Think2010: Stay focused on the fundamentals

As you look to get ahead of the recovery and set yourself up for success in 2010, let's revisit some of the lessons learned during the recession that you can apply going forward. We've been compiling both forward-looking perspectives and retrospective wisdom on our Fast.Forward. channel on YouTube. In this week's post, we want to call out some advice from Rick Carpenter of the agency DDB in Chicago.

From Rick's perspective, the recession underscored the fundamental truth in marketing: you need to continually, and earnestly, focus on the customer. This means understanding what's going on in their lives and what their mindset is, and it's critical to be relevant to the people that the message will reach.

The recession also taught us that marketers must retrench and commit to their own fundamental core values. Your brand and company shouldn't continually have to reinvent itself to adapt to the macro-economic climate. As you prepare for 2010, is your positioning clear?

Listen to what Rick has to say here:

(click to watch video on YouTube)

To stay engaged with our Think2010 series more broadly, visit www.google.com/think2010.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew