I teach marketing principles for The University of Hartford’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. One particular class I was teaching today is part of a series that takes budding entrepreneurs through a business feasibility planning blitz over the course of three months. The course reviews the basic concepts in all aspects of business planning: marketing, product development, distribution, pricing, legal set-up, etc.

I am always stunned at how businesses get launched on the back of a napkin or start with just a “wing and a prayer. This course tries to impart to its participants how critical planning is and how early evaluation of competitive environments and deep consumer exploration can make drastic differences in how a start-up moves forward. But as I talk with these entrepreneurs, it occurs to me that the same review needs to take place in large, well-established companies. 

I talked earlier this week about understanding the changing consumer dynamics given the economic situation we all find ourselves in. So here are some questions for you to ponder in your world: 

• What competitive advantages are emerging in this new marketplace?
• Should you be offering more targeted discounts or prmotinal offers?
• How does your product line need to change?
• What advantages would you find by targeting the super wealthy? 
• If your current marketing plan was slashed by 80%, what innovative, out-of-the box activities would you activate to continue to get your message out there?

If this line of questioning sparks some inspiration, let me know. I’m interested to hear what you are thinking about!

Continental Airlines has a postering campaign that includes a headline that reads, “You’ve Got Suits Older Than Our Planes.” The fine print talks about how they have the “newest jet fleet.”

There are several basic advertising principles illustrated in that ad:

1. Be timely. With all the bad press that Southwest has generated about the age and poor condition of some of its airplanes, Continental is taking advantage of topics that are top of mind with its customer base.
2. Use emotion to your competitive advantage. The inherent implication is that everyone else’s fleet is old and therefore, scary to fly. This ad prays on the fear of flying and offers Continental as the alternative choice.
3. Put it in context. By comparing the age of their planes to the age of a suit in someone’s closet, they have reframed the meaning of the word “old.” This classic technique can be found in many industries. “Ten Easy Payments of $19.99″ (versus $200.00) or “Less than the cost of dinner for two” (versus $100.00).

So the questions for today are: What negative press is your industry getting that you could flip to your advantage? What emotional triggers can you tap into? What frame of reference can you provide that allow someone to look at your offering from a whole different perspective?

I’m reading Timothy Ferris’ The 4-Hour Work Week, and I am finding that, according to him, being clueless about the world around you is actually a measure of high productivity. Who knew? I wish he’d tell my husband that; he’s a news channel junkie. My husband thinks I should watch the news more often. I don’t really read the newspaper or watch a lot of news. My husband is addicted to MSNBC, Fox News and all the other news channels and keeps it on the background as he works all day. He is an architect and can somehow do that. Me, I need focus. 

In the book (which I highly recommend), Ferris talks about the fact about you should only be consuming information that you need. I thought that was an interesting concept. When I need news, I seek it out. I subscribe to several marketing e-newsletters to keep me informed about what’s going on the marketing and media world to understand others’ strategies and how changes in the business world will affect my clients. In addition, I have subscription to Inc, Fast Company, Business Week and a few other industry magazines that I can consume while I eat my lunch. Whenever I need information and inspiration for development of programs for one of my clients, I find that inspiration often comes from a combination of my background and experience mixed with fresh ideas found on-line. That’s one of the beauties of the internet. 

I must admit, there are days when I just need to get connected to the world. But for the most part, I’m happy not knowing all the garbage that goes on in the world. While I’m interested in how China reacts to an earthquake and what aid they may need, I’m not as concerned about what Obama’s minster said the day before yesterday. So if you’re looking for a way to add more time to your day, do what I do – don’t read the newspaper, don’t watch TV, just do whatever it is that you want to do. As Timothy Ferris states in his book, you’ll be surprised how little you’ll miss.

I read an article that called Steve Jobs on the carpet for a (rather stupid) comment he made about how reading is dead. As one who buys about 100 books every year, I cannot agree with Mr. Jobs. However, I would not like to have everything I have ever said dissected, so I will leave that commentary to someone else: http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/book-lust/index.html

However, it did raise for me the marketing question of obsolescence. Everyone said the radio would be dead when TV entered the market, and everyone said books and newspapers would be dead when the internet came along. Anyone who grew up in the eighties understands the song phrase, “Video killed the radio star” because they remember when MTV showed music videos. I work with a premium paper company that, by all rights, ought to be dead due to the paperless office…but it’s not.

People still buy books, listen to the radio, print their resumes out on paper, send mail through the post office, and read the newspaper. I’m not saying that the newspaper industry isn’t seriously struggling, but it is still delivered to millions of homes.

Steve Jobs’ comment simply makes me think, “What would I do? If I were in charge of that company or industry, how would I grow sales?” At its core, it’s the same answer that any smart marketer would give: find ways to remain relevant. Offer your product or service in new ways. Look at what your core competencies are and find new ways to deliver those competencies. After all, newspapers are not really in the business of selling sheets of newsprint; they are in the business of informing, selling the latest and greatest information available anywhere. New technology may present new challenges, but it also produces new opportunities. Are you taking advantage of those opportunities? Potentially, those new technologies just offer more choices to consumers. When MTV started airing videos, it became a monumental marketing vehicle to promote record label sales. Newspapers need to reinvent themselves to deliver content to someone’s iPhone and grow revenues digitally.

Maybe you are in that situation, working in a company whose core product line is threatened by emerging technology. Try to turn it around. What possibilities does this new opportunity bring? Is there anything that you could provide or do that could change your business model for the better because of this new technology?

Stretch your thinking to see where change can take you, and take heart in the fact that, despite Steve Jobs prediction, there will always be people like me that defy the “trends.”

Well, gotta run. I think I’ll stop by the bookstore!.