Happy Brand New Year.

Have I been yelling at you loudly enough about restarting your Marketing/Branding RIGHT NOW? Well, here I go again.

The news for Romania isn’t all that good. For the past six months I have been hearing from financial friends in New York and Washington that Romania would get through the ‘crisis” better and faster. I sang my optimistic mantra for survival: “Merrill Lynch says we’re one of the best foreign investment countries…tra la.” Now my friends are singing a different tune for here.

Cushman Wakefield agrees and now points foreign investment to Poland and Russia. Construction & Investment Journal says it’s already started. If this continues, then laggard companies here are putting their businesses on the line by waiting to trumpet their value.

I hope you are taking your usual 10 percent of turnover for marketing and doubling it. You need to get the contracting market to remember you. And you need to get existing customers to love you even more -- enough to stick with you.

I’ve been sifting through new consumer behavior information from Western and Eastern Europe, and the US to find what might help you to know for here. Here is what’s relevant:

Be the Downturn’s uplift – Ordinary people suddenly used to freedom of purchasing choice still want to buy luxury , but in smaller things. So they may sacrifice buying a new car or a truckful of IKEA but will treat themselves to higher end wines or better chocolates. Marketers of smaller high end items shouldn’t be taking their products down price or down-market, but should be shifting to higher targets to whom your product looks like a better value than a whole new house.

Be The Second Most Valuable - On the other hand, the recession has restricted the affluent’s ability to indulge in top-of-the-line goods, so lower cost luxury alternatives are popping up to semi-satisfy them. And guess what? They’re buying the second, cheaper tier.

Be willing to Barter - Credit-crunched citizens are swapping, bartering and trading for goods and services. Offering customers the ability to trade instead of pay offers a new way to connect with budgeting customers and can be applied on small or large scales. Be creative in the offers.

If they won’t buy it, they might rent it. - This is a huge business opportunity if you can turn your business plan in a new direction. Renting offers a trial before buying, a taste of something unaffordable, or even, not that anyone here would do this, the ability to fake status.

Unservice - Self-serve establishments save money by giving customers control. Forward-thinking business are putting some of their labor into the hands of customers, not only saving companies money, but also empowering customers by giving them a sense of independence and creative control. Among demographics that value customization and autonomy, unservice is a win-win for all

Make it a great Brand new year.