Features and tRends

(January 2010)

New Beginnings and the Look Ahead

I love new beginnings. They’re exciting, hopeful and refreshing. And, sure – they can be unpredictable. I can certainly feel pangs of reluctance to change and to the unknown as much as the next guy or gal. But more than anything else, I revel in the promise of possibility. Just a little more than a few weeks into the year… and don’t you just get the sense that the country is poised for the opportunities that 2010 will bring?

Needless to say, 2009 wasn’t the best of times. While exciting, we’d be hard pressed to call the year hopeful and refreshing. But I think it may well have paved the path for 2010 to claim those titles.

The National Association of Homebuilders’ (NAHB) Eye on the Economy predicts this year will be a happier one for both the economy and housing. It warns that the housing market’s climb will be a slow and steady one, an uphill climb nonetheless. The extension of the government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit will help add lift to this trajectory with continued purchasing activity in the formation of new households.

Why the optimism amid nagging foreclosures and unemployment? Glad you asked. Home inventories and affordability indexes are now at historically attractive levels. Just last week, homebuilder Lennar announced surprise fiscal fourth-quarter profits…breaking a two-year string of losses. What’s more, the stock market kicked off the new year’s first week with gains of some 200 points to its highest level in more than 15 months. Factories are humming, auto sales are up… and gasp, November payrolls finally gained 4,000 – the first job creation since the recession started! With productivity increasing, we’re lean, mean and ready to increase revenues as inventory levels and profits are being replenished.

Important marketing trends this year will continue to rally around social media and search, as relevancy and consumer-generated content will allow us to retain our critical influence with vital influencers. We’ll certainly conduct business in various shades of green, as eco-chic marketing leads our society’s collective consciousness and the green building industry, in particular, will thrive in 2010 as LEED points, energy savings and sustainability will help leverage the new definition of luxury.

Stay tuned for more about social media predictions in the following article. Online discussions, communities and relationships – as well as the measurement of these things – will flourish in ways we couldn’t have imagined when Al Gore invented the internet. And while we’re only at the tip of the social media iceberg, it’ll be an important year for your brands not to be left standing at the station as the trains continue to leave. Overall, we’ll be seeing more confident attitudes and increasing consumer spending this year. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the economy is cyclical, and we will be even stronger as this economic pendulum rebounds.

So my “resolutions” this year focus on making myself and my agency better. I’ve outlined four of them below as targets for the year. These themes are some I believe will help contribute to our success. Maybe they’ll strike a chord with you, too.

  • Upholding a Positive and Opportunistic Mindset – Joe Calloway discusses in an article featured in Affluent Magazine about how the ways in which we think about business will be more important than ever. “It’s all about your mindset,” he writes, “If you refuse to see the opportunity of the recession, or any other circumstance for that matter, there’s no way you can take advantage of it.”
  • Acting Proactively, rather than Reactively – Too often we find ourselves reacting to challenges or situations. Let’s take a more proactive approach this year, preparing as best we can for opportunities on the horizon.
  • Continuing to Build our Brands Online while exploring new Social Media Platforms – We’ll dive more into this in the following article… this year is going to open many new doors in the way we collaborate and work in multiple interactive channels.
  • Balance – This one’s a little more personal, but I trust there’s truth in it for everyone. I think we all want (and could all use) a little more play time in our lives. Managed responsibly, we can work hard and celebrate life’s joys. Making more time for common courtesies, friends and family. After all, we didn’t fall off the proverbial cliff like as we thought we might. Let’s all loosen up a bit!

My firm is anxious to experience how we can contribute to making history in 2010, and I’m excited to be along for the ride. I wish you all a year of great success and joys. Keep me posted on both your triumphs and lessons learned at sk@kleberandassociates.com or on Twitter @stevekleber.