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Marketing in Tough Economic Times

Written by: Harvey Farr

Article Overview: Marketing And PR Are Often The First To Go When Times Get Tough; Does This Make Sense?

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Marketing in Tough Economic Times

When the economy slows, and companies are faced with belt-tightening, often the first function to be cut back is marketing, advertising and public relations.

The reason is simple. A company believes it can get along without running ads and having a strong public relations program in place. On the other hand, they need employees, legal counsel, accountants and have to pay the rent.

But does this make sense?

When times are tough, isn’t it simply logical that companies must aggressively work to get more business? When the economy is sluggish, the worst thing a company can do is pull their marketing and become invisible to current and future customers and clients.

If a company finds itself in a soft revenue cycle, and cut-backs have to be made, all aspects of the organization should be looked at and not just one. It is ridiculous to fire all the employees, get rid of all the accounts or fire the warehouse employees. It is just as ridiculous to stop marketing, which is the lifeblood of all organizations.

But this doesn’t suggest it should be business as usual. The beauty of marketing is that it can be strategically re-tooled and re-designed so that more can be done for less.

PR campaigns can be more targeted. Ad campaigns can be more strategic. Marketing programs can be more efficient.

The key is to have strong marketing consultants who know how to increase value without increasing costs.



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Home > Public-Relations > Harvey Farr > Marketing in Tough Economic Times
Article Tags: economic times, Los Angeles PR firm, marketing, PR, PR firm

About the Author: Harvey Farr
RSS for Harvey's articles - Visit Harvey's website

Harvey Farr is founder and president of Farr Marketing Group (FMG), a Los Angeles public relations and marketing firm.  Prior to launching FMG, he was senior vice president of Ruder Finn, an international public relations and marketing firm. At Ruder Finn, Mr. Farr represented corporations and institutions such as Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Co., The Academy Awards, CitiCorp, Union Bank, Executive Life Insurance Co. and many other national and international concerns. His areas of expertise include PR / marketing on behalf of the financial services industry, crisis communications, nonprofit organizational campaigns, emerging companies and community relations programs. He is a sought-after speaker and currently offers workshops and seminars for companies seeking to provide employees with a better understanding of the public relations process. In addition to operating Farr Marketing Group, he also teaches advanced public relations at California State University, Los Angeles and the Center for Nonprofit Management.  His direct email is info@farrpr.com.


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