Anne-Marie has honed her consultative skills in over 20 years with VSA, spending the first half of her career in strategy roles. She was instrumental in helping the agency transition into building brands founded in business strategy and performance.
Anne-Marie has honed her consultative skills in over 20 years with VSA, spending the first half of her career in strategy roles. She was instrumental in helping the agency transition into building brands founded in business strategy and performance.
Anne-Marie has honed her consultative skills in over 20 years with VSA, spending the first half of her career in strategy roles. She was instrumental in helping the agency transition into building brands founded in business strategy and performance.
Anne-Marie has honed her consultative skills in over 20 years with VSA, spending the first half of her career in strategy roles. She was instrumental in helping the agency transition into building brands founded in business strategy and performance.
VSA CEO Anne-Marie Rosser was recently published in Forbes magazine with her piece, “How To Accelerate Your Business During A Downturn.” Check out an excerpt below.
The outlook for business right now can feel bleak. Few financial experts can agree on what the economy will look like in even one month. Prices are rising. Customers are nervous. And with such volatile economic headwinds, pulling back and waiting out the downturn might seem like a smart defense. But if we’re honest with ourselves as business leaders, we know that pulling back now is not a defense at all. It’s simply a form of paralysis.
As counterintuitive as it seems, I believe now is the time to play offense. And that doesn’t have to mean spending more. What it does mean, though, is acting bravely and reprioritizing your spend for better effect.
Throughout my decades of experience in the agency world, I’ve gotten insight into a wide range of companies and their tactics for navigating economic volatility. Often, we’ve been working right alongside them. The following tactics are certainly not an all-inclusive list, but they are the mindsets I’ve seen work time and again.
As I lead an agency that cut its teeth in design, I can tell you that designers appreciate constraints—and they’re not alone. Reflecting on your situation and defining the challenges you face is always the best place to start.
A macro example: Most companies have the dual challenge of needing to address both the acquisition of new clients and the retention and growth of existing clients in any given year. But this looks different based on industry and where the company is in its lifecycle, i.e., its circumstances.
Less mature companies or those that are less recession-proof might still need to drive acquisition as the primary focus. Resetting to metrics that drive acquisition in the near term can help focus on limited resources. Conversely, many companies find that retention becomes the primary focus. This move to retention might mean that the budget shifts to more high-touch activations, such as events and in-person workshops—face-to-face time with clients to deepen relationships.
