There is a pizza joint across the street from my building. It's one of those take-out/delivery places that also serve subs and other greasy food. A couple of weeks ago, there was a sign posted that it was under new managements. And then, the renovations followed. They added floor to ceiling windows, painted the place yellow and added a new sign, using the same name as before but with new fonts and color scheme. So all in all, they have spiffed up the old hole-in-the-wall that needed it.  I suspect that there is no new management but rather the realization that when things get tough, the tough get going (excuse the cliche).  The pizza place realized it had to make changes, in this case, aesthetic improvements, to attract new customers or lure back former customers. (It remains to be seen how the pizza will taste, and that will be another story)

The same holds true for any business identity. Have you been using the same logo for the past 20 years? When was the last time you examined your branding effort? Is it time for a change? Does your tagline still communicate what you do? Does your marketing identity synch with your business personality?

In short, if things aren't going well now due to the economic situation, it is a perfect time to take stock of how you are marketing yourself, and decide if you need to make changes. The same old does not always work.

This also brings me to one of the most successful political campaigns in modern times: Barack Obama's. What is his campaign slogan? Change we can believe in.  Change is big right now and Obama knows that the public wants a change from the Bush years. As opposed to McCain's slogan of Country First, I think that Obama's slogan speaks directly to what people are looking for and communicates it effectively.

We'll know (hopefully) on Wednesday morning if Obama's slogan won more hearts and minds than McCain's. But regardless of who wins this election, we are in for a few months (at least) of tough economic times. It's time to change, right?