Prairie Perspective

Since the financial meltdown of the last couple years, the public’s trust in business has faltered and almost failed, according to some reports. One tidbit I wrote down a couple months ago – but can’t recall the source – said only 18 percent of Americans trust the business community of the U.S.

In a more recent survey conducted by Edelman, a public relations firm, and published in the September 28 issue of BusinessWeek magazine, only 44 percent of Americans said they trust business. Even if we split the difference, that might mean about 30 percent of us still believe what business interests tell us about themselves and their products and services. It suggests we have a pretty big mountain to climb in this country.

One of the variables we have been researching at Prairie Business is the number of companies and organizations that have essentially disappeared from the media outlets that are still examined (if not at trusted) by opinion leaders. We like to think our magazine is one of those trusted media choices on the Northern Plains.

As the recession appears to recede, we are witnessing a resurgence in the public messages being developed as part of many organizations’ communications strategy … not just for the sake of marketing but also for re-building public trust. We wish them all the best and stand ready to assist in that effort.

Since I began getting besieged by offers to join a bunch of folks on LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace and Twitter, I’ve been pondering if this is the best use of my time.

Being an old-fashioned kind of guy, I have felt some sort of innate resistance but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why my reaction was so contrary to the rest of the world … whose residents are not just accepting the offer to spend more time looking at a screen and poking at keys, but they are willingly EMBRACING the technology and the chance to share more of their personal lives with a lot more people (even total strangers).

Well, it seems I’m not the only one with concerns about hidden agendas and questions about the payday for these websites. My friend LaRoy Kingsley (a partner in the Kranzler Kingsley marketing firm in Bismarck) has sent me an interesting article by another skeptic.

If you want to take some time to explore one man’s professional opinion, try this out. It’s about a 5-10 minute time commitment, so be forewarned, and it’s a pretty intellectual overview, but it makes some sense of it all. http://www.recourses.com/2009-06

Rich Goldsbury, president of Bobcat Americas, met with several members of the North Dakota media today at 1:30 p.m. to discuss Bobcat’s decision to move its manufacturing operations for mini excavators, the Toolcat, S70 skid-steer loaders and mini track loaders from Bismarck to Gwinner. Essentially, the move consolidates the company’s entire North American manufacturing capacity in the original Bobcat manufacturing plant, discontinuing manufacturing in Bismarck by the end of 2009. Production in Bismarck was begun in 1974, the original three-wheel version of the machine that launched the global compact equipment industry was the basis for the development of the Gwinner plant.

“This is a painful decision. We take pride in our North Dakota roots," said Goldsbury, who has worked at the Bismarck plant during his career at Bobcat. "We are the ONLY producers of mini-excavators in North America. We remain the market leader and have been increasing market share the last 12 months. In 2005 there were two million housing starts in North America; in 2009 there were only 500,000. Industry wide, sales are down about 70 percent.”

He also said there have been about 1 million Bobcats produced since its founding in 1958. He said the move to consolidate in Gwinner was due partly to available floor space (400,000 sq ft in Bismarck and over 730,000 sq ft in Gwinner). He said the Bismarck plant will be put up for sale, but they would retain their facility in the Bismarck Northern Plains Commerce Centre. He said 390 new positions would be created at Gwinner and there are about 240 Gwinner workers that are currently laid off who will get first chance at being called back. He said they couldn’t offer the Gwinner jobs to Bismarck workers because they have separate union contract with each facility. He anticipates the Gwinner facility can meet projected demanded for the entire line of Bobcat equipment in North America for the next five years.
 

WHEN TIMES ARE GOOD, YOU SHOULD ADVERTISE. WHEN TIMES ARE BAD, YOU MUST ADVERTISE.

I’ve been reminded over the last few months about the importance of maintaining a marketing and brand presence during times of economic uncertainty, especially in a business-to-business environment.

Going all the way back to a 1923 Harvard Business Review survey of 200 companies, the largest sales increases were reported by companies that advertised the most during the recessionary year.

A McGraw Hill Research Laboratory report in 1974-75 analyzed the performance of 600+ business-to-business firms and learned that those companies which maintained or increased their advertising expenditures ‘averaged significantly higher sales growth’ during and for three years following the recession compared to those which eliminated or decreased advertising (up to 275 percent average sales growth over the preceding five years, in fact).

A Yankelovich/Harris study in 2001 revealed that, ‘in spite of a down economy, virtually all executives acknowledge the importance of keeping abreast of new products and services in their industry, and continuing to invest for the future’ and adding that a majority of executive feel more positive about a company’s commitment to its products and services when it advertises … and, keeps those companies top-of-mind when purchase decision are made.

Pennsylvania State University did a study in 2002 showed that ‘the greater the proactive marketing of a firm during a recession, the better its, a) market performance, and, b) business performance.’ The study went on to say, ‘firms that invest aggressively in marketing send a reassuring signal of confidence to concerned customers about their staying power and provide an incentive for customers to switch from brands/firms that they perceive as weak.’

Finally, a 2009 survey conducted by BtoB magazine (among 495 business-to-business marketers) demonstrated that over 50 percent of those surveyed plan to hold or increase their marketing budgets in 2009 and over 50 percent intend to increase their spending on marketing in 2010.

The summer that never arrives …

Perhaps climate change is what’s driving people crazy these days. Once again some nut with a gun has struck in the most unlikely place – a Pennsylvania health club where a bunch of women were engaged in aerobic exercise. Is this the new national pastime? Increasingly the terrorists that affect us most are homegrown folks with simmering mental problems.

