How the downturn can represent new business opportunities
Businesses thot spend money on Innovative marketing campaigns will benefit.
1 Bill Gates famously said that, if he had one dollar left, he would spend it on marketing. But,
with countries still in a deep economic crisis, many companies are focusing on survival instead
of strategies for growth.
2 And who can blame them? The signals are still not that encouraging. Spending on marketing
plans is surely crazy. Not according to the UK's Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), which
claims that companies are increasingly 2ealizing that for the creative marketer, with
imagination and the right budget, the downturn is an opportunity.
3 According to the CIM, there are six key reasons why investing in a marketing plan pays off in a
downturn. The first reason is that the obvious alternative - heavy discounting- rmnay devalue
your brand in the long term.
4 Secondly, people don't stop buying in a downturn On they just buy more safely. People
don't necessarily want cheaper versions of things, according to the marketing agency Dragon
Rouge- they just want more convincing reasons to put their hands in their pockets.
5 Third, if you don't communicate with consumers, you risk an "aut of sight, out of mind"
response. "Consumers cannot understand why, in a recession, companies aren't desperate for
business," says Carole Lowe, executive planning director at the advertising agency Archibald
Ingall Stretton.
6 Fourth, companies of all sizes need to adapt to survive. Paul Spaven, strategic growth partner
at the building and property consultants Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, says: "This was my fourth
recession, and i knew that cutting marketing costs is a false economy. So we invested in specific
marketing campaigns to support the most sustainable areas of our business. We mixed trade
advertising, direct mailing and PR support. In fact, our total marketing spending increased from
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2.4 per cent of turnover last year to 3.1 per cent this year.
7 Fifth, consumers want to know that you're "on their side". Many companies are winning
customers through incentive and loyalty schemes.
8 Finally, the difference between this downturn and the last is the growth of the internet as a
cost-effective platform for testing different messages and learning about the consumer. Many
small companies report that the most effective and powerful way to market is through email
marketing.
9 Promoting on social networking sites, such as Facebook, is also essential as it allows you to
see in detail what your customers think of you.
10 Meanwhile, Patrick Peal, managing director of Tribe PR, is a big fan of online search
advertising. "Pay-per-click does not require significant design or production costs," he says.
"With search marketing, there is no wasted money either. Because you only pay when a
prospect clicks on your message.
11 Brands need to stop thinking that marketing is a luxury, says Scott Knax, managing director
of the MCCA (Marketing Communication Consultants Association). "If companies take
advantage of the quietness in the rest of the market and deliver innovative marketing
communications, they will achieve greater market penetration by spending less."
Adapted from The Independent, Thursday, 24 June 2010, by Kate Hilpern