Advertising in tough economic times and slowdowns may seem counter intuitive, but those that pull their advertising in the short term may find that it has a long term negative impact. This article in Strategy Online focused on dealing with disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In times of economic slowdown or recession, we know that brands that stop advertising and talking to their customer base always come out of an economic recession in poorer shape than those brands who keep their shared voice high,” notes Mark Tomblin, founder of Thinking Unstuck, a Toronto-based planning consultancy. He says brands need to think long-term, and not be hamstrung by the fact that traditional channels or plans have been disrupted.
Brand building and sales activation work in different ways. Brand building requires time and resources to create awareness that brings consumers closer to the brand and includes all things that consumers feel, know and experience about your brand. Sales activation focuses on current customers and involves rational, offer based messages that generate little emotional connection.
Successful brands require both types of messaging. In most cases long term success relies on using paid media with allocations of at least half the budget on brand building, with variations by category.
This article in The Message highlights the importance of brand building and sales activation, and shares “the two most important charts in marketing” to make the point.
