Tweet

The Power of Advertising Proven During the Great Depression

Guest post by: graylin sanders

Article Overview: There is an adage, that says out of every tragedy comes an enterprise. This was very convincingly demonstrated in the years of the Great Depression. As the nation was in a very bleak economic situation. Some of the titans of business sought to take a very simple approach to the severe economic and social conditions. That was to act as thought nothing was wrong at all. To continue to advertise to their customers who were in the worst economic situation to date. This or course mirrors the current economic crisis the world is going through. It was W.K. Kellogg who took he risk to increase his advertising to his customers. While his rival C.W. Post took the conservative road and scaled back on advertising.

The Power of Advertising Proven During the Great Depression

There is an adage, that says out of every tragedy comes an enterprise. This was very

convincingly demonstrated in the years of the Great Depression. As the nation was in

a very bleak economic situation. Some of the titans of business sought to take a very

simple approach to the severe economic and social conditions.

That was to act as thought nothing was wrong at all. To continue to advertise to their

customers who were in the worst economic situation to date. This or course mirrors

the current economic crisis the world is going through. It was W.K. Kellogg who took

he risk to increase his advertising to his customers. While his rival C.W. Post took the

conservative road and scaled back on advertising.

Although The Great Depression caused tremendous financial hardship. People did not

cease to spend, they just choose to spend on the best bargains offered them. It was these

bargains, that caused a sift in customer consciousness and loyalty. The companies that

choose to take a passive approach and cut back on advertising. Started vanishing from

from the customer eye and the marketplace.

The Businesses that kept a poker face in the worst economic period anyone had seen.

Continuing to market to customers did not wait for the customer to create the demand.

They created the demand themselves for their products through what is now called

Attraction Marketing they appealed to their customers by maintaining a level of belief

in their product by continuing to stand behind it at all costs.

Those companies that choose to scale back on their advertising dollars. Sent out a bad

message to their customers who felt abandoned by them . Because their customers no

longer had the level of visibility that they had been made accustomed too. Customer

loyalty was effected . These customers were then attracted by the companies that had

been unwavering in their advertising.

Examples of this Power of Advertising Proven During the Great Depression.

Where Ford had been the hands down sales leader by 10 to 1 throughout the 1920's

Chevrolet increased their approach to advertising and by 1931 had taken leadership

and maintained it for the next 5 years.

In 1920 Camel was the leading selling brand. The American Tobacco Company

introduced Lucky Strikes and 9 years of advertising took Lucky Strikes to No.1

Two years later in the thick of The Great Depression Chesterfields hit the market

and they also surpassed Camels in sales. Advertising proven once again Camel came

back taking massive action with their advertising and by 1935 had regained the top

position.

Not saying that this is the final word but it is a historical example. Of advertising

performing in the worst of economic conditions. Demonstrating the Power of

Advertising Proven During the Great Depression.

Related Articles
  Surviving the “Contained Depression”
  Financial Doom and Gloom or Opportunity?
  Self-Coaching Tip: Partner With Your Emotions
  Lesson #3: “Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often”
  Is The Economy Good Or Bad?
  Successful Businesses of the Great Depression-Success is a Matter of the Mind
  The 13 Most Powerful Words in Marketing
  Depression
  What Is The Point Of Advertising?
  Debunking Franchise Myths
  Keep Your Marketing at the Leading Edge in 2005
  The Wave Of The Future May Be Logo Imprinted Products
  Solving the "Blues" Problem
  Is the Recession Really a State of Mind?
  More Millionaires Were Created During The Great Depression Than In Any Other Period. Will History Repeat Itself?
  The Clinical Proof of the Power of Suggestion
  Do You Feel Frustrated With Your Online Home Based Business?
  Study Links Depression to Heavy Internet Use
  Is Online Advertising Cost Effective?
  Let’s Talk about Depression

Article Tags: economic crisis, economic situation, years of the great depression
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Re: Congratulations Topeyinka - Congrats Topeyinka! As Spiderman said "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"... Just kidding.. Have Fun!
Women Entrepreneur Tips - Thank you LeoOliveros, I found #4 particularly true in my case: 4. The Enterprise Must Include the Power of Power Networks. As a conductor of your own enterprise, you can not see yourself as a one-woman-show. You must choose to utilize the power people in your life, by asking for help when you need it, and effectively delegating in order to capitalize on your strengths and that of your power network. When certain experts are not represented in your power network, you must actively seek advisors or mentors and develop a team of specialists, so the benefits are received by everyone involved in the power network - the true Power of Power Networks.
Re: Stay positive! - Great theme My favorite book the ageless "Power of Positive Thinking" and I do not read many of these Motivational Books, Attitude is everything - a positive one is ore likely to bring positive results According to my Pisces horoscope - I am told that by my birth I am to be moody. We all have those bad days, but even though moody by nature, I tried to keep those days down to 4 or 5 a year - not bad for a Pisces Hang with the positives, lose the negatives
Success Strategies - How to get the results you want now? Success Strategies and Action Steps I have used are: The Power of Choice Where you are at this present moment, is exactly perfect from the choices you have made. If you want to be somewhere else, you have to decide clearly what that is (your goal/outcome) and create action steps to achieve this. The Power of Focus The book "The Power of Focus" by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt, is one of my treasures in my Entrepreneur Library. If you focus on what you want versus what you do not want, your conscious and sub-conscious mind will direct attention to this. The movie, What the Bleep, Down the Rabbit Hole, explains this in detail about quantum physics and what we create in our lives. The Power of Commitment This is not about commitment to others. The first step is the commitment, your word, you make to yourself. Accountability and responsibility are additional success strategies and ingredients to creating the success, defined by you, that you want. The commitment to others reflects your integrity, your word and the team you work with. Co-workers, clients, yoru family, friends and community. My Success Acronyn in Success Breakthroughs(c) is: S pecific & self-directed U nlimited opportunities & possibilities C reate powerful outcomes C onsistent measureable results E xperience pwoerful transformation S olution and action-oriented S uccessful habits and outcomes Break Through to Powerful LIfestyle & Performance Choices Moira


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Work Place Counselling

Getting The Media Attention You Deserve

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.