Jul. 2, 2008 at 9:09am

Bad times marketing

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Differentiation is Key, Integrated Marketing
Comments (2)

The economy sucks. Organizations around the nation are saying “it’s time to cut our losses and save our marketing bucks until ‘le bon temps roule.’”

When the good times aren’t rolling, it’s time to defend our financials! Who would possibly argue with that? Credit union marketers should.

When it comes to marketing in a recession, it’s time for a new approach. Evidence from Marketing Management Analytics and Advertising Age shows that, during the 2001 recession, many major brands reduced the impact of negative revenue and market share by maintaining or increasing their marketing efforts. If you “go dark” with your advertising, your sales will start to erode in three or four months.

It’s true that bad times, or even increased competition, mean your marketing efforts probably won’t increase member acquisition or product sales.

So, why bother defending your marketing budget?

Because it will diminish your losses. And some research shows that increased marketing in tough times can help increase your market share when business is good again.

So think risk reduction. Marketing will cover your assets until the good times roll.

Comments (2)

Right on, Kurt. Choking out your reach during a time when consumers are going to be even more particular about who they choose is a recipe for dwindle.

Digital marketing is a particularly good place to poke around in when budgets go lean (and full disclosure, I work in digital, so I’m a little partial).

But to that point -
* There are free platforms to grab (WordPress is a free content management system, Odeo is a free podcasting platform, and so on)

* It’s much less expense to tweak redeploy a digital ad than a print ad.

* And consumer-generated reactions (through comments or consumer generated media campaigns) offer rapid-fire insight into how you and your marketing are perceived at a lower cost than focus groups or mailing out surveys.

A recession can be a great time to find your voice.
7/8/2008 at 6:17 pm
1 | Left by Brent Dixon | Aug. 27, 2008 at 2:39pm

Brent, I was just reading about the four “new” Ps of marketing, which better represent the online generation of marketing.

The original Ps (product, price, place, promotion) don’t address all the needs of the digital marketing age, which as you pointed out, could be a perfect outlet to “poke around in when budgets go lean.”

The new Ps (personalization, participation, peer-to-peer, predective modeling) help account for online marketing.

Personalization refers to all that great work Amazon started to cater to the needs of the individual - a practice made possible through the internet.

Participation talks about giving your customers (or members) a chance to make decisions. Do I hear superbowl marketing, anyone?

Peer-to-peer is basically the discussions between members and customers in forums and the like.

Predictive modeling is the data collection that is made possible through the digital age.

I really think these new Ps are an avenue many credit unions could benefit from when budgets go lean - and even when they don’t. People say online is the future - but I think we have gone past that phase. Online is the now.
7/11/2008 at 5:11 pm
2 | Left by Melina Young | Aug. 27, 2008 at 2:41pm