Market Your Way to Growth: 8 Ways to Win

EPILOGUE

We are currently living in the most perilous times since the Great Depression. And the peril now, as it was then, is global. A large number of forces—recession and high unemployment, decaying infrastructure, poverty, military and religious conflicts, environmental concerns, political polarization—have converged to paralyze action. And the various affected actors—individuals, communities, businesses, governments, political leaders, science and technology, social and cultural institutions, and NGOs—must act in new ways to save their own sphere, and the global sphere as well. In short, we all have to do our part to get the world economy growing again.

This book is about one very important sphere—business. Business has to grow and cooperate with the other spheres to do this. Business has to tap into its dynamic source of growth—which has always been and will always be the customer. There is plenty of wealth in the world, but the wealth, however unbalanced its distribution, is not being spent or invested. The latch to open the door of economic growth has always been consumption, whether it involves domestic or international trade. And the key to kick-starting consumption lies in the power and application of marketing.

In perilous times, people reduce their consumption and save. They fear the future and want to save for rainy days ahead. This is what is currently taking place in the United States, China, Europe, and all over the world. And when people don't spend on consumption, ...