Remember the oil crisis in the 70s? Everyone dumped their big cars and headed for "fuel misers". Everyone started to look at solar electricity and tide-generated electricity. I heard of someone selling a brand new Pontiac Parisienne for $500 (I remember telling my Grade 6 teacher this (he owned one himself)). Well, what happened? Our "environmental memories" are short. As soon as the fuel prices dropped, North Americans ran back to car dealerships and Detroit started making some of the biggest gas guzzlers to ever hit the road (i.e. SUVs like the Hummer, the Lincoln Navigator, and the Dodge Charger).
There is already evidence to support this will happen. Yahoo! reports that in December sales of the Prius hybrid dropped 45 percent as gas prices fell from their record highs in July. Meanwhile, MSN-BC reports that shrinking gas prices and attractive deals are causing a return by vehicle buyers to big vehicles like SUVs and full-size pick-up trucks.
Goodbye environment. Hello living as cheaply as I can.
But - beware - fuel prices will make a come-back. That is inevitable as there ultimately is a world-wide limited supply of oil. Also as Oil companies search out the harder to get oil (e.g. more of the Tar Sands in Northern Alberta) the cost of getting that oil, and refining it, will be dramatically higher. On top of that, the polar ice caps are still melting and the world is constantly becoming a more toxic place in which to live. So, what goes around comes around. Eventually the environment will be important again, but maybe not for a couple more years.
So, as a good Marketer in 2009, some things to do are:
- Focus on value in the short-term, and
- Build a credible and real environmental culture and brand for the long-term.
Will I be right? The year will tell!
- Follow this blog and watch for the next marketing trends I'm forecasting for 2009.
- Feel free to contact Market GoGo to discuss this further.
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