Branding and Marketing in a Recession

Julia Girling, Marketing and Branding Consultant

Marketing guru Julia Girling of JGC Marketing & PR talks about making your budget work harder, and differentiating your company from competitors through strengthening your brand.

In turbulent times, your marketing spend needs to work harder than ever to effectively reach your key audience, and it is vital that all branding and communications clearly define what differentiates you from your competitors.

Easier said than done if you are working with reduced budgets! But I do believe that if you take the right approach, a recession can actually provide an opportunity to grow your business.

Unfortunately, it is often the marketing budget that becomes the first casualty of a recession. If you are faced with the challenge of reducing your budget forecast, then any unspent and uncommitted marketing allocation is an easy option. And this might well provide a short term fix to balancing the figures, but bear in mind that if you stop promoting your brand now you are unlikely to see an immediate effect – but three or four months down the line and sales will inevitably drop.

More importantly, if your competitors have not decreased their activity, you will find yourself in a vulnerable situation with your brand share seriously threatened. And don’t assume that you can simply switch the marketing machine back on in better times, without having incurred any lasting damage.

Marketing should be seen as part of a solution, not the problem

In my view, marketing should be seen as part of a solution in difficult times, not the problem. Research has shown that in a downturn, consumers turn towards reputable brands that they associate with quality and longevity. In fact, a 2007 Millward Brown survey showed that 65% of purchase decisions were not price related. 59% bought on the strength of the brand; 25% bought as a compromise between brand strength and competitive price and just 10% made their decision on price alone.

How can you strengthen your brand and reputation?

So how can you strengthen your brand and reputation, to ensure you are better equipped to handle this recession?

Well, firstly you need to really understand your target audience. What are their desires and aspirations? Identify emotional and practical spending triggers, and explore what it would take to exceed expectations. Now consider your product branding and communication messages – do they tap into these desires, will they appeal to your specific audience and are you speaking their language?

For example, Cadbury’s Trebor Basset set a very different criteria for the branding and communications when they promote boxed chocolates to Mums, than they do when encouraging the youth market to choose Trebor gum, and a totally new set of rules are applied when they present Crème Eggs to children. Effective product branding needs to exceed a rational description; it needs to encompass the essence of the brand and encourage an emotional response.

Successful brands have stronger personalities than their competitors

Brands that achieve and maintain customer loyalty do so because they have stronger personalities and identities than their competitors. Your brand values should make up your brand’s personality and all your marketing tools should use the tone, visuals and words that bring these values to life.

Look closely at the impression your prospect receives when you hand them a business card or when they open your website. How often do companies describe themselves as forward thinking and innovative, but there is nothing visual that portrays this approach in their communications or on their site?

It is important that businesses think about how they want to be perceived and then relay that clearly when briefing the design and marketing agencies. Most importantly, make sure your messages are consistent. If you promote the same messages each time you communicate with your audience they will resonate. Differing messages will confuse and loose attention.

According to Prof John Quelch, Harvard Business School – ‘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.’

Encouraging words but if you are not in a position to increase your spend perhaps you could reconsider how you split your budget. PR is an industry that often thrives in a recession, when its more costly Advertising associates suffer. On average, a major brand’s PR spend will be 10% of its advertising spend, so it is a clear cost cutter.

Ways of achieving strong media coverage without hefty advertising rates

There are numerous ways of achieving strong print media coverage without succumbing to hefty advertising rates. Many consumer magazines, industry titles and regional newspapers will run promotions that provide you with substantial space and copy control in return for you providing the readers with product prizes. This can work out cost effective, as the prize value is the retail-selling price of your product, not how much it actually costs you.

Some of my clients are considering online as an alternative vehicle to reach audiences as digital is a considerably cheaper medium than print or broadcast media. Mutual marketing campaigns that bring together two or more complimentary brands might be a way of cutting the financial outlay, but not the exposure.

Exhibition organisers are selling more space to joint brands than in previous years, and joining forces with the right products can actually add value by endorsing your product. Whatever route you take to promote your business, it is true that you do not get a second chance to make a first impression – so be sure to make yours a memorable one!