Hamlet was Uncertain

HAMLET WAS UNCERTAIN
A POV on Media Budgets in Uncertain Times

When the final trumpet blows, there are few characters alive at the end of Hamlet. Much of this is due to the hero's uncertainty. Uncertainty, "to be or not to be", is the basic human condition we learn to adjust to and live with, but when the trumpet blows for the economy, we freeze not just our assets, but also our actions. The dire predictions of two months ago, relating to the economy and ad spending trumpeted a stampede of inaction. Many advertisers are sitting tight. Budgets are on hold. Marketers and agents are frightened at the very time they should be launched into a search for solutions and corrective action.

Woody Allen Said.

"If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank". Divine intervention is not likely to grace most brands. That absence, coupled with fear and paralysis sometimes leads marketers to undercompensate with money and overcompensate by overclaiming and overstating benefits. The consequence of this action is to become less visible, but worse - more unbelievable. Consumers do not abandon their intelligence or taste during uncertainty economic times (they just buy store brands). Marketers should look carefully at what they abandon.

Safe Harbors?

Few practitioners plan beyond the present economic cycle or have faith enough in the long-term strength of the US and world economy. Even market leaders are vulnerable, despite across the board pullbacks, because generics usually do better in uncertain and recessionary times. The problem is, while you can save a little money in the short term, brand volume and share erodes and the cost of buying it back in better times is always much more expensive. There are no safe harbors. Just when it looks like everyone has pulled back to port, leaving an undermanned vessel at sea, some smart pirate pulls a surprise attack and easily gets the treasure.

Martial Arts

One of the tenets of the martial arts is to locate your opponents strengths and weaknesses and exploit them both, at the appropriate times, as leverage. That is what research is all about, finding strengths and weaknesses. Uncertain times are perfect times to run short-term tests to identify and exploit market strengths and weaknesses. This helps a brand to strategically shift the focus of messages to areas that will most favorably impact sales. This is a strategy that helps a marketer not just survive, but thrive. This almost always means concentrating on what the consumer is looking for now and not what the advertising has promised in the past. It also means being ready to speak to consumers by investing money in advertising.

Losing Less Ground

So these are times when smart marketers venture forth. They leave their safe harbors and set out to fish in the waters left by others who went to port. Relatively speaking, the cost of these voyages, media and production costs, are less expensive relative to GDP than in good times. So, one may gain share or put another way, be in a better position to assume market leadership when times get better. They will have less ground to cover when the price of media again rises sharply becoming relatively more expensive. There is only one #1 in every category and it is a precious position to gain or lose. Being uncertain in uncertain times could lead to certain losses.

The Price of Reassurance

A company's constituents need reassurance even more in uncertain times than when things are going well. Everyone is vulnerable. Advertising is one of the tools available to sustain that assurance in uncertain times. Uncertain economic times are not a good reason for the guardians of our brands to act with uncertainty.