Branding and communication during recession

The current global recession and the sheer depth and magnanimous proportion of it, as stated by leaders across the world, is a first time experience to most working professionals like me. Coming after what could be easily stated as the biggest boom witnessed by India across companies and young working individuals, the speed of the downturn and the rate at which it penetrated across sectors and levels, was nothing short of a rude shock and an inability to grasp with the sudden confusion and business chaos.

What began as mere discussions and opinions of the recession over customer meetings quickly metamorphosed to cautious actions of COST CUTTING. Marketing costs, seen more as an investment than a necessity by most growing companies, were obviously among the first to be axed.

I have spent the last week poring over everything I can find about whether cutting down marketing and communication activities and cost is really the right strategy and what marketers should do in the midst of an economic recession. The overwhelming sentiment by both experts who have witnessed the previous recessions as well as most forward looking entrepreneurs in India is that the best marketers and organizations are looking at the economy as an opportunity to expand market shares further.

Most say solutions are waiting to be found in the recession. Solutions that could now take India to its next stage of growth and this time, enhancing the quality and penetration of it as well. And I see this as the most logical note to work through the recession. There is enough logic to this approach as history proves that numerous products, service and technology innovations tend to emerge out of each market correction or crisis. All of which fuel new business models and career opportunities.

The power of thought leadership, relationships and brand image that extend from structured communication is a great currency that gains tremendous value in any economic recession or downturn. Here are five quick pointers on how to better use the ''tool' of communications to advance your company's position in the industry and drive positive awareness, a thought leadership and confidence back into the market!

1.Raise awareness & focus on communication

Rather than slim-lining communication efforts, businesses should be concentrating on gaining the trust of their customers, investors and the market now more than ever, by communicating with them and letting them know how the company is dealing with the situation. 'Out of sight is out of mind'. To be remembered, you must be accessible to the customer, to ensure you don't lose a market share. Companies that contemplate slashing their communication budgets run the disadvantage of dropping off the radar of existing customers, potential prospects, shareholders, employees and media.

2.Increase while others decrease

Opportunistic companies realize that this is the perfect time to increase brand spending while others move back, so that those who engage the market consistently stand to gain and also send a clear message on the strength of the brand. You only need to realign your value proposition to match the needs of customers during a recession, when he is more cost and value conscious. The cost of having built a brand to where it is, needs to be evaluated against the cost of reinstating the brand once the crisis is over, more so for emerging enterprises and brands.

3.Innovate and invent new ideas of communication

Reality is that you have to seek more efficient and effective ways of spending your marketing budget and maximizing the return on investment. This needs creativity in the traditional approach.

4.Integrated brand communication becomes essential rather than desirable

Merely cutting costs does not generate sales and usage. There are so many opportunities to reach the target audience and it does not need to be through the conventional and more expensive route of advertising. Assessing the effectiveness of different ways of communicating and engaging will be even more important. Companies need to consider strategic, relevant tools that may not have been explored before, such as online branding or reaching out to the TA directly and creating subtle brand touch points instead of hard selling or even before trying to sell it to them. Custom media is a proven way of engaging customers, solidifying customer relationships and increasing revenues. You could even send out an e-newsletter to all of your stakeholders and customers.

5.Go back to the basics and realign or build your brand identity and positioning

During good times, every marketing idea is valuable, sales are strong and time is limited. Resources are directed at many ideas and campaigns. The recession could be a good time to ask yourself what is your product/service differentiation? What makes your company/product/service better/different from competition? Why do your clients buy from you? This is your unique marketing advantage. Then ask: does your company logo, positioning line/tag line, website, marketing collaterals highlight these unique advantages? If not, this could be the best time to work on the improvement, impact, consistency and effectiveness of your key messaging.

To summarize, branding and communication is more important today than ever. Consider that if you continue to address image building during a recession when fewer companies are doing it, you are going to have a stronger brand to leverage when the crisis is over. It is easy during a financial crunch to stay cautious and focus too much on the short term when it is long term vision that differentiates good organizations and businesses.

Contributed by Sumathi M Chari

Branch Head - Chennai