The Western Creative Blog

It is no secret that America is in the worst economic climate since the great depression. We are all watching in disbelief as iconic names in business fail over night. Anyone who is in business is at best apprehensive about the future.

The truth is that deep recessions bring opportunity for the right company. During every economic decline there are businesses that grow. An example would be Proctor and Gamble.

During the great depression many consumer manufacturers cut their advertising spending as a means to save money. A very forward thinking and at the time much smaller P&G decided to be counterintuitive. P&G increased spending into of all things “new media”. A risky new format called radio.

It was during this time that P&G launched the original “soap operas” creating a level of brand loyalty and recognition never achieved before. By the time the great depression ended P&G had grown significantly and had massive market share as the economy started growing again.

So how do you take advantage of this down turn?

Sell into need. For the past 25 years Americans have been buying in operational and prestigious brands. Not only is this shifting it is becoming uncool to show conspicuous consumption. Even those with money are cautious about what the buy. This means that you need to promote the value of your product and service.

Capture market share. It is not tough to run a profitable business when every thing is going up. But in a downturn only the strong survive. Chances are many companies in your industry will fail, first don’t be one of them, and second position yourself to grab their customer base when they do.

Increase advertising. The common thinking is to cut ad spending during the down turn. This is exactly why you should increase. When your competition is pulling back you have an opportunity to gain “share of voice”. The less they advertise and the more you do, the more your audience will remember you and not your competitors.

As your competition reduces their media spending the cost of advertising will drop. Right now there are media opportunities available at rates not seen for many years. It is a buyers market.

The bottom line is this; we will see several quarters of negative growth, maybe as much as 4%. Now look at the flip side 96% of the business is still there. Someone wants what you offer; your job is to make sure they know about you. Right now you have a chance to reach them more efficiently then ever and increase market share.

The advertisers that aggressively grow their business and market share now will experience growth beyond anything they have ever experienced as the markets turn upward, which they always do.

-Mark Young is the chairman of Western Creative, an advertising agency based in Detroit, MI. Western Creative specializes in consumer packaged goods and serves clients nationwide.