When coronavirus hit and the world went weird, brands in all sectors rushed to pull the plug on advertising campaigns. What had been appropriate a week ago was suddenly tone-deaf – KFC’s message of ‘finger lickin’ good’ grated in a world where washing your hands was paramount and the fast-food giant paused the campaign as consumers began to brand it ‘irresponsible.’ As we adjusted to this new reality, more brands began to activate COVID-19 appropriate messaging but a new threat is emerging for marketers – the recession.  What can place marketers learn from other brand sectors and previous crises or downturns?

With a bleak economic outlook, many companies will be tightening their belts, and at such times, the marketing budget begins to look like a low-risk expense to prune away. For many state-funded DMOs and IPOs, this challenge will be greater than for private-sector companies. With resources for critical state services tight, you have to be able to demonstrate the value of marketing efforts.

“The immediate short-term response is instinctively to cut costs and focus on what will generate revenue today rather than tomorrow,” explained Maria Bain, Planning Director at iCrossing. “But expense cutting should be decided strategically, and ad spend should focus on maintaining share of voice, share of market and most importantly, share of consideration amongst travellers.”

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