Mining Brand Capabilities in a recession? | Advantage Brands

Significantly, during 2009 Measured media spending at Leading National Advertisers in the US and the Domestic Industry overall was down 10%. It could have been higher in terms of the cuts as most advertisers would have asked agencies to hold and at least part of the blame, even after restructuring, lies in the leading national advertisers plying their trade across myriad offices and brands, each brand manager trying to guard hs turf and avoiding significant decisions. Diktats from HO finally mean much less even at a GE organisation and unless objectives are v ery clear deeper cuts are unlikely.

Also as the world goes digital, the budgetary cuts next time will be tougher especially if social forms like facebook and twitter are able to   de-google-ise the generation and deliver higher yield where like in emerging markets today, prices may continue moving north along with increases in spending on the media on the web. That promise is however a significant distance further down as we continue to delievr customization and freemium benefits to a growing generation of unemployed entrepereneurs unable to measure, support or evince interest in rebuilding the large corporations.

However, closer home there are lessons in the sustained brand support during 2009 not in China alone but right in Uncle Sam’s backyard/warehouse/main street.

Among the Top 100 advertisers, one in four spent more, betting on opportunity in the Great Recession. While there is no easy way to prove cause and effect, the sales gains at spending boosters should help reinforce the idea that advertising delivers.

If 25% decided their advertising yielded higher benefits during the dull season. the prime cuts ofcourse landed with such advertisers, Walmart pipping Macy’s in spending and sscoring a net 1.1% increase in sales in a brutal market beating the national sales graph by 3.2% s it went south in that same dull season. Even as a proportion of global sales, Walmart spent 0.59% on advertising against 0.52% in 2008 and that is a substantial investment in 2009.

The other interesting story from the crisis we featured here has been Bank of america, which plastered itself on FOX History as part of programming on American History, living a great showcase presence as it came out bleeding and needed to shore up loyalty

Good briefs.