Get Your Budget Back

Invest in Marketing During Recession

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

10 tips for the advertising industry during the economic downturn:

1. Don’t cut your prices - research shows that by discounting your brand during a recession it will take you 7 years to recover to your original price level.
 

2. Focus on your brand strengths (real not imagined!), and emphasise heritage and classic / traditional values - while the crisis is on people tend to hark back to the memories of the good old days.
 

3. Do exploit the fact that your competitors may have shrunk their advertising spending - you can rapidly win back mind share as well if you have the courage to act now. Then rely on your operations and product teams to keep you ahead long-term.
 

4. Brands that invest in marketing during a recession tend to gain market share when the recession ends. It might seem wrong to splash out on a new ad campaign when you are cutting staff, but if the message is right and the campaign is well executed, the investment will pay off in the long run.
 

5. Bundle up: instead of cutting prices on your top brands, offer something for free as an add-on to your core (non-discounted) brand. So if you happen to sell bags, don’t discount your bags but throw in a free keyring instead.

  
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Ad Talent May Head Elsewhere

Friday, March 6th, 2009

As ad jobs dry up some executives may leave the industry or even the country.

Where will the talent go as advertising agencies lay off staff by the hundreds?

Some may find homes at smaller independent agencies with greater cost flexibility, some may establish their own boutique shops or some may leave the U.S. entirely for foreign markets where the demand for advertising is holding up a little better. Others, however, are looking beyond agencies to client-side opportunities, particularly at Web-based companies hungry for content and the talent to produce it.

“The businesses are all about content,” said Gary Stolkin, global CEO of The Talent Business, a global headhunter that places senior-level creatives, managers and strategic planners, which has offices in New York, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. “If you are producing content at an ad agency, there are lots of other businesses that will be interested in you.”

And as agencies, particularly those within public holding companies, increasingly focus on cutting costs, recruiters will continue to adapt and consider new avenues for placing talent, particularly as the recession roars on.

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