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Christmas and Commercialism

By Jacqueline Drew
START Marketing Inc.
www.startmarketing.com

Heading into the holidays, there's ample opportunity to notice the bombardment of marketing and advertising. For many businesses, they are cashing in on the biggest sales season of the year. It always seems the Christmas decorations and music get piped into the stores just a little bit earlier each season - to the point where I've gotten accustomed to ignoring it, only to suddenly realize - whoops - I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet!

If you've read to my columns in the past, you know I can be pretty preachy sometimes about ethics in business. So I bet you're thinking I'm going to come out swinging against commercialism and Christmas. But I'm not. Here's why.

1. While you're out shopping for presents, the stores are working. They're working harder at this time of year than you are, in fact. While you're out sipping egg nog, they're covering shifts for staff that haven't shown up. They're working extended hours. And they're trying to wear a smile to the twenty people in the lineup when they've just worked 60 of their past 72 waking hours. You get my point.
2. But what about all the flyers? All the advertising? All the signs vying to get your attention? Well, you know what? Those things cost a boatload of money - I know, I'm in the business. They send these things out with a high hopes that even 1 per cent of them will get noticed -and if you look at all the discounts they're giving away, some of them are very generous (sometimes too generous I think). Those are real people taking money from their pockets to make your dollar go further. I say that's legitimate Christmas spirit!
3. And finally, let's remember, that if a business is gambling big on Christmas, then they've probably got to make the Christmas sales revenue stretch through the many dry months right after Christmas. Running a business is risky - keeping labour in slow months is very hard, and making cashflow actually work is something few people take on. So why begrudge them doing well at Christmas - they probably wouldn't survive without it!

So when you look around at the commercialism this Christmas, think, "God Bless the businesses this Christmas. Make them strong and help them all do well." Because when they do well, the country's economy does well, and that means you do well! Merry Christmas!