3 tips for cold climate marketing

Tuesday 8th November 2011

The Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report claims second quarter spending dropped 1.1% and UK ad spend for the entire year has been downgraded to grow just 0.9%, compared to the previous forecast of 1.4%. Figures also indicated a growth in radio and online by 7.3% and 6.4% respectively.

As the days draw in and the temperature drops, our natural tendency is to curl-up, close down and hibernate until things are brighter and warmer. 

This isn’t just an observation of the time of year, but the coping mechanism for many companies in the current economic climate. Their inclination is to cut costs in areas like advertising and promotion.

The Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report that claims second quarter spending dropped 1.1% and UK ad spend for the entire year has been downgraded to grow just 0.9%, compared to the previous forecast of 1.4%

However, it’s not all bad news and forecasts.

Figures also indicated a growth in radio and online by 7.3% and 6.4% respectively.

This is an indicator that you don’t have to spend vast amounts of money to make sure you keep your voice in the marketplace. Make sure that what you are spending is being spent wisely and take the opportunity to explore new options for targeting, media and creativity. 

To help your company achieve this, here are three things to keep in mind:

1. Maintain quality rather than cut corners. Don’t discount and devalue your brand. Maintaining or growing ‘share of mind’ is less expensive than trying to rebuild it later on

2. Look for opportunity. In a recession, customers don’t necessarily buy less, they just buy differently - perhaps more wisely. Innovate to show why value-conscious customers should keep spending with you.

3. Strengthen your marketing strategy. There’ll be plenty of businesses cutting back on marketing - look at improving your market position against weaker rivals. Don’t befraid to go back and change your marketing plans and think creatively.

And during those particularly cold snaps you can at least keep Tweeting with a pair of touchscreen gloves from Muji.