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How Will the World’s Financial Crisis Affect Web 2.0?

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During the last tech down turn, I was unemployed for about a year and ate into most of my savings. The first job I was able to get was stacking candles at a store for minimum wage. I had a lot of trouble making ends meet, and often spent nights worrying if I would make rent. I swore to myself that I’d never be in such bad shape again.

In 2003, my poverty was something I’d like to believe I chose, and romanticized, perhaps because it wasn’t hardcore poverty. I knew others who fared worse, who never enjoyed the first dot-com gravy train, or who had bought homes in 1999 thinking that they’d always make $80,000 a year as a secretary. I made half that as a coder in 1999 because I didn’t believe it was right to make that much. Now, I’ve tossed that idealism aside and really am out there to make as much as I can get.

It’s 2008, and I see that the douche bags of Wall Street through their greed have managed to get my attention in the form of a world financial crisis. I see that most Americans by not saving have also created a mole hill out of things. I see that we cannot believe in an economic system of rational agents because now we are not.

The big take away is to save, save, save.

Just like in Fight Club, the things you’ve owned are now owning you.

The big question: How Will the World’s Financial Crisis Affect Web 2.0?

In what structured ways will the world around us crumble?

Comments

One response to “How Will the World’s Financial Crisis Affect Web 2.0?”

  1. The Baldchemist Avatar
    The Baldchemist

    Good question. This is how I see it.
    Don’t Panic
    This is not a time to panic. This is a time to define and redefine the brand. Brave brand words in a panicked environment, however they do ring true. So what are some of the opportunities? In recessionary times, consumers, not only spend less overall, but they become far more selective about how they spend. They gravitate away from brands that fail to provide a clear, meaningful, relevant and emotional engagement. Conventional wisdom also suggests that in these times of recession it is better to tighten the belt and cut costs and most companies immediately cut their marketing and branding efforts.
    This Is Where Opportunity Lies
    But this is where the opportunity lies. When others are cutting their spending and losing emotional engagement with customers, it will pay in the longer term to spend on the brand. This doesn’t always mean monetary spend in every case. It is about generating a buzz around the brand and communicating its relevancy clearly. Recession is the best time to build relevance and such relevance will stick for in the long-run.

    Dont Be Tempted By Outpricing Sales Drives
    The increasing wall-street driven short-term focus to outperform competitor’s everyday is another pitfall associated with some marketers, often leading to a SALE mentality. You cannot outperform the market everyday and every time. In recession times short-term focused marketers go on sales promotion overdrive. This has a direct impact on the brand erosion and consumers get confused as to what the brand stands for.
    Engage
    Spend on engagement. Make your brand relevant. Cement the position of your brand in the customers’ minds.Remember, when the going gets tough the tough get going.

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