Keep Calm & Step Away From The Marketing Budget

November 11, 2011 | By Ilfusion Team

With all this talk about economic recession “We’re in one, we’re not in one, we will be in one soon enough, etc, etc…” it would be nice to brush up on some advice to remember about marketing.

Throughout the past, it’s often been a trend for companies to cut their marketing budgets when the economy falls on hard times. It seems like the logical thing to do since marketing hardly gives instant gratification and seems less likely to impact productions and operations. Realistically, however, cutting the marketing budget is equivalent to severing a lifeline and one of the worst mistakes a company can make.

Instead of panicking, and cutting budgets left and right, companies need to be smart about their marketing. First of all, think of spending on marketing as an investment, not an expense. Companies need to stay within public view in order to keep the number of incoming customers as high as possible. After all, it’s nearly impossible to find something that’s not visible.

Furthermore, companies need to practice smart marketing and know where to spend their marketing dollars. An aggressive marketing strategy would be best at bat here. Some pointers include researching the target market to connect with those consumers, assess the budget and maintain or increase market spend.

A good example of a company who exhibited these practices is Proctor & Gamble. During the Great Depression, instead of dropping their marketing altogether, P&G concentrated harder on it (mainly using radio spots) to push ivory soap. Other companies that pushed through the depression include Chevrolet and Camel. For each of these companies, all evidence of sustaining survival pointed to their marketing strategies.