Article Analysis

In a downed economy, with the exception of implausibly wealthy people, many individuals tend to reduce their spending habits. People often search for significant ways to stretch their dollars. This includes reducing their entertainment expenses, purchasing fewer groceries, taking shorter vacations, and overall, keeping a closer eye on their expenditures. How do these frugal buying habits affect businesses? If a business does not have an efficient marketing strategy, its business is likely to decline as consumer spending dwindles. To combat this consumer behavior, companies need to have a strategy in place so that even during a poor economy the business can still profit. This paper will analyze an article that discusses the clever marketing strategies organizations take to attempt to remain profitable during a recession, in the article, Keeping Customers in a Crummy Economy.
Marketing is a very important task for companies because it influences customers’ perceptions of the company. When developing a marketing strategy, an organization should not only be thinking of the now, but also looking towards the future. This means marketing should be done with an effort to retain customers, not just attract them. While the article Keeping Customers in a Crummy Economy was a bit outdated, the information it contained was timely, discussing valuable marketing strategies that can be beneficial to companies today.

The article begins by pointing out some of the habits companies ensue to retain customers. Businesses are getting creative by offering deals such as “two months of free service and reduced rates, discounted gym membership renewals, and generous gift cards from high-end department stores” (Bogoslaw, 2008). The responsibility of attracting customers is difficult enough, yet maintaining customer loyalty is even more difficult. According to Wharton