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Recessions Are Great Times To Be In Marketing

  • Ad Age, Monday, March 24, 2008 11:16 AM

Previous recessions have spawned the brand-management system, soap operas, modern cable networks, airline loyalty programs, the IBM personal computer, the iPod, Crest Whitestrips, Axe body spray and--for better or worse--fast-food value menus.

Recessions also have been fertile ground for some retail chains. Home Depot opened its first two stores near Atlanta just before a recession in 1979. But today's marketers don't know much about marketing through recessions--or how good they have it when things feel so bad.

Marketers should draw lessons from such examples of charging ahead despite recession, says Ed Rensi, former CEO of McDonald's USA through the early 1990s recession. Unfortunately, he says, companies usually do just the opposite. They cut staff, which he says leaves those left behind overworked and risk-averse. And they cut marketing, which props up profits short term but erodes market share down the road.

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