Advertising in a downturn—4 strategies for a brutal budget season

Right about now, clients are getting ready to start submitting their budgets for 2023. They know that they face the dreaded gauntlet of C-suite decision-makers who are hell-bent on putting some of that money to the bottom line.

“Advertising in a downturn” was always—and continues to be—one of the most requested topics for the research group at the 4A’s. Just a quick request and turnaround from that group provides a mother lode of papers, data, and case studies indicating that brands that spend (wisely) during recessions reap a myriad of benefits.

Your instincts might tell you to react to the market and cut spending to put that money to the bottom line. Your instincts may tell you to reduce your prices and switch your messaging to sales promotion. Your instincts may tell you that with all the supply chain issues you face, it would be best to stop advertising altogether. Your instincts are wrong—and history bears this out.

Defend your share of voice

Marketing 101 teaches us that there is a strong relationship between share of voice (SOV) and market share. Cutting advertising spending now is both shortsighted and risky to the brand’s long-term growth. The data also shows that those brands that cut their SOV during a recession end up spending more during the recovery to get back both SOV and market share. It’s a little like those who panic and pull their 401(k) out of the stock market, only to find that they missed the benefit of the recovery when they didn’t get back in fast enough.

Take advantage of the opportunity

Brands that recognize this as a carpe diem moment realize that gaining SOV during an economic downturn costs less. The “International Journal of Research in Marketing” refers to this as “proactive marketing.” The same budget you had before the downturn gets you higher SOV as your competitors cut back. AND that same budget also gets you more impressions as the cost-per-impression drops. The data shows that brands that continue to invest with the same dollars gain an ROI that more than makes up for continuing to spend. 

Balance your media and messaging portfolio

That does not mean that you need to spend in the same way or in the same places—it simply means that maintaining your share of messages in the category is important. For those brands that are not suffering from supply chain issues (more on that in a minute), now is the time to balance your brand spending with sales activation messaging. Think about shifting your message to account for the very real human experiences that we are facing: higher gas prices, higher food prices, making decisions about what’s considered a necessity. Re-engineer your value proposition to fit the needs of the moment. Make sure that it is a real value exchange for your brand’s customer so you remain a necessity. 

What about supply chain issues?

Why advertise when you can’t keep up with the demand? Chances are that your competitors are having the same issue. There are great case studies of brands that seized the opportunity to build brand awareness, pent-up demand and share of voice while it was inexpensive to do so. Shift your messaging to remind your customers why they love the brand as much as they do. Be useful and helpful. You can still create a value exchange even though you can’t get them the product at the moment. 

I love what Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard had to say from the main stage in Cannes: “Growth is what’s expected of us. Growth is why this industry started and still exists. Creativity for growth is the superpower of the creative leaders and visionaries at this festival and of all the talent in this room. Growth creates value that leads to economic good, which in turn, enables doing greater good for society and for the planet. Why does the creative industry matter? Because there is tremendous value from creativity as a force for growth and a force for good.”

Creativity for growth is the ultimate value exchange that very few agencies and brands talk about. There has never been a more critical time than now to ensure that our messaging reinforces this exchange in a tangible way.