Let It Snow? Contrived Recession Analogy #21

The 'unprecedented' snowfall of the last 36 hours has demonstrated many things about us in the UK, some more revealing than others. We always knew that our kids would rather play in the snow than go to school. We always knew our Government would fail to plan adequately. And we always knew that people would phone their local radio station to complain about it.

But when I looked own our street this morning, at the row of cars - most still covered with 8 inches of undisturbed snow, but among them the occasional shiny, recently driven vehicle - you can see who bothered getting out and about yesterday. And it made me wonder if there is a way of seeing which companies are working their way out of a recession.

What evidence is there of those hard-working souls who, instead of hunkering down and just waiting for the storm to pass, are getting out there and doing things? Look at the B2B industry and you can see clearly how some companies are sitting back, while others are investing in their brand, in their products, in their people.

And, of course, there is a great benefit in investing in good customer communications right now simply because most companies aren't doing it. If the competition aren't investing, now is your chance. Get ahead, get an advantage. Go beyond. Anyone who did get out onto the empty roads yesterday will know exactly what I'm talking about.