There is nothing like an economic downturn to think about doing a business makeover. You might want to consider the business model itself, your branding, logos, colors, symbols, and especially your marketing and merchandising efforts.
Pepsico is doing a total business makeover. To the tune of $1.2 Billion over the next three years. A recent article in Advertising Age reports that Pepsico will be closing six plants and laying off thousand of employees. The business will revamp the branding on its carbonated soft drinks and will review the branding on its Gatorade products as well.
Why? Business is lousy. Sales have fallen off. With respect to soft drinks, in tough economic times people will drink tap water and eschew the dubious virtues of carbonated soft drinks. Pepsico will change its logos so that the core Pepsi Cola will show a series of smalls on the white part of the label, a grin will be used for Diet Pepsi, and Pepsi Max will display a laugh. I say forget the smiles, laughs and grins. Perhaps it would be better to reexamine the possibility of switching out the icky corn syrup sweetener and replacing it with sugar, just like in the good old days. That would go a long way, I believe, in gaining new appeal. But, hey, for $1.2 Billion they are entitled to make their own mistakes.
So with Pepsico doing this huge makeover, is it time for you to look at your own business? In this great economic bakeoff it’s time to see which aspects of your programs work for you and which do not. Look for ways to cut costs by making your business more efficient. Look to hire employees who can bring you up to the cutting edge of business technology. Be sure to have a preemployment screening program in place to make sure they are who they say they are. Conduct business research and business intelligence so when you conduct business development you are not fishing for loser clients who can’t pay their bills.
If you have cash, then use it as a resource to cut better deals with your vendors and suppliers. There are so many late pays right now you can cut yourself better rates and service by virtue of your ability to pay, and to pay quickly. Look over your branding, your logos. Make sure you business model is fresh and not outmoded, reminiscent of these sorry times. Change what you need to change. As for the forthcoming Pepsi-type smiley faces, I’ll leave that up to you.
