Don't Cut Marketing In a Recession
Wellesley Hills Group, a consulting firm that helps service firms grow their businesses, posted a great article in their newsletter: “‘The Dumbbells Cut Back . . . The Smart People Don’t'”: The Upside of Recession.
It’s a meaty article filled with facts about how companies that continue to invest in marketing during a recession grow during and after the downturn.
Key quote:
Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend. Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.
The authors also post data from other studies — four in all.
March 9th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Dianna:
Interesting quotation. Reminds me of the anecdote from Ogilvy on Advertising about the margarine company in the UK that kept advertising through World War 2… even though there was no margarine to be bought. After the war, their market position went straight to the top.
Marketing is a permanent job in all markets, up and down.
Love your blog!
Aryeh
March 9th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Aryeh — Thanks!
November 17th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
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