Re: Advertising Budget Cuts

From: Brian Shepherd <shepherd_at_MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu 03 May 2001 11:29:21 -0500

Heather Carroll <Heather_at_Enginehousemedia.com> WROTE:

>With all of the expertise available on this list, I
>wanted to get some various qualified reasons as to why
>companies should resist severly handicapping or cutting
>their advertising budgets out in times of market downturns.

>Anyone want to comment on this?

Because in times of slowdown, it's been shown that the
only way to increase or maintain (or stop the bleeding
of declining) sales is to advertise. It's been
demonstrated that marketing and advertising lead to an
increase in sales. That's undisputed. But, during
tough times, it means being more diligent about your
media buys. I also believe that there's no better time
to advertise than when my competition has slashed their
marketing/advertising budgets. In times of prosperity,
you have to share the space with competitors. You also
may be able to get a price break in tough times. So,
in summary:

- keep sales going up
- not having to "share" visibility with your competitors
- negotiate better prices

Three strong reasons I believe. Good luck,

Best,

- BKS


********************************************
Brian K. Shepherd
Director, Online Sales and Marketing
technologyreview.com
shepherd_at_mit.edu
617-452-2426



Received on Thu May 03 2001 - 11:29:21 CDT