Motto
Even during the Great Depression, many of the companies that achieved the greatest success were those that boldly went on the offensive while others were still hunkering down. (Boston Consulting Group, The Art of And)

The purpose of this article is to examine how companies in the building materials industry (Romania) are affected by the economic crises, to assess the effects of marketing strategies on company performance in the present conditions and to identify a pattern that can help
companies maintain successful performance despite the turbulences in the operational environment. Crisis come and go, it’s the decision to adapt the company’s strategy accordingly that makes a winner.

Newspapers everywhere publish stories reporting the seriousness of the present economic crisis. Although the economic decline from the years 2008 and 2009 seems to have been stopped, uncertainty still rules on the market, and especially in the building materials sector
where the poor government strategy, the changes in legislation and lack of financial support for the three directions of support announced were in the position of forcing companies to reduce their activity, others to lay off staff or to close altogether.
In this climate of uncertainty, given the rush to reduce costs, fire marketing and sales personnel and given the tendency of many managers to ignores the seriousness of the issue, two questions arise:

• Do companies adapt their marketing strategies to the changing environment, especially during a financial crisis?
• How well prepared are the Romania managers to weather the storm?

Excerpt from the article ”Romanian paint market in times of crisis”, presented at the International Marketing Conference, Cluj Napoca, Romania, October 29th 2010)