ForeThought: Business as unusual

March 1, 2010 | Galynn Nordstrom

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, healthcare and social assistance topped industry growth charts in 2009, with second-quarter revenues of $452.5 billion, up 3 percent from the previous quarter. The United States is the only industrialized country in which health care is dependent upon employment. Yet in an IFAI staff meeting this morning, during a presentation from our insurance providers, there was no talk of changing the system—although they noted that healthcare costs to employers were one of the top “barriers to recovery” cited by businesses in a recent survey.

Thinking about a huge and increasingly profitable industry as the biggest problem for all our other industries gives me a headache, frankly. But yesterday’s discussions were also illustrative of how we’re all approaching business these days—by being encouraged (or forced) to change our behavior.

Stop smoking. Stop drinking. Stop eating. Start exercising. Start sleeping. And start shopping around for the best drug prices. Personally, I’m not sure how I feel about trusting my heart rate to a drug that sells for $4 a month at one place and $50 a month at another. After all, in the specialty fabrics industry, buying or selling only on price is seen as the road to ultimate ruin. But the most telling point was their emphasis on re-examining personal and professional habits, and how much these incremental changes can affect your health, your healthcare costs, and your employer’s healthcare costs.

The need for continued innovation is clear. But there’s another path: the need to audit, redesign and reinvent every aspect of our operations. We’ve run a lot of articles over the last two years about how to do this effectively. (And if you want to find them, visit www.specialtyfabricsreview.com and use the “search all IFAI” box to see what all seven IFAI magazines have had to say on the subject.)

Also discussed at this morning’s meeting was a recent IFAI membership questionnaire, indicating that fully 70 percent of respondents indicated that they do not understand or use social media marketing—despite the fact that every marketing expert on earth (I can’t speak for other planets) tells us that it will define the new consumer. Companies are going back to the beginning on their marketing plans to accommodate these new communication strategies, and even the hands-on manufacturing of custom fabric products is going to have to adapt to them. On page 51 of this issue, Linda Kaun provides some basics on how to begin a social media marketing program that could actually do your company some good. And on page 36, “Meet the press” gives you some techniques for getting free publicity from the media—no matter how they deliver it to their readers.

IFAI and Specialty Fabrics Review are moving into more interactive electronic communication with our consumers as well. You can now submit entries to the annual International Achievement Awards at www.ifaipublications.com/iaasubmit. Right now, companies are entering their 2010 Review Buyer’s Guide information online (remember: the deadline is March 25).

But if my health insurance provider tells me that wine cellar ownership is going to double my HSA deductible … well, so be it. Not all current behaviors are undesirable.

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