The Recession Survival Guide

 Times are tough. There is pressure to cut communications spend. What should people working in Marketing and Communications do to ensure their brands survive the Downturn? McKinsey&Co argue that the two biggest managerial mistakes in Recessions are first; being surprised by the severity of the downturn, and second; being caught unawares by the recovery. So it seems wise to look back for any clues on what we should do in the present day. Problem is, very few were working in the same types of job in the recessions of 1974, 1980 or 1991 – there’s just not that much relevant experience to draw on.

Mister Three Sixty would like to transport you for a moment to the American Midwest during the Great Depression. Picture long lines of unemployed men queuing at soup kitchens; others are wandering from town to town searching desperately for work. With panic on Wall Street and declining sales it would take a brave manager to resist pressure from shareholders to cut marketing budgets and scale back on advertising and public relations.  What would you do? Would you do what Richard Dupree, President of P&G, did? He spotted a new opportunity and seized it with bravery. In fact, P&G have been doing the same thing in every Recession ever since.

Dupree’s genius was to focus on radio, the exciting new technology of the 1930’s. His new strategy was the ‘Soap Opera’. He knew consumers still needed to wash their clothes, whatever the economic climate, so the first foray into branded content was born. ‘Ma Perkins’ sponsored by Oxydol, launched in 1933. By 1939, P&G was sponsoring 21 radio programs, virtually doubling its radio spending every two years during the depression.

Nimble and astute

Recessions accelerate changes that are already taking place. We need to be nimble and astute enough to spot the patterns amongst the chaos and take advantage of them. 2009 is 150 years since the publication of The Origin of the Species. Darwin showed that species survive when they are robust enough to survive challenging environments but also adaptable enough to evolve. This is the simple answer to recession survival: Be tough but be prepared to change.