February 13, 2008
Rella:Cowan counsels clients through a down economy
Durham, N.C. - With all the talk of a recession, Rella:Cowan Advertising, a full-service strategic marketing and advertising firm, has been counseling clients to take a counter intuitive approach to marketing. The economy is in a funk. But that's not necessarily all doom and gloom. In a down economy, businesses have an opportunity to capture market share from competitors, and boost their brand message while the clutter clears.
"Cutting your marketing investment now might save the books in the short-term, but the long-term impact on your brand will be costly," says Ilina Ewen, director of brand strategy with Rella:Cowan. "Take advantage of this time to evaluate your organization's brand promise and to uncover your unique value proposition and key differentiators."
Rella:Cowan offers some practical tips on weathering the economic storm:
- Stay the course. Remember, marketing is an investment with long-term payoffs.
- Watch market conditions closely and look for ways to reposition existing services that respond directly to the shifts taking place in your customers' mindset.
- Segment and target. Examine where your revenue is coming from and develop a plan to truly understand what those top clients really want and need. Now is the time to invest in customer intelligence.
- Keep communicating with your current and potential clients. Take advantage of a less cluttered marketplace to make your brand messages heard loud and clear.
- Focus on internal communications to galvanize your people around. You have employees' undivided attention so now's the time to change behavior, rally around a unifying cause, or create more brand stewards.
- Shift your strategy to incorporate integrated marketing communications to enable your messages to be more streamlined and efficient.
Studies show that sticking with marketing during a period of recession reaps benefits. A McGraw-Hill study following the 1981-1982 recession found that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising during the recession grew sales 275% from 1980-1985. Firms that cut ad spending only averaged 19% growth during the same period.*
* Study cited from article, "When Times Get Tough, the Tough Keep Talking" by Marianne Kirchner on http://www.marketingprofs.com, and http://www.mactech.com/adsales/recession_marketing/.
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