Grigory Trusov, president of consulting company "Contact-expert"

Igor Romanov, psychiatrist, operating partner of "Contact-expert"

How has crisis affected your and your clients' business?

G.T.: There appeared a considerable quantity of clients which worked in the scarce or pseudo-scarce markets where marketing tools have not been strongly claimed. It was unnecessary to invest in system marketing to, for example, developers who could simply show the place and tell that there will be a house there, and that was enough for the house to be immediately sold. Such clients, really, did not see advantage in use of system marketing tools. Now, when the scarce markets have completely disappeared, when the consumer concerns a choice of the organisation in which to leave money, much more carefully, there appeared clients from the industries which were sceptical about marketing earlier.

I.R.: First of all our work, our projects became, unfortunately, less systematical, if earlier we could fulfil projects for many long years, and sometimes happened, even for decades forward, now often it is necessary to work in a first aid mode. New clients, clients, who has been left without consumers, who have their last money almost spent. It was necessary to get reoriented on other technologies. The ambulance surgeon and the doctor in the hospital have absolutely different specialisations, absolutely different toolkit, absolutely different vision of life. On the other hand, there are also pluses, continuing medical analogy - during epidemic the doctor is more claimed.

How do you think, whether really crisis will make business more effective?

G.T.: Nobody still cancelled Darvin therefore, what is crisis? Crisis is the process of dying of the weakest, their washing away from the market. Therefore it is impossible to tell that crisis makes business more effective, it either leaves those businesses, which were already effective, or those, who could quickly adapt to an occurring situation. In a consolation for the dying we can say, that though these models will die, it is impossible to tell that they were bad earlier, simply they were nonflexible. The companies which were inefficient or nonflexible therefore will die. If to consider the Darvinian paradigm, crisis is a way to clear business from dinosaurs who were effective, till the glacial age came, and from the unadapted companies which could live only at an abundance stage.

I.R.: Crisis does not make business more effective just as war does not make economy more effective. Crisis makes business another. Crisis makes business more operative, it returns economy to eternal values of earning money, instead of an image earning. Crisis actually is that little needle, which destroyed the hugest soap bubble under the name «abundance economy». When almost all more or less large businesses thought that money will never come to an end. When to live not on credit was unfashionable and when all people have been assured that this new type of economy - a life on loan and a happy one - will last eternally. Therefore crisis is what returns economy to a profitability condition, not more.

What would you recommended to advertising agencies? How to work with clients more effectively? How to help to sell?

G.T.: First of all, it is necessary to understand that tools which worked yesterday not necessarily will work tomorrow. Unfortunately, to us it is more habitual to be engaged in what we can, to offer the same tools which do not demand special loading on a head or creativity from agency. Client needs other tools now, and not always advertising agencies are ready to reconstruct the conveyor, the assortiment of services. Therefore I suggest them not to sit, waiting for crisis to end, expecting the clients to agree to play previous games, and actively include head and to understand that without offering new, adequate tools in crisis, not always that, which worked earlier, they can not favourably differ from other agencies which run on the market.

I.R.: Many advertising agencies today continue to search for the keys of access to efficiency, lost for a long time already in the same places. I.e. many advertising agencies, many advertisers continue to be engaged in advertising. Earlier we understood that advertising is a basis, and all the rest so modestly was called BTL - something below the line. And below the line we had promotion, below the line we had hearings, below the line we had events, below the line we had consumer communities, below the line we had a weight of other things. They made little percent from the advertising budget. Today, when we ask, what advertisers should be engaged into, the answer is - they should be engaged in promotion. And advertising now should be below the line, it's now a part of «BTL» itself.