1. Advertising when times are tough
While operating budgets should be carefully scrutinized, it is important to be aware of a basic
misconception that has historically affected businesses that are struggling- that the advertising
budget should be the first to go because it appears to be the least painful item to cut. This is a
dubious and deceptive strategy.
Initially this tactic will seem to work. Here's why: if you cut your advertising when times are tough,
consumer awareness of your local business (which you built through past advertising) will not go
away overnight. "Fine," you think. "I'm saving some money." At first, you will assume that your
advertising cutback has not hurt your business. But while your marketing sleeps, your customers
are slowly switching their preferences, often as a result of seeing your competitor's ads. By the
time you awake, you discover that the cost of recapturing your lost market share will be far
greater than if you had maintained an offensive marketing posture all along. The saying is true:
"In an economic downturn, the best defense is a good offense."
Now is the time to take a good look at your marketing plan. Do you want to reach 12,700 young
adults at Vanderbilt University age 18-29 with a MUCH HIGHER level of discretionary spending
power than the market average? How about many of Vanderbilt's 24,000 faculty and staff? What
about the 21,000 local alumni, and what about parents?
Now that all issues of the Vanderbilt Hustler can be read by going to Insidevandy.com and
clicking on the PDF icon out to the right of the home page, our readers now include Vanderbilt's
faculty/staff, as well as parents and alumni.
Are you paying to reach potential consumers that are within a 50-mile radius of your business?
(You are if you advertise in print publications that claim a wide geographic reach- same for TV
and Radio). Wouldn’t you rather just pay to reach affluent consumers that are most likely to
respond to your ad? Numerous studies have shown that convenience is a major factor in the
response rate to an ad. Ad impressions delivered outside of a retailer’s primary trade zone
become increasingly ineffective as the distance from the retailer increases. Readers of the
Vanderbilt Hustler campus newspaper are within minutes of your Nashville business when they
see your ad.
The issue of whether to advertise during an economic downturn has been studied
for decades. Previous studies published in the Harvard Business Review, the American
Business Press, McGraw-Hill, and many others, covering downturn periods from 1925 to the
present, have all reached similar conclusions: Companies that market products aggressively
during economic downturns typically reap a major sales advantage (average 3.2 to 1 ratio) over
their pessimistic competitors who panic and fall back into a defensive posture.
When your business is sagging, it is tempting to take a "wait and see" attitude and that is what
some advertisers do. Success requires a certain element of risk. "If we want more roses we
must plant more trees!" said George Elliot, eloquently summing up one of the oldest and most
priceless secrets of achievement. So, if you want more business, it's time to plant those seeds in
the mind of your target market. Advertise with Vanderbilt Student Media and watch your business
grow!
For more information on the advertising opportunities available through Vanderbilt Student Media
contact George Fischer at 615-310-3336 or george.h.fischer@vanderbilt.edu