Advertising in a Recession

I don’t know if anyone has noticed the recent ads on Irish Television and on the Radio about advertising in a recession. It is true that most companies cut their marketing and advertising because they don’t see this as important as their other costs such as electricity and other stationary costs etc. This is the furthest from the truth. Customers tend to hold onto their cash in a recession if they perceive the shop to be too expensive. The shop may have spent many years building up this exclusive market which was effective when the country was awash with money. I’m not saying that these shops need to go budget but they do need customers through their doors. Offering discounts and multibuys is a proven method of drawing in the customer. This is both true of high end and budget stores. So if you still need to advertise to let these customers know even if its only a sign in the window its better than none. Shop owners beware the handwritten sign at all times looks unprofessional and doesn’t instill confidence in the shopper. The only time this works is for Restaurants or niche market shops. So its true keep on advertising and marketing as we need to drive consumer spending as it will be the only way to get money back into this country.