Aloysius Butler & Clark

How to Gain by Cutting Back: Maintaining Market Share in Today's Economy

What does maintaining your weight over the holidays have in common with marketing during a recession? One thing: keeping your eye on the prize.

Around the Thanksgiving holiday every year, Weight Watchers staff across the country ask their members to commit to one simple task: maintain their weight. They know the holidays are approaching, with all its parties and high-calorie food temptations. The potential for weight gain will reach an all-time high. So to encourage people to stay on track, and not ruin all their hard weight loss work, they ask people to not try to lose more, but not to gain either. They know if the member gains weight over the holidays, his or her confidence level will take a dive, making his or her overall goal that much harder to meet. Because after all the holidays and parties are over, it is the Weight Watchers member who must wrestle with that pair of pants that used to fit so well or that number on the scale that meant victory was near.

Nobody is immune to this recession. While some marketers are questioning their need to cut back, other marketers have no choice. This raises several key questions:

• How much should I cut back?
• What else can I do with this marketing budget to help my organization maintain presence?
• If I cut back, will my competition have an unfair advantage?
• What are the benefits to maintaining marketing efforts during a recession?

AB&C understands that every client's situation is different-budgets vary, priorities differ for different products and services. We also understand that our collaboration helped you achieve your marketing goals. We want to maintain your success, so at the end of this recession, you're not wondering what happened to your market share-the way Weight Watchers members wonder why their pants don't fit anymore. Below are some of our thoughts about these important concerns.

How much should I cut back?

There's no easy answer. It all depends on what aspect of your marketing presence needs to be the strongest during this time.

• Is it a certain product line that will help consumers cope with the recession?
• Is it a chance to thank loyal market segments through incentives?
• Do you want to spend money on awareness or loyalty?
• Do you want people to purchase a package of your services or just one important one?
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Penny saved, penny earned. Once you have determined your marketing position, use your budget to maintain frequency, but renegotiate traditional media strategies. Experts at the Harvard Business School recommend cutting 30-second spots to 15, producing radio instead of television and focusing on direct marketing, which has the potential to offer more visible sales impact. Consider shaving budgets on your smaller product lines that still need room and time to grow, rather than cutting back on the more profitable services that already have equity and loyalty.

What else can I do with this marketing budget to help my organization maintain presence?

Get to know your new audience. What new audience? Your consumers during a recession. According to a study featured in U.S. News and World Report, consumer attitudes toward products and services change during a recession. People have different spending habits and need to hear different messages about your products and services. Invest in consumer behavior research to better understand who these people are and what they need from you during these hard times.

Recession-specific products. If you have a product that will support customer needs during the recession, such as "staycation" opportunities, consider a marketing focus on the benefits of the product. The Wall Street Journal reports that only 16% of consumers had confirmed seasonal travel plans in 2008 as opposed to 42% the previous year.

Rethink the messenger. You need to assess what message you should send to consumers during the recession and budget how you can most effectively send that message. You could save media dollars and potentially get more creative exposure with public relations efforts or partnership outreach opportunities. You could invest more in digital and online marketing, which is highly measurable and may ensure accelerated budget buy-in because you can evaluate the ROI sooner with geotracking and targeting efforts.

Show consumers you eat your spinach. Consumers want to see you are strong and secure, but they also want to see that you care about their strength and security. Surely, you have noticed corporations partnering to "do good." This strategy gives these companies a message to send, and also makes the consumer feel good about a purchase they may have delayed had there not been the "pay it forward" incentive. So if it truly all depends on a variety of variables, your best bet is to assess your current market message and cut back to media channels that will promote that message to your most loyal customers.

If I cut back, will my competition have an unfair advantage?

The data speaks for itself. A study conducted by Ogilvy Market Research reveals that while advertising has an influence on consumer spending behavior for three years, consumer relationships with a brand can decline in about six months. Additional research concluded that brand image and usage suffer when marketing disappears for six months or more.

No one ever asks who has the megaphone. If you don't maintain awareness, your consumers will become aware of someone else. There will be a louder voice in the room and they may be promoting the same services with the same message you would like to send, but theirs will be the only voice heard.

What are the benefits to maintaining marketing efforts during a recession?

Life will go on. Remember those pants? After the holidays are over, they'll still need to fit. This recession will be over and you will still have a voice in the arena on some level. Maybe it'll be more PR-oriented, maybe you'll be more visible online than ever before, but your investment in showing your consumers that you are still standing will instill additional faith and brand loyalty that will help move the profit margin even further when the competition is back out there with their megaphones and ill-fitting pants.