Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Secret of Marketing in a Recession (guest post)
The Secret of Marketing in a Recession
by Boyd Blackwood
Though it seems to make sense to cut expenditures in lean economic times, 80 years of data proves that cutting marketing to save money is a losing proposition.
Way back in 1927, the Harvard Business Review published a report tracking 200 companies from the 1923 recession on. The results were clear. The companies that didn't cut back on marketing - those that advertised the most during that period - enjoyed the biggest sales increases.
Another later study measuring the effects of business-to-business advertising looked closely at the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961. In these tough times, sales and profits dropped for companies that reduced their advertising. In addition, when the recovery came about (as it always will) those same companies lagged behind those that did NOT cut back.
That was proven again by McGraw-Hill Research when examining the financial performance of 600 companies in 16 industries during the recession of 1981-1982. The report, published in Laboratory of Advertising Report 5262, showed that sales for companies which aggressively marketed during the recession rose 256% over those that cut back - and stayed growing for up to three years AFTER the economic downturn.
A Cahners Publishing Company study in 1980 and a Center for Research and Development study in 1990 both concluded that those companies which maintain or increase their advertising during recessionary times stand to gain the most market share during that period (an average of 1.5 points.)
Coopers & Lybrand and Business Science International put it this way in their joint report published by Penton Media in 1993: "Businesses that maintain aggressive marketing programs during a recession, outperform companies that rely more on cost cutting measures. A strong marketing program enables a firm to solidify its customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position itself for future growth during the recovery."
There is a book of such research findings entitled Advertising in a Recession by Bernard Ryan, Jr., published in 1999. But these examples will probably suffice to tell the story.
The word "recession" has its origins in the Latin for "move backward." In an economic recession, when those around them "move backward," smart marketers do just the opposite. They STEP FORWARD.
Boyd Blackwood, Longtime creative director and marketer
Free resources for marketers on a limited budget at my blog: Smart Marketing on Any Budget http://www.smartmarketing4.me
Tweet me @bb_smart
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Boyd_Blackwood http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Secret-of-Marketing-in-a-Recession&id=2472619
by Boyd Blackwood
Though it seems to make sense to cut expenditures in lean economic times, 80 years of data proves that cutting marketing to save money is a losing proposition.
Way back in 1927, the Harvard Business Review published a report tracking 200 companies from the 1923 recession on. The results were clear. The companies that didn't cut back on marketing - those that advertised the most during that period - enjoyed the biggest sales increases.
Another later study measuring the effects of business-to-business advertising looked closely at the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961. In these tough times, sales and profits dropped for companies that reduced their advertising. In addition, when the recovery came about (as it always will) those same companies lagged behind those that did NOT cut back.
That was proven again by McGraw-Hill Research when examining the financial performance of 600 companies in 16 industries during the recession of 1981-1982. The report, published in Laboratory of Advertising Report 5262, showed that sales for companies which aggressively marketed during the recession rose 256% over those that cut back - and stayed growing for up to three years AFTER the economic downturn.
A Cahners Publishing Company study in 1980 and a Center for Research and Development study in 1990 both concluded that those companies which maintain or increase their advertising during recessionary times stand to gain the most market share during that period (an average of 1.5 points.)
Coopers & Lybrand and Business Science International put it this way in their joint report published by Penton Media in 1993: "Businesses that maintain aggressive marketing programs during a recession, outperform companies that rely more on cost cutting measures. A strong marketing program enables a firm to solidify its customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position itself for future growth during the recovery."
There is a book of such research findings entitled Advertising in a Recession by Bernard Ryan, Jr., published in 1999. But these examples will probably suffice to tell the story.
The word "recession" has its origins in the Latin for "move backward." In an economic recession, when those around them "move backward," smart marketers do just the opposite. They STEP FORWARD.
Boyd Blackwood, Longtime creative director and marketer
Free resources for marketers on a limited budget at my blog: Smart Marketing on Any Budget http://www.smartmarketing4.me
Tweet me @bb_smart
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Boyd_Blackwood http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Secret-of-Marketing-in-a-Recession&id=2472619
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Get off the Google AdWords Crack
Hubspot is offering a free webinar, Marketing Detox: How to Get Off Google AdWords PPC Crack - Free Webinar that promises to discuss ways to bring traffic to your site beyond just PPC using Google AdWords. The webinar on June 26 promises to discuss:
Why SEO is a better long-term strategy than Google Adwords PPC (pay-per-click)and how to balance the two
SEO basics to optimize your website on your own
Inbound marketing strategies to generate leads efficiently
How to combine SEO, blogging, and social media for exponential results
Best of all, the webinar is free but registration in advance is required.
Best of all, the webinar is free but registration in advance is required.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Book review: Escaping the Black Hole: Minimizing the damage from the marketing-sales disconnect
Fellow Virginian Schmonsees effectively describes the disconnect between the marketing and sales functions and why this disconnect exists in the first place. He then prescribes the cure.
The cure is contained in his conceptual framework of managing core intellectual assets much like Work In Process in a manufacturing environment. Imagine if you will defining every benefit, every value statement and every bit of information about your products and services in bite-sized chunks and keeping these in an inventory silo. Then imagine being able to pull, combine and deliver these assets to prospects and customers at the very moment these assets are best able to demonstrate the value you can deliver to your customers -- and doing it all in the most compelling way based on how each specific customer prefers to make purchasing decisions. Marketing creates the customer value and creates all the supporting materials and arguments in an a la carte, standardized and sanctioned fashion and then combines, compiles and delivers these materials to Sales exactly when and how they need them to make the most compelling case of how your firm will deliver value to your customers. Part marketing, part branding, part sales, part information technology, part inventory management but 100% focused on delivering value to your customers in a systematic way.
That is the essence of this book.
This is an invaluable resource for managers and executives in all mid- to large-sized companies. I highly recommend it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)