Yes, as we move into October, it’s time to look at next year, our plans and

therefore what the marketing budget is going to be.

All things being equal, what would you predict is going to happen to the data in

the graph below?

I know; it’s totally unfair. We haven’t given you anything to go on. You don’t have

visibility on what is being measured and over what time period.

Let’s assume it’s the number of purple dots appearing in the sky over Metropolis

over the past three months. Do you think the number of purple dots are going to

increase or decrease?

Want to know what this data really is and how it affects your 2016 marketing

plan? Then continue reading on our blog.

The data isn’t purple dots (surprise). It is actually the S&P 500 since 1994…

recognize that Oct 2008 drop?

OK, we’re not economists, or statisticians, but we do know we need to plan the

marketing and public relations for a number of key clients on an international

level. We also know that the economy does affect business and therefore we

need to be ready for upturns and downturns.

There is a school of thought that says you can’t predict the sales of an

organization beyond the next 3 months. There are simply too many factors

moving too fast for your predictions to be accurate.

As public relations and marketing meld closer to sales, we begin to ask the same

question – can we really start predicting a year out our marketing actions?

The simple answer is yes. And no.

We can predict annual events and cycles – such as opportunities at an annual

trade show or that there is a larger IT spend in Q4. What we can’t do is

categorically say how much effort to put behind such predictable events ten

months out, as there are many factors that could affect that.

So planning for 2016, based purely on the fragile international economies, needs

to be a mixture of both concrete and flexible actions and effort.

What do you think? What helps you plan?