Riding the recession

So everyone is banding around the ‘R’ word at the moment and with good reason mind you but what are the real effects. Economist’s predictions, bank rates and government policy is all you really hear about. The curbing on consumer expenditure and how ‘Ma and Pa Kettle’ can no longer afford their home. But what about business? What impact does the current economic state really have on your organisation? And why is it, that marketing is always the first budget cut when times get tough?

The answer is simple. It’s easy and business is stupid! There I said it. No marketer is game enough to say it but it’s about time someone did! The smart money right now is on business that realise that there has never been a better opportunity to gain sales ground on their competitors.

Think about it. If there is only so much money in the market, then consumers become more selective. If you’re not present in the market then what is the likelihood of you getting a slice of the money that is there… NONE!

Another advantage is that there are limited competitors in the market. Remember…they’re the stupid ones who have cut their marketing budgets. Not only does this mean that there is less clutter, allowing your brand and message to cut deeper into the mind of the consumer, but it also means that there is a huge opportunity to negotiate with media. Adverts still need to air. Space still needs to be filled in the paper. Back to back music may make the listener happy but it does little for the station’s bottom line.

Riding the recession is about creating opportunity for you and your business. Sure you have to be shrewd with your costs and there may need to be a limit or reduction on the budget but if you’re not in your customer’s face with a message, you’re going to get lost or worse still… forgotten!

Previous long term branding campaigns will start showing their true colours at this time too, having done the hard work to convince consumers that they are the people to remember. This allows them to focus on sales ready messages that target hot spots in the market without the additional need of branding as well. It’s fair to say that the really successful businesses at this moment in time are the ones that have branded themselves the most in recent times.

Now this all may seem rather incestuous coming from a marketing company but the fact remains that this all makes strategic sense when you look at it rationally. Marketing to your consumers is vital in these times – more so than usual – and it’s important that each dollar you spend gains you a result.

So market yourself into the good times, use the opportunity and leap frog your competitors, giving you a slice of the market share that they’ll never
get back.