>Advertising in Tough Economic Times

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>Hello AIM readers.

Continuing from my last entry regarding advertising in slow economic times I came across an interesting article and a study. (Reference Advertising in Tough Economic Times By Pete Michuda (EZine Articles.com)

How to market in tough times? Take advantage of the opportunity! Economic downturns are Darwinian events in the marketplace. The weak perish and the strong and agile survive, even thrive. During downturns, some companies disappear or are swallowed up by rivals. Others emerge stronger than ever. There are basic principles which apply during all downturns. How those principles are dealt with determine which companies will eat and which ones will be eaten.

What’s a marketer to do? Cut prices? Ask Detroit how rebates worked for them. When sales stalled, the three American car companies flooded the market with so many off-price deals that nobody would buy Detroit again without a big rebate or a 0% financing offer. Cut product quality or service? Remember Schlitz? Just thirty years ago The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous was America’s second-best-selling brew. Someone decided to trim costs by switching to high-temperature fermentation. Customers wouldn’t notice, right? Wrong. Six years later the company was out of business. Cut advertising? When Netflix began making serious inroads into Blockbuster’s customer base in 2005, Blockbuster cut its $154.2 million advertising budget to $44.7 million. No surprise that Netflix grew from 4.2 million subscribers then to 7.1 million now. How’d the ad cut work for Blockbuster? In 2007, they closed 500 stores and saw a $33.4 million profit turn into a $125 million loss through the third quarter.

The Opportunity? Absolutely! Advertisers should go all out in the media that produce quantifiable results, especially since their messages will be more prominent as competitors reduce spending. No matter how deep the recession is or how long it lasts, it’s the perfect opportunity to become aggressive and grab market share as competitors scale back their marketing efforts.

An aggressive approach will pay some dividends early but down-the-road rewards are even greater. Companies that gain share during downturns historically keep that increased share when the economy bounces back. Each share point gained during the recession is worth incrementally more as the market eventually recovers.

A McGraw-Hill study showed that four years after a downturn, companies that maintained or increased marketing communications during the economic slowdown typically experienced 14 times more growth than companies that cut back. As far as today’s overall gloomy consumer confidence, there is one thing that is emerging. Even though consumers are cutting back, they’re not doing so entirely. Consumers are finding ways to maintain their quality of life.

Even in a time of belt-tightening, Americans are demonstrating a strong reluctance to give up on everyday pleasures. According to CNNMoney.com on 7/15/2008, many are leaving the car in the garage and staying home. A whopping 50% of Americans plan to buy an HDTV in the next year.

Also, despite the expense, consumers are refusing to give up entirely on vacationing. Even in these tough times, 59% of Americans plan to take a trip of 100+ miles in the next six months. To grapple with fuel costs, they just plan on closer-to-home trips: Epcot instead of Europe.

Pete Michuda is a Certified Radio Marketing Consultant and Certified Professional Commercial Copywriter working in the Chicago market radio industry. He’s successfully worked with many small to mid-sized businesses by helping them learn how to properly market their companies and how to realize a positive net return on their marketing investment. He can be contacted via e-mail at pmichuda@nextmediachicago.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pete_Michuda

Bruce

>Why Market in Tough Economic Times

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Ok we have all either heard or experienced the following – “When the economy is down cut or decrease the marketing budget.” This is a very common thought, but one that can cause more problems now and especially in the future. The concept in marketing is to increase ‘market share’ or at best maintain it.

During an economic slow-down it is very crucial to keep your brand and position strong and maintain top-of-mind awareness. The reason can be simple. When the economy strengthens and shows an upward trend and people start regaining confidence they will increase their purchases. If you have maintained your brand and position it is more likely your clients and prospects will contact you first over the competition that did nothing.

So what can you do to keep these levels high? First I would be very cognizant of your budget and think about your expected outcomes. I would establish what a reasonable return on investment (ROI) you should expect and within what time period. Second consider this is the right time to maintain or even increase your direct marketing efforts. Now more than ever a direct marketing campaign to your targeted audience is likely to do more than broadcast media. Also look at the mix between direct marketing, broadcast and public relations. Multiple touch campaigns yield better ROI than stand alone campaigns. I would also NOT do any efforts that are one-time only. The third element should be the correct copy and “call to action” and special attention to the graphic design. Not a time or place to do this casually. You are a professional and need to maintain that image in all your advertising and marketing pieces. At Felber & Felber we are experts on how to blend the right copy and graphics with carefully considered marketing vehicles for maximum impact. The fourth element you should consider is how you will measure these efforts. By establishing ground rules and measuring devices into a campaign you help tweak or alter the pieces for maximum exposure.

Bottom line – don’t put off efforts now as keeping top-of-mind will pay you back quicker and with better results.

Bruce

>Advertise Yourself!

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Getting ready to hit the job market for your first position in advertising, marketing or public relations? Looking for your next gig? Either way you will need to show your stuff. You’ve spent many late night hours toiling over college projects and, in the real world, client deadlines. Besides the heartburn from two pots of coffee and a 30 minute pizza, before now your first impression to an employer was a #10 envelop and a flat piece of parchment. You had no real way to show off your great work prior to an interview (assuming you even got that far).

Enter, Zolio, LLC and their newly launched website http://www.zolio.com/. Zolio is a free, multimedia-rich online resume building website. This is not your father’s resume. Forget about the old black and white resumes and move up to Zolio. Let employers see more than a name; show them presentations, graphic design work, videos. Let the sun finally shine on who you really are, show them your Zolio.