Credit Crunch Marketing

It’s a worrying reality that in times of recession many supposedly strapped for cash companies choose either to reduce their marketing spend, just at the moment when it is most badly needed or embrace a short burst of excessively priced/over elaborate marketing in the vain hope that it might give their up to now neglected brand a new lease of life.

At Purple Pilchard we believe great marketing is like a slow-dripping tap that slowly gets inside your head over a period of time, not a disingenuous, not to mention over-priced bottle of sparkling water whose soul goal is appeal to your ‘in the know’ vanity, before leaving a rather unpleasant taste in your mouth.

Great marketing needn’t be about large cheques or big gestures. As one small example it always amazes me just how much money is spent on packaging design, whilst the equally influential copywriting (back-of-pack copy, straplines….) is thrown together as an 11th hour after thought.

The same can be said of so many websites where mind-numbing flash art is still seen as a worthy substitute for thoughtful brand-building copy. Of course it would be wrong to ignore the fact that there are articulate brands out there like Innocent, Higgidy pies and Yeo Valley who’ve inspired ‘new on the block’ brands like teapigs, Shaken Udder and Darling Spuds crisps to name but a few , but they are in the minority.

PR as any seasoned marketer knows is quite possibly the quickest, most cost effective way to secure invaluable exposure, yet still too many brands have got sloppy, either giving PR responsibilities to some inhouse junior bod or worse still being hoodwinked into signing up to big budget draining agency retainers which often result in one piece of inspired worked, swiftly followed by a montage of instantly forgettable flannel.

In short, when times are tough please don’t give your marketing budget over to sales to instil some bland, price cutting activities or some vast retainer obsessed agency. Instead hold your nerve and keep whatever you do simple and focused.