The times, they are a-changin

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  • Author:ThePersuader
  • Posted: 16th April 2009
  • Category: Business

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Standing still is going backwards!

25 years in business doesn't necessarily equip you for the future - unless what you've learnt is to react to change - better still, to anticipate it.

Running a marketing communications agency with my valued colleague Colin has lately become a mixture of phrophesy, gambling and guessing.

What we've found is that, while there will always be a demand for conventional advertising, design and PR, we have to discover, understand and embrace new philosophies, new market sectors and new techniques.

PR is increasingly moving online. Print is getting replaced by PDFs (digital files). And in this recession, the big money is communications is coming from areas which the government supports - sectors like sustainable travel, green transport and social marketing.

You might expect us '50somethings' to resist change. Not a bit of it! Getting to know new online opportunities and specialist sectors is more interesting than ever.

Take social marketing - it's a sort of risk-averse, democratic way of communicating messages to communities with the aim of achieving social good.

Lots of people confuse social marketing with social media marketing (social networking sites like Facebook). We decided to bite the bullet and established a dedicated social marketing company - Socialmark - and we DO know what we're talking about. We have formidable research and community engagement capabilities, yet still with the creative skills embodied in our established business.

That's just one of our new ventures, which all build on our existing skills.

If you're in a business out there that's struggling, do think about how you can apply your skills or resources in a new market or a new way, or 'package' it differently.

And good luck!

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