Marketing in Tough Times

The 2008 Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce (HRCC) Annual Meeting luncheon was held Tuesday, December 9th at the Chesapeake Conference Center.

Kristen Cavallo, Sr. VP of Business Development for The Martin Agency headquartered in Richmond VA served as keynote and spoke on “Marketing in Tough Times.” The S&P is down, media spending is down, and it’s difficult to prove that current advertising is even working. Cavallo encourages looking at the bad economy as an opportunity to build brand equity because competitors are shrinking their exposures. “Your share of voice increases by default,” says Cavallo.

Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Businesses stand to gain more as media is cheaper. Studies show an average of more than 250% in post-recession sales for those companies who increase their ad spending during recessions. Conversely, it will cost 4 to 5 times more in ad spending to regain that lost customer post-recession.

Cavallo offered ways to do this effectively and positively during a recession:

1. Become an ally, “walk the talk” with new offerings that address the current situation
2. Find joy in the everyday by selling everyday products in not-so-everyday ways; don’t remind people that times are bad
3. Redefine aspirations, such as saving is the “new expensive,” refocus values to the “new normal,” promote via social networks, YouTube, contests
4. Play brand "jump ball" by stealing market share in other relevant areas; apply entertainment’s successful strategies to your marketing (example: yesterday’s Gilligan’s Island versus today’s LOST)

Maintaining SOV (Share of Value) is important and easier to do. During down economic times, you can reach more people more than ever because competitors aren’t. Cavallo suggests: take advantage of confusion, understand elasticity, protect your brand equity, shift emphasis and infiltrate conversations using “BUZZ,” i.e. getting people to talk about you in positive ways. In confusing times, people talk more to each other, hence social networking is more important than ever to businesses.

All of this is applicable to B2B (business to business) marketers as well. B2B audiences are more targeted; it is easier for marketers to know where they are and target them better, focusing in core customers.

HRP Board member and Regional President of BB&T, Robert Boyd was handed a huge gavel as 2009 Chair of HRCC, “to match his management style,” according to Grigsby Scifres, outgoing HRCC Chair, who ended with his view of the 2009 challenges facing the HRCC Board: Transportation and Sustainable Resources.