Friday, June 17, 2011

They (we) just don’t get it

This morning I listened to an interview with a young Greek professional guy – I think he worked in IT. He sounded bright and very understandably worried about what was happening in his country.

What was shocking was his total lack of understanding of why all of the hardships were happening. He was blaming his Government for “paying the IMF” rather than “paying the citizens of Greece”. The fact that the IMF is lending Greece money to pay for the schools and hospitals to be kept open was beyond his understanding.

The reason I tell you this story is that I think the same level of ignorance exists in the UK and probably the other European countries.

The chief economic editor of the FT reckons the UK will suffer a decade he has named Nasty (nightmare of austere and stagflationary years). If this is the case in the UK then heavens knows what it will be like in Ireland and Portugal.

We need to radically rethink all our assumptions about the levels of consumer spending and its implications on the business and marketing models.

Personally, I think this is a great opportunity for marketers. Those of our trade who recognize the real state of the world and how it will change what people buy will make a killing.

Those, the majority, the reckon life is just going to go on as it has for the last decade are in for a terrible shock. Dick Stroud

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