Times are tough, and we may be headed for even more difficult times in this crazy, mixed-up advertising industry. There's a silver lining, however. See how companies that increased marketing and advertising budgets fared during past recessions and economic downturns. A fun, 11-slide deck with retro images.

1. Do Profits Come Easier During Recessions?
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2. In April 1927, the Harvard
Business Review found
companies that advertised most
during recessions had the biggest
sales increases.

3. Companies that had
higher sales and
net income during
the recession of
1974-75 didn’t
touch ad budgets.
What’s more, they
also beat nonadvertisers in the
two years after the
recession ended.

4. According to McGraw-Hill,
companies that increased ad
budgets during the 1981 recession
trounced competitors not just
during the downturn, but for
three years following.

5. Kellogg pushed their
ads through the Great
Depression. Post
didn’t. Guess who
dominated the cereal
market for the next
50 years. Can you say
Corn Flakes?

6. Stanley Tools
launched its
biggest ad campaign
during the 1974
recession. Their
consumer product
division took off.
They grew at twice
the rate of
competitors every
year thereafter.

7. Chevy pushed car sales in 1975.
Ford scaled back by 14%, afraid of higher gasoline prices.
Chevy picked up 2% of the auto market.
It took Ford five years to regain the lost ground.

8. In recessions of 1949, ’54, ’58, and ’61, companies tracked for ad
spending cutbacks saw sales and profits fall off.
Those who kept ad budgets, saw profits increase… and kept an edge in
the years that followed.

9. Consumer
spending has
increased during
every post- WW II
recession,
according to The
American
Association of
Advertising
Agencies.

10. Remember the
'01 Recession?
Coca Cola increased their worldwide marketing
budget $350 million for 2001. Net income was up
22%. IBM increased ad budgets 17% in the spring
of that year. Their sales jumped 8.9%.

11. Here’s the big take-away.
When recessions hit, mental real estate opens up. A lot of your
competitors scale back their marketing efforts because they’re
scared.
Some companies go out of business. Competing marketing
messages grow quiet. However, people still need solutions. And
they’re still willing to buy.
Since the last recession, a lot of new people have joined the ranks
of the marketing trade. Most of them are green, and they're
learning everything from scratch… without the “recession
wisdom.” Do you think it will be tough to beat them with headto-head promos, ads, collateral and campaigns?
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