What’s the answer? I think it will have to be a significant change in what our society values. I DON’T think it can be achieved with new gun control laws, especially when the existing laws aren’t enforced. Some of my hunting and shooting friends are noticing that the ammo stockpiling of the last 8 months is finally abating, but there is still a lingering fear that the Obama administration will try to sneak some legislation through Congress. Believe me, the watchdogs are keeping a close eye on that deliberative body.

Around the greater Fargo-Moorhead area, we’re under siege as burglars and armed robbers have come out of the woodwork in force the last few weeks – plus – Fargo just experienced its first murder in more than a year. Some poor guy was apparently beaten to death near the county courthouse. Seems the loonies are no longer ‘on the path’ to paraphrase a Pink Floyd lyric from the Dark Side of the Moon album.

Watching the Republican party the last few weeks has been like waterboarding. I hope the Supreme Court rules it a crime against humanity and obvious torture, which should be declared illegal according to the Geneva Convention. No doubt many of us in America struggled with the Bush administration’s ham-handed approach to things (which certainly set up a winning hand for Barack Obama), but I believe many of us also believe the nation is better off when there are truly competititve political parties.

At the moment, the most lucid (and elected) Republican on the national scene is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Despite some personal misgivings over how the most recent legislative session ended, with the governor single-handedly cutting budgets, he made a lot of sense in an appearance on public radio recently giving a speech at the Aspen Ideas Conference. He sounded like a classic Republican fiscal conservative and I admired that … compared to the rants of the current crop of ‘conservatives’ on talk radio and TV.

Minnesota’s former Independent Party governor, Jesse Ventura, is also raising his head again after several years on the sidelines, so perhaps we’ll wind up with two Minnesotans resurrecting national political movements that can counter the dominant Democrats currently in power. I believe we’ll be better off for it in the long run.

I don’t know how many of our readers are taking the afternoon off today (July 7) to watch the Michael Jackson memorial, but I won’t be one of them. For some reason, the idea of idolizing another human being just because they can sing or dance in a unique way seems ludicrous when compared to the possible negative effects he might have had on children who came to his estate for some ‘play time’ with the King of Pop. Sorry, the two activities don’t offset each other in my mind.

Making the final swing into old age seems a little terrifying at times, especially when one learns of another peer who has become seriously ill with cancer or has been struck down by a heart attack, stroke or other malady. It has become readily apparent that the sands of time are not trickling through the hour glass, they are rushing through in a torrent.

As the winter of 2008-2009 drags into early June (or so it seems), my wife and I have been considering warmer options to the south. One of our thoughts is that it might make a nice winter trip to head south in our vehicle to some obvious warm community of manageable size (3,000-10,000 people) in Florida or Texas and then work our way north one degree of latitude at a time each week. If we do it, then I’ll plan to post videos and photos and observations on the apparent merits of each town for readers to consider as winter options.

Going digital with an antenna is a real pain in the posterior. Not only have we lost two channels that we liked (KVLY and KXJB), but even those we get can break up without warning or reason. This is progress? I think it’s just one way of forcing us cheapskates into finally joining the cable or satellite community.

I sympathize (not empathize) with the manufacturers of software … they need to keep ‘improving’ it in order to sell more copies and generate a revenue stream. But, guess what? Once I finally learn how to utilize the basics of anything on the computer – from word processing to email – I don’t want a ‘new and improved’ version because I don’t want to spend more hours trying to re-learn something that I barely understand in the first place.

Here on the Northern Plains, we truly live on the fringes of prosperity and eternal hope, with natural resources for outdoor adventure, fresh water, oil, coal, fairly regular precipitation (too much this winter and spring), solid citizens who respect your rights as a human being, access to the latest technology, great restaurants, well-stocked grocery stores, LIBRARIES and neighbors who still care about each other. It may not be nirvana, but it’s good enough for me … about nine months of the year (you can guess which ones they are).

This is quite a period of re-evaluation for most of us. Protecting our savings has become a much more time-intense activity and what we’ve managed to protect we have to figure out how to use it wisely because relying on Social Security is becoming a tenuous subject at best.

Packaging trends are one of those subjects that intrigue me for some reason. Opening some plastic packaging shells can be downright dangerous, involving sharp instruments and lots of leverage, while popping the top on a can of beer seems to get easier every year … hmmm.

Why is that more and more people answer with the phrase, "no problem." ? An example: I step up to a counter to order a cheeseburge and rather than say somehing like "thank you" the clerk says, "no problem." Of course it’s not a problem, so why refer to this basic transaction as if I am creating a problem for someone?

You know, with the global economy still struggling it has occurred to me that we are in a mind race with the rest of the world. The winners won’t even know when they’ve crossed the finish line; in fact, they might never know if they’ve won or lost. That’s why my new measure of success isn’t money acquired, it’s contentment achieved.

Someone please tell me how so many AM radio stations still survive. One night I was playing a little pool in our basement romper room and listening to the only radio we’ve got down there – one of those old bakelight tube models from the 30s – and all we could get was AM. It seemed like there were an awful lot of them and that was without an antenna. They must have some loyal fans and superb sales people on staff.

Call me provincial, but I still feel that America is one place where the indomitable human spirit has been given voice. On the other hand, it also feels like we are groveling in the mire of humanity as these random acts of violence keep dominating the news.

A final observation: does anyone else notice how email trails are the ultimate CYA tool? We all know what CYA is all about, but I contend that now we not only save the emails and send them to home email addresses ‘just in case’ but we also print out hard copies, adding to the excessive use of limited resources. All in the name of making certain our butts are covered if we are threatened.

Thanks for reading.