Fall 2022 – Marketing Group Digest

MATERIALS, ASSEMBLY, PRODUCTION & SUPPLY

Troy Gunnin
Sun Rep Inc.
Tampa, Fla.

Which way will the pendulum swing?

While pondering what to write and considering the current state of things, I was reminded of a line from an old song, “England Swings” by Roger Miller, where he sings “England swings like a pendulum do.” It seems appropriate for what has taken place over the past couple of years, around our country and the world. Let’s just take a look at some of those pendulum swings.

For you Yankee fans, before the All-Star break, they were on a course to blow the AL East away, leading by about 15 games. As I write this, they are playing the Rays and their lead is down to 4. Now, will the pendulum swing back? By the time you read this, you will know the answer.

Over the past couple of years, we have seen the COVID-19 pandemic swing. Currently it appears that the pendulum is on the downward curve. How about monkey pox? The pendulum is on the upswing. When will it begin its swing in the other direction?

Gas prices hit an all-time high recently. Again, as I write this the pendulum appears to be swinging. But don’t get too excited, because the AAA and others are saying that we can expect this pendulum to have another upward tick.

The pendulum has swung so far in the transportation world that I believe it is stuck in the up mode. I keep hoping that the supply chain situation will ease and perhaps the pendulum will begin to swing back.

Well, how about the hurricane season? We went through August with no hurricanes, but come September, guess what? The pendulum has swung. As I write this, there are two hurricanes in the Atlantic with another likely in the next couple of days.

Then, there is the housing price situation. The pendulum has been on an insane upward swing and we keep waiting for the swing to reverse. (Remember, it did that in 2008!) But at the moment, it does not appear to have reached its peak.

Now let’s talk about the need for a new or used car. Remember when we would negotiate down from the MSRP? Well, the pendulum has swung there, big time. Now we try to get the price back down somewhere close to the MSRP.

Let’s address the everyday things, like a trip to the grocery store. The pendulum has certainly been on the upward curve for some time and there’s no indication that it is ready to change course. Just a side note to that: I just saw on a news program that consumer buying habits have been shifting from name brands to off-brands and store brands, in an effort to save.

Let’s just remember that through the years, we have seen the pendulum swing and at some point, it has come back to neutral. Let’s hope it does that again – soon