insight (from home page)

For each of the six recessions of the past 100 years, there are studies showing that companies who took a calculated risk and increased brand-oriented ad spending came out ahead. IBM invested in branding during the 1990-1991 recession and roared ahead through the rest of the 1990s. Southwest Airlines' persistent brand campaigns after 9/11 earned exceptional consumer loyalty along with profitable gains in market share.

Why is it so effective to invest in smart brand strategy and brand advertising during a recession? Here are 3 key reasons:

1. Bonding with customers. When fear, crisis and uncertainty are the dominant emotions, customers (both consumer and B2B) long for reassurance and stability. Let your brand values shine and show your relevance to their lives in difficult times. Knee jerk price-cutting sends the wrong message. Instead, use branding to show that you're there for them - like Hyundai's smartly strategic ad campaign offering to take back your car if you lose your job. Hyundai has invested heavily in advertising and has already gained significant market share in 2009.


2. Better ROI than ever. Ad space is a bargain these days across almost all media, and the competitive landscape has gotten a lot quieter. Now you can make a lot of noise, without spending nearly as much, and you'll be heard loud and clear. Now is the time for challenger brands to make aggressive moves. A Bain & Company study reported that twice as many companies leaped from the bottom of their industries to the top during the 1990-1991 recession, compared with the years before and after.


3. Building lasting strength inside your company. Strong brands that communicate consistent values through difficult times are able to attract and retain the best employees. When companies suddenly quiet down their brand messaging, cut prices and put innovation on hold, employee morale and unity suffer. That in turns hurts everything that the company produces and directly affects the customer experience. It is much harder and more expensive to repair a damaged brand than to invest in keeping a solid brand strong through a recession. So always nurture the connection between a strong external brand and a positive internal, workplace brand.

Ultimately, branding means investing in big ideas, long-term vision and meaningful human connections. While marketing metrics and realism about the bottom line are important, numbers must not paralyze us. History shows that short-term thinking in recessions has been a losing proposition, while long-term investment in branding has paid off exponentially.