Sales and Marketing in a challenged world

 

Sales and Marketing in a challenged world

 

 

The 21^st century arrives on the scene with some new complexities not seen in the recent past.  Perhaps if they occurred before, it was so long ago we don’t remember how it was handled.   What I’m referring to might be considered a long list of calamities we would rather not think about.  The list includes climate changes, rain forest destruction, desertification, nuclear weapons proliferation, scattered wars, famine, genocide, a global economy, the decline of the Western world, food and water shortages and many related issues.  These are all very serious conditions that effect large numbers of people and the effects may not be limited to just the indigenous groups that are directly involved in each situation.

 

Each condition presents a problem and as a result these issues will not just go away; so there must be at least one or more proposals to address each situation.  In every solution there will be something(s) to sell.  What we must begin to think about is how the sales and marketing community will respond to the major concerns of this age.  No trivial product, service or application will be sufficient as we look face to face into potential disaster.  Although these issues are each relatively large in magnitude there may be socially conscious items of a personal nature that are appropriate for each consideration.

 

We will not recommend vacations to consumers in a climate experiencing severe changes where the temperature is rising to unbearable levels with accompanying floods.   Instead perhaps, specially made lotions and oils may be more appropriate to those individuals who remain in this climate.   Relocation services may also be more appropriate for a community who no longer has a stable living environment.  These are just a sample of the ideas that might begin to evolve as we move farther into this millennium.   Many of the observers of our time consider the challenges that face us imminent and cataclysmic.   Some see the developing issues in the Middle East as the precursor to World War III.  What if a planned and directed marketing and sales program could avert or delay the coming events affecting us all?  It is possible that some product or service could actually turn many of these situations around.  It is also possible that this product or service already exists, but lacks the marketing and sales impetus that will propel it into action.

 

The Hula Hoop is only a big plastic circular loop.  However, in the 60’s it was all the rage and it survives as a viable product because of the marketing and sales program that set it into motion as a desirable commodity.  This new age requires a different type of marketer and his counterpart sales team must focus on delivering problem solving solutions in a challenged economy.  How do you see the role of marketing and sales people evolving?