• Ad Age, Monday, February 18, 2008 11:46 AM

Ad Age asks advertising execs how the media biz would react to a recession. Typically, when consumers cut back on spending, so do marketers, but digital marketing may be a game changer, as marketers turn to more measurable media like the Internet.

That doesn't mean Web spending would be unaffected by a recession, but Bryan Weiner, CEO of digital agency 360i, says marketers won't be cutting cut back on search and email, because these tactics drive the best return on investment. Search, he adds, is less a marketing expense than direct cost of goods sold--which is why many believe it's the most recession-proof marketing channel.

However, David Kidder, CEO of search-technology firm Clickable, points out that like direct sales, the success of search marketing is directly tied to people's ability to spend. "If the people who are searching aren't spending money, the value of that moment of intent goes down," he says. "The effectiveness of search marketing is tied to the economic value of the searchers."

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