Advertising Age has more insight into marketing strategies during a recession and has some great tips on what to do when the economy turns sour:


Tips for surviving tough times
  • Don’t cut that budget: Recessions offer what may be unprecedented opportunities to market in an environment of relatively less noise as others cut back. And, particularly in industries with high ad-to-sales ratios, such as package goods, analysts have become fairly adept at flagging earnings gains that stems from marketing cuts, which can portend slower sales and earnings growth later.
  • Maintain or increase strong launches: Even in the deepest recessions, things that truly appeal to consumers, be they soap operas, CNN or disposable training pants, still flourished.
  • Beware that discounting can be addictive: Unless the price reduction is truly strategic — e.g., a discount retailer or brokerage or a one-time event to drive traffic — you could live to regret it.
  • Go with the flow: Some of the most successful recession-era launches were natural offshoots of the conditions created by or causing the crisis, i.e. high gas prices spawning fuel-efficient cars, interestbearing checking accounts that sprang from high interest rates in the 1970s and ’80s, or declining gas prices and gas-guzzling SUVs.
  • You can’t go wrong with diversion: Media, entertainment and other forms of cheap frivolity can be the bread-and-circus salve for hard times — from the soap operas of the 1930s to MTV in the 1980s to the iPod and Axe body spray in 2002.
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