If you own a business, or are in charge of advertising, the recent credit crisis may have forced many of you to rethink your budgets in an attempt to control costs and make sure the books are balanced. Some of you may have cancelled or postponed expensive projects; others may have looked to renegotiate better deals with suppliers.
For many the advertising budget is seen as a luxury, one of the first things to be trimmed when times get tough. Wharton faculty and advertising experts advise against this. They argue that by cutting your advertising spend during the bad times; you are in effect creating free space in the minds of your consumers for rivals to exploit long into the future.
“The first reaction is to cut, cut, cut, and advertising is one of the first things to go” – Peter Fader, Warton marketing professional.
A study by A McGraw-Hill looked at 600 companies between 1980 and 1985, finding that those who had the courage to maintain or raise their advertising expenditure during the recession of 1981/82 went on to experience significantly higher levels of sales once the good times returned. Those companies who advertised aggressively during that recession experienced sales up to 256% higher than those who had cut their budgets.
By maintaining your existing expenditure and working with an experienced print partner who can help you get the most for your budget, you are actually likely to get more for money than during the good times.
