Branding In Tough Times

The dotcom bomb. Sept. 11. Recession. The jobless rate soars and consumer confidence plummets. Corporate profits and stock prices freefall. Cost cutting becomes an imperative. But you can’t afford to let short-term conditions compromise long-term goals. Research has demonstrated time and again that investing in your brand in difficult economic times is more than just a smart thing to do – it should be one of your top priorities.

Your brand is a powerful, complex and volatile thing. It exists as a kind of ongoing dialogue between you and all of your key constituencies: customers, suppliers, employees, investors and influentials. It is made up of what you say and do and what your audiences believe and experience as they interact with your organization, its people, products and services. The sum of all the visual, emotional and rational cues that sets your company or product apart, your brand may be your most important competitive differentiator.

Most PR practitioners understand intuitively that a strong brand delivers respect, good will and confidence – all of which lead to trust (a particularly valuable commodity in the post-9-11 environment). Most of us are also aware that brands have quantifiable value. According to Interbrand’s latest “Most Valuable Brands” survey, published in cooperation with BusinessWeek, the value of the Coca-Cola brand is estimated at more than $68.9 billion … more than the value of the entire annual national output of Chile. The IBM brand is worth $52.8 billion; American Express, $16.9 billion; Merck, $9.7 billion.

If brand spending is important in good times, research has discovered that it is even more critical when times get tough. According to a major study by McGraw-Hill Research of the performance of 600 companies, sales of B2B companies that were aggressive 1981– 82 recession advertisers had risen 256 percent by 1985 over those that didn’t keep up their advertising. Meanwhile, the companies that decreased their ad spending during the recession advanced only 19 percent in sales. By reducing their ad spending, they simply made room for their competitors to grow.

Advertising is great, if you have deep pockets. But for smaller companies or for companies retrenching during a recession, public relations can be a godsend. Take the case of Medi-Physics, Inc., a subsidiary of Amersham Healthcare – a company virtually unknown in the United States at the time it launched Metastron (strontium-89 chloride injection), a more effective, less toxic treatment for the pain of cancer that metastasizes (spreads) to the bone. Our professionals created awareness for both the company and its flagship product, with absolutely no advertising, by crafting a cost efficient and effective public relations campaign that delivered nearly 90 million consumer impressions and coverage in 58 trade journals reaching 2.7 million health professionals. Major television coverage resulted based on a VNR showing an 80-year-old patient dancing. Demand for Metastron outpaced supply, according to the client, who reported that sales quadrupled in the first nine months of product availability.

Short-term cost control initiatives that cut way back on marketing budgets are just shortsighted folly. You can’t afford to disappear from the marketplace. If you fade away at the first sign of adversity, what kind of signals are you sending?

However, you can practice economies in your branding program by exploring the more cost efficient techniques at which PR excels, including online and offline publicity, direct response, speeches, special events, cause-related marketing, cross-promotions, surveys and the like. Public relations can skillfully reposition a product to take advantage of new buying concerns, give a company a stable image in a chaotic environment and afford a product a chance to preempt competitive offerings in the media. When asked his opinion of the recession, discounting dynamo Sam Walton, CEO of Wal-Mart, is reported to have said, “I’ve thought about it, and decided not to participate.” Smart executives understand that maintaining a strong, consistent presence with your target audience has been proven, time after time, as the best protection during the toughest economic times. The bottom line? Using PR to preserve and protect your brand means growth for your bottom line.

Strategies for Strengthening Your Brand
During tough times, companies are often tempted to scale back significantly on their communications initiatives. Resist the inclination!

It costs much more to ratchet up marketing momentum once it’s lost than it costs to keep going. Look at economic pressures as an opportunity to grow and consider adopting the following seven brandbuilding strategies.

1. Concentrate on core messages. Understand who you are and what you offer, and communicate simply and directly.
2. Make a commitment to investment. Establish an adequate budget. Consider retaining an outside specialist firm to counsel and/or execute.
3. Prioritize your constituencies. You can’t reach everybody. Focus on your most important constituencies.
4. Focus on their needs. Forget features. Promote benefits.
5. Take a holistic approach. Come up with strategies that produce the biggest bang for the smallest buck. Make that philosophy work for your marketing, advertising, public relations, interactive and customer service teams.
6. Think inside out. Your employees are the vanguard of your branding efforts. Enlist their support with a program that works.
7. Follow through. Don’t falter. It’s all in the Execution.