unconventional branding

Optimizing Your Brand in a Recession

What kinds of companies are up to seven times more likely to come out of a recession stronger and more profitable?

Companies that strengthen their brands during the downturn, according to the Harvard Business Review. It’s not hard to see why this should be so, if you think about branding as an investment rather than a cost. After all, “buy low, sell high” is perhaps THE central axiom of investing. And when you invest in your brand during an economic downturn, you are buying low: Your competitors are likely pulling back on marketing spend, reducing the market clutter and increasing the prominence of your brand messages. Media expenses are coming down, allowing you to purchase more media for your buck. Many of your competitors (i.e., those who are thinking of branding and marketing as expenses rather than investments) naturally will be tempted to cut prices, which undermines their brand equity and permits you to reinforce yours through a value message. In essence, you win twice here: Short-term you don’t cut into your profits by cutting prices, and long-term you don’t diminish your brand equity.

So what should you do with your brand in a recession?

First of all, re-assess what you’re doing with your brand and make changes. For example, make sure your messaging to customers is meeting their needs and wants. Consider how to “tweak” your brand message to acknowledge and assuage your customers’ natural angst during these uncertain times and spell out how the brand fits their current needs (i.e., your value message). If you need to offer more product/service to avoid discounting price, do it. Consider moving more of your budget to online brand promotion where you can often get greater value for the money and start taking advantage of social media marketing (you may want to jump-start this by working with an agency that really understands social media marketing). Continually renegotiate your media expenses in light of the fluid change in the media market. Elicit and reward greater creativity from your agency and other marketing partners. And, above all, be flexible, bold and decisive, because everyone else is likely retreating in fear. In the world of investing, the masses know they should buy low and sell high, but often end up doing the opposite. Their actions are based on looking in the rearview mirror at past performance and through the side windows at the behaviors of those around them. Experts, on the other hand, more often are looking ahead and go counter to the masses. The same, it can be said, is true of successful branders.