In order to survive a recession and come out the other side moving swiftly forward, two things need to happen: Your competitors still need to be stuck far behind, and you need to have used the time to create brand-new strategies that resonate with consumers just when they’re ready to spend again.

Companies have been flagging left and right, cutting their marketing budgets significantly and focusing largely on hitting short-term goals rather than looking to the future. Much of this short-sightedness is out of necessity, since companies have frequently been hit so hard they’re unable to set aside the resources to plan for future growth.

There are a few notable exceptions to this rule, however, and we’re beginning to see the results of their planning:

>    Wal-Mart has distinguished itself by revamping its entire marketing campaign to build loyalty in the customers it gained during the recession. Instead of rejoicing in the current uptick in customers, Wal-Mart knows that in order to keep those new consumers when the recession turns, they’re going to need a loyalty strategy – and that’s exactly where they’re putting their efforts.

>    Other companies are also making sure they catch the wave as the tide turns. Unilever and P&G are other notable companies that are starting to increase their spending and look to new innovation, ready to hit consumers with new and exciting products and practices when the pursestrings loosen again.

Another trend in recession-style business has been the elimination of monthly sales reporting, a strategy that simply removes the focus from the short-term. This means of “big picture” reporting and planning may not be contributing directly to how companies are currently marketing themselves, but it sure does reflect an overall intention to focus less on details and away from a one-month limited snapshot.

Yes, everyone’s twittering.

People who enjoy living in the world of 140 characters use it a lot and they talk about everything under the sun – but may never ask themselves what Twitter gets out of the deal.

From a marketing perspective, Twitter’s seeming ambivalence about making any money out of its extraordinarily popular social media tool echoes the sentiment many of an older generation are still expressing about tweeting: “What’s the point?”

The point, as it turns out, is that Twitter has a viable commercial use.
Companies are using Twitter to communicate with their customers, to find out what they like and don’t like, to offer customer service and answer questions, and simply to create a personal relationship that will be effective in maintaining loyalty to the brand.

Twitter is now talking about the possibility of creating commercial accounts that those companies would use for a fee. They may finally have gotten companies to the point where Twitter is a tool they’d pay not to do without.

And that is a pretty big point. In fact, it’s probably a bottom line.