In today's arena the most common word we come across are recession and downturn. Recession
or crisis is the part of the normal cycle of business. It is certain that they will sooner or later
occur. Recessions are the result of reduction in the demand of products in the global market.
Recession can also be associated with falling prices known as deflation due to lack of demand
of products. Again, it could be the result of inflation or a combination of increasing prices and
stagnant economic growth in the west. Recession has been defined in the marketing literature
as a "process of decreasing demand for raw materials, products and services, including labor"
(Shama 1978) or as a "state in which the demand for a product is less than its former level"
(Kotler 1973). Recession is a phenomenon of decreasing demand for raw materials, products,
and services. Technically, its beginning, progress, and ending depends on the operational
measures used by different researchers and federal agencies. The worst ever financial crisis to
have ravaged the United States since the Great Depression of 1930s, has taken a heavy toll on the
world's largest economy. There is rise in the number of job layoffs and cost cutting. In fact, all
the economies of the world are facing crisis to tackle this global meltdown.

The global financial system literally went into a cardiac arrest after the Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. collapse and a meltdown was barely avoided through very aggressive policy
responses. Unfortunately, the worst is ahead of us. The entire global economy will contract in
a severe and protracted U-shaped global recession that started a year ago. The recession in the
US market and the global meltdown termed as Global recession have engulfed complete world
economy with a varying degree of recessional impact. World over the impact has diversified and
can be observed from the very fact of falling Stock market, recession in jobs availability and
companies following downsizing in the existing available staff and cutting down of the perks and
salary corrections.

India could also not escape from this turmoil. Part and partially it turned out to be a victim to
this crisis. It suffered less of losses because of its strict economic policies. The BFSI (Banking,
financial sector, Insurance) sector has taken a hit with the financial sector getting affected in US.
The textile sector has also been hit with the export of textiles coming down in the recent months.
Several jobs are in danger of being lost. There has been decline in the automobile sector as well.
The months of November & December saw bike & Car sales down. This paper puts an attempt to
understand the effects of global recession faced by India and highlights those sectors which will
come to the rescue at times to go. It will also put a light on the Marketing strategies employed
by these sectors to overcome the fever of recession. It will also focus on the opportunities and
strategies that the marketers can adopt to sustain themselves.

The rise and fall conditions in the market have to go on. But with this the economy has to follow.
Business has to come out with answers. Solutions have to be digged out from the problem
itself. The need of the day for the global recession is to employ robust marketing strategies
for promising sectors. India is not de-linked from the world, and the financial meltdown has
certainly impacted us. In the age of globalization, no country can remains isolated from the
fluctuations of world economy. Heavy losses suffered by major International Banks is going
to affect all countries of the world as these financial institutes have their investment interest in
almost all countries. As of now India is facing heat on three grounds: (1) Our Share Markets
are falling everyday, (2) Rupee is weakening against dollars and (3) Our banks are facing severe
cash crunch resulting in shortage of liquidity in the market.

Actually all the above three problems are interconnected and have their roots in the above-
mentioned global crisis. For the last two years, our stock market was creating new summits
which was mainly due to heavy investments by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). However,
when the parent companies of these investors (based mainly in US and Europe) found
themselves in a severe credit tumult as a result of sub-prime mess, the only option left with these
investors was to withdraw their money from Indian Stock Markets to meet liabilities at home.
FIIs were the main buyers of Indian Stocks and their exit from the market is certain to wreak
havoc in the market. FIIs who were on a buying spree last year, are now in the mood of selling
their stocks in India. As a result our Share Markets were touching new lows everyday.

In the last fiscal year alone, India borrowed $29 billion from foreign lenders and got $34
billion of foreign direct investment. A global recession has hurt external demand. International
lenders who have become extremely risk aversive can limit access to international capital. If
that happens, both India's financial markets and the real economy will be hurt in the process.
Suddenly, the 9% growth target does not seem that 'doable' any more; we should be happy to
clock 7% this fiscal year and the next. However, one positive point in favor of India is the fact
that Indian Banks are more or less secured from the ill-effects of sub-prime mess. A glance at
Indian banks' balance sheets would show that their exposure to complex instruments like CDOs
is almost nil. In India, still the major banking operations are in the hands of Public Sector Banks
who exercise extreme cautions in disbursing loans to needy people/companies. As a result, we
are not likely to see a repeat of sub-prime crisis in India. Though there have been a presence of
big US/European Banks in India and even some Indian banks (like ICICI) have some foreign
subsidiary with stake in the sub-prime losses, there presence is much small as compare to the
overall size of Indian banking industry. So at least on this major front we need not worry much.

