PR and Marketing in a Down Economy
Buy low, sell high.
It’s one of the oldest of old sayings, a tested and true strategy for success in any situation where growth is a primary goal. The reasoning is as simple as it is solid: by investing during down times you gain ground on the folks who pull back, and in doing so you put yourself at an advantage when the good times return.
Smart businesspeople know this and are constantly on the lookout for ways to get the best value for their dollar. Yet when it comes to PR and marketing during down economic times, many of them lose focus.
Faced with a need to streamline and save money where they can, many make the decision to treat their PR and marketing efforts as “non essential” expenses that can be trimmed to help shore up the bottom line.
Such thinking is a mistake. In fact, there is no better time to pursue smart PR and marketing opportunities than during tough times.
The key is to understand that such situations represent opportunity, and to think of PR and marketing as investments rather than expenses. Making people aware of who you are and what you offer is the greatest marketing challenge any business faces. What better time to pursue that goal than while your competitors are busy scaling back their marketing and PR efforts? They’re creating a vacuum, and that means less competition for those who pursue the opposite approach.
As Harvard Business School professor John Quelch pointed out in this blog post about marketing during a recession:
This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
The wisdom of this approach is currently being proven by no less a player than Pepsi, which just announced a $1.2 billion (yes, billion,) revamp of its branding and marketing efforts.
According to Pepsico Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi (as quoted in the article linked above), “It is our belief that, especially in this economic downturn, we should be investing in the category to get consumers to stay with and some to return to the packaged-liquid-refreshment beverage category and to our brands in particular.”
While most businesses don’t have the need to undertake a strategy that comprehensive (or expensive), the underlying reasoning proves a point.
Brand identity is an asset that should never be neglected, regardless of economic circumstances. Now is the absolute best time to work with a seasoned, knowledgeable PR and marketing partner to maximize the opportunities that most of your competitors will likely fail to recognize.