introduced their new Flame Broiled Cologne. It’s guaranteed to give you the novel scent of meat.

2. Live ice skating in downtown Houston.

3. Shoe-throwing is new sport for politically active professionals.

4. Downtown Houston is a free WIFI Hotspot zone — free internet for everyone!

5. KILT Country Radio now owns Houston radio stations MEGA 101 and MIX 96.5.

HUG YOUR CUSTOMERS If you don’t normally hug your customers. . .then you better practice and start hugging. Hugging can take on various forms: invitations, coupons, specials, VIP receptions, free with purchase, and any other activities that your customers can feel friendly about. Your customers are the life and blood of your company. Your customers make it a custom to buy from you over and over again. They are your fans. They are the ones that will wait on you thru these trying times. Focus on your customers and you will not go wrong. Build one-on-one relationships with your customers. Get to know them. Derive to know what makes your customer tick, what problems they have, what they like, and what they want to buy. MARKETING is all about catering to your customers. Consider about it.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES First quarter marketing campaigns are always a challenge. The marketing opportunities and activities exponentially pick up in second quarter. Here’s list of Houston First Quarter activities that can fit with your marketing plans:

JANUARY: MLK Day Parade, Houston Marathon.

FEBRUARY: Chinese New Year, Digital TV Transition, Valentines, Black History Month, Mardi Gras Galveston, Presidents Day.

MARCH: Spring Break, Houston Rodeo, St. Patrick’s Day, NCAA Sweet 16 Tournament, Bayou City Arts Fest, Houston Home Show.

ONCE YOU GO GREEN, YOU ALWAYS. . .Green is the new industry that everyone is talking about. “Green Building” and “Energy Efficiency” are the new buzz words of the market. Many companies are structuring their marketing and promotions plans to “Go Green.”

. Mayor Bill White is spearheading an extensive program to make Houston Green.

. City Hall is now using solar panels as an alternative sustainable energy resource.

. Green Living TV Indicate goes live in Houston at the Home and Garden show at Reliant Park.

. Houston Green Expo in April at Reliant Park.

. Local TV stations have Green programs and reporters specifically focused on the Green industry..

. Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston is Green.

. City of Houston has over 500 hybrid vehicles in use.

. The Houston Green Network is a local resource of environmentally responsible products based out of Houston.

. Houston based AIRGENERATE.COM has come up with an innovative way to turn hot-air into hot water.

. Construction companies and builders are focused to turn their buildings green.

What do you have in your Green Plan? Perhaps you believe in the stale adage like everyone else. . .”Once you go green, you always. . .”