recession Tag

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Professional Who’s Been There, Survived That; photo of a Great Depression soup kitchen created by gangster Al Capone… This makes four. Over the course of my 30-year career, I’ve survived three other recessions: 1990-1991 — The inevitable collapse of Reaganomics. (Borrow, borrow, borrow… wait, we have to pay it back?) 2000-2001 — The first dotcom bust — the most painful one for me. I was riding high as a web nerd, then hit bottom. I even got rejected for a bookstoreRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Hardcore Football Addict; photo from the XFL website… Yes, in the midst of this stampede by the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (2020 edition) — Pandemic, Recession, Climate Change, and Republicans — I’m writing about football. That’s because: I’m a lifelong junkie. Go Steelers! Go Trojans! Football has long served as my distraction from real word duress. The collapse of the XFL is symptomatic of our times. Now, if you’d rather read about marketing amidst mayhem, please see my post, “WhatRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Former “Walking Dead” Fan; Poster by Mark Baker via Creative Commons… It might feel like the eve of the zombie apocalypse. And while conditions are serious, at some point societies and markets will recover. In the meantime, here are some marketing tips for companies of all types…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Price Pacifist; photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash… Imagine you’re selling lemonade from your friendly neighborhood stand when — BAM! — you’re torpedoed by a rival who cuts his price in half. That inglorious bastard! Here you two had settled upon a comfy price point — legally, of course, with no collusion — and he had to upset the balance…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor… It’s like an episode from the HBO series Sex And The City (or any romantic comedy of your choice): the lead character pines for a fantasy ideal — a millionaire, supermodel, quarterback, cheerleader, prince or princess — but our hopeless romantic ultimately finds true love with a best friend, worst enemy, nerd, prostitute, maid, or bodyguard. Delusions dispelled, the true lovers lock lips and live happily ever after. Or until Hollywood makes a sequel. Today, many retailers are undergoingRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Professional Collaborator… Collaboration: The Fine Art of Hookin’ Up Partnerships, alliances and cross-promotions date back to Eve giving Adam that “come hither” look. I once worked on a cross-promotional website between Nissan and Crayola. Apple and AT&T are now making a killing with the iPhone. You can’t buy a McDonald’s Happy Meal without some movie-related toy in the box. Unfortunately, you don’t see many small businesses or startups thinking in terms of collaborations. Here’s what they’re missing out on…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Has Weathered Some Economic Downturns; photo by Chris Sabor on Unsplash… Tough times like these separate the plucky from the certifiably pluckless. Plucky companies see economic turmoil as a ripe opportunity to crush weaker competitors. The pluckless see a shrinking economy and resort to shrinkage themselves: they reduce their services and their advertising till they’re but a shriveled husk of what they once were…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Marketing Forensics Practitioner… As an L.A. interactive-media guy, I’m expected to blog about sexy new developments online or in Hollywood, but today I’m writing about Mervyns department store. And, yes, that’s the only time you’ll ever see the words “sexy” and “Mervyns” in the same sentence. Ah, I see I just lost 98% of this article’s readers, which reflects the same percentage of consumers who couldn’t care less about the fashion retailer. And that explains why Mervyns recently declared bankruptcy.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Occasional Dog Lover… When the economy gets rough, many businesses cut their marketing. Now, as a devoted reader of this blog, you know that’s a big mistake. The best time to launch a full-on marketing offensive is when the competition is crying and cowering like Dick Cheney during a terrorist attack. But, alas, you have no choice. Most of your cash is going to fixed costs, like rent. So a cutting we go — but where? Do you use your handfulRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who’s Survived And Thrived During Some Serious Down Times… When the economy slows to the speed of a three-toed sloth after one too many hash brownies, the knee-jerk reaction by most marketers is to reduce ad expenditures. For some brands, however, a recession presents sweet juicy opportunities that call for increased spending. Really. And no, I’m not hitting on those brownies myself…Read More