Great conversations happen in the most unexpected of spaces. Take on the eve of the New Year, I was trying on the dress I'd ring in 2009 with and as its designer, Claudia Pegus, tugs  on  the elaborate skirt she says; " You know what's going get us through this recession? Productivity." 

Productivity she reasons equates with profit.

 She's right. Working harder. Delivering more. Measuring output and aligning it to the  outcome will matter more than ever.

The problem is that as marketers we've become too complacent. Buoyed  as we were by a thriving economy there was a decided  arrogance in the way we worked, served and communicated the value of our products and services. We forgot that after the boom comes the blast.

Still all it means is that we will have to get more creative. More relevant.  The market will benefit too because  we will be forced  to design better products that are easier to use. We'll have write our material in a way that our audience hears, price in a way that moves our products and services  and present in a manner that our audience  hears. 

I predict that we will be forced to count less on big budget  advertising, employ more cheap media, rely more on great talent (lucky you if you have it),  and build and  leverage skills of our  teams. 

The biggest enemy of profit is indifference. Productivity is simply belief in action.