A Creative Communications Agency

It’s not hard to say that the economy and has made the turn into a recession. The housing market was one of the beginners and other industries are feeling the same pains now. As a company in a recession what should you do? When the market turns sour many companies cut marketing budgets first, is that the right thing to do?

Here we will go over the two options that CMO’s are facing.

1) Cut marketing communications budget to save some money and hope to surface when things are better.

or

2) Market more. Get your message out to more people so they see you are the one leading the way in your industry and has the strength to power through the tough times while the competition chooses to be quiet.

The first option is one of the more common for many companies afraid of what might happen. The thing to do is look at the companies who have survived for a long period of time and are an industry leader; Nike, BMW, and Apple. These companies know that they need to stay in front of people and keep pushing even during the low tide times of recessions. Saving a few million dollars right now could cost you multi-millions in the future due to lost customers and brand position.

The good companies have instilled marketing and communications into their main business strategy. It is not a side item that can be cut away to save a few bucks.

That gets us to the second option. It may be obscene to some that are always trying to tighten the belt that spending more when sales are down can have a better long term result. This is exactly why the ones who decide to speak out benefit. They are the only ones speaking to the people. While the competition is hiding out, waiting for the tide to change, you have free run over the landscape to gather more supporters and take more ground on them. And, if/when they return you will have already strengthened your forces and are stronger than ever.

Take another look at the situation, sales are down and your company needs to increase profits. Will you be successful by taking the wait-and-see approach? Or should you be aggressive and pursue people with more determination than ever.

It is easier to capture someone’s attention when you’re the only one on stage with something to say.