However, a global depression is likely to result in a fall in demand of all types of consumer
goods. In 2007-08, India sold 13.5% of its goods to foreign buyers. A fall in demand is likely
to affect the growth rate this year. Our export may get affected badly. A negative atmosphere,
shortage of cash, fall in demands, reducing growth rate and uncertainties in the market are
some of the most visible aspects of an economic depression. What started as a small matter of
sub-prime loan defaulters has now become a subject of global discussion and has engulfed the
global economy scenario. And again, there is certainly a deep recession as far as jobs for the
highly educated are concerned. Ironically, this may be the first time in India's history when it
is more difficult for the professional graduates to find employment or appropriate employment,
compared to the less educated millions. The present job recession has also hit the aspiration level
of the Indian youth. The myth of IT and the glamour if private jobs are all history now. Now in
an age of pink slips and mounting recession, the Indian Youth is once again looking in public
sectors for jobs.

Few Marketing Strategies to Battle the Recession:

The fear of a recession looms over the United States. And as the obvious remark goes, whenever
the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. This is evident from the way the Indian markets
crashed taking a cue from a probable recession in the US and a global economic slowdown.
Weakening of the American economy is bad news, not just for India, but for the rest of the world
too. With new uncertainties raised by the attacks and many economists forecasting a deep and

prolonged recession, businesses will have to do everything within their power to brace for the
coming storm and survive the bad times
Focus on core business

All companies should focus on their core competencies during turbulent economic times.
Companies who did diversify and split focus away from their core competencies often
struggled to manage their unrelated businesses whereas companies that remained focused,
or re-focused on their core created opportunities to gain market share more easily from their
competitors.

Improved process and efficiency

A common theme among the companies is the process by which they implemented their
strategy during recessions. It is logical that process efficiencies will be sought to trim costs
from budgets during a recession. All the companies should have the flexibility and must
be fast action oriented as these are the key to surviving and prospering during recession.
Flexibility will allow the business to implement their recession strategies quicker than
competitors. In some cases horizontal management structures will also directly attribute to
the speed with which companies were able to integrate acquired businesses successfully.

Strategic Divestment

Most companies should divest parts of their business during recessionary periods. At face
value these divestments will be a part of a strategy of cutting costs and/or generating short
term liquidity, particularly where less profitable divisions were divested. For the companies,
divestment is primarily used to raise cash to service debt and fund further investment.
However it is important to note that most divestitures to be made must be of divisions that
are not in-line with the company's long term strategic view, or differed from the company's
core-business.

Contingency planning

Companies should actively plan alternative strategies for adverse times well in advance of them
occurring. This is important as it demonstrates it is never too late to act, as these companies will
survive turbulent times despite having no specific plan for the recession. However, in all cases
when the downturn hit, the companies quickly assembled a plan and put in place a strategy for
dealing with adverse conditions.

Acquisitions and strategic alliances

There are several reasons why acquisition of competing or allied businesses is seen as a good
strategy by some companies in a period of economic downturn. The 'entry price' is likely to be
lower than at other times as businesses are sold under stress or to liquidate assets. This means
that companies can purchase targets that may otherwise have been out of their reach. There
may also be less competition for acquisition targets because few companies make available the
resources to make acquisitions during periods of economic stress. Sometimes businesses become
available for acquisition that has previously been unattainable, as they struggle to deal with a

downturn.

Increased advertising and marketing

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make during periods of economic slowdown
is to cut back on marketing and advertising, doing this could be most detrimental to their
business .Advertising was used effectively by these companies to help weather downturns and
strengthen demand for their core products. Instead, the marketing needs to be more aggressive
and more comprehensive than ever. One should start by contacting past clients and simply
touching base. Chances are a good number of them will have projects or assignments for which
the company's services may be required.

Research and Development

The companies should use R&D to meet the increasingly diverse needs of their recessionary
customers who seek greater value from their spending. Most companies should also try to
increase their speed to market with new products to gain advantage over their competition. They
must do this by prioritizing development of the most promising products that met the immediate
needs of their customers.

Human Factor

Finally, make sure that one have the right folks for the job. As much as possible, the company
should get everybody in the team to think lean. Extravagance becomes a luxury, and one can't
simply splash advertisements ad infinitum like there is no tomorrow.

One should be constantly re-evaluating not just the marketing plan, but all of the business
strategies including policies, pricing, and employee performance. The idea is to eventually be
as efficient and effective as possible so the company runs smoothly and profitably. Companies
should look closely at the competitors. Talking to business leaders will also help. Solicit
feedback from the workers and customers. By doing several of these things one will accumulate
a wealth of knowledge and experience crucial to the survival of your business.