Advertising Tips for 2009 Recession
Study Shows which Marketing Might Work in a Depressed Economy
Dec 13, 2008
The 2009 Industry Outlook prepared by Tom Pirovano for the Nielsen research company is titled "Careful." It says now that the recession is official, Americans will stay home more, will spend more time with tech gizmos, will focus on cutting expenses and will buy more products and services that promise a "rational benefit."
Opportunities for marketers, hints for capitalizing on those opportunities and danger signals for avoiding wasted effort and resources are sprinkled here and there in that analysis by Nielsen’s director of industry insights. Individual marketers will have to identify their particular opportunities and dangers in the report on the overall economy.
Here are some of Pirovano’s most general observations:
- Overall spending will be tighter.
- Consumers will focus on products and services that provde "a rational benefit."
- Increased spending will most likely be "found in the online, mobile and in-home entertainment sectors."
- Consumers, manufacturers and retailers will be in a "no frills" mood.
- The "green movement" will be moved more by desires to save money than by pure environmental concerns.
Marketers May Want to Focus on Value
With all that in mind, marketers may want to put a bit more emphasis on value in their 2009 advertising.
Some of Pirovano’s more specific points:
- Still shocked by $4 per gallon gasoline in 2008, motorists will continue to cut down on their driving when they can.
- Manufacturers will focus their green efforts on areas which can also save them money, such as more efficient packaging.
- Retailers will fight higher credit card fees by offering customers more discounts and incentives to pay in cash. Neilsen says convenience stores are already offering discounts to customers who pay cash for gasoline.
- To stimulate sales without reducing prices, marketers will offer more coupons and cash-pressured consumers will redeem more of them. In addition to traditional methods, marketers will make more coupons available in stores, via email and even by mobile phones.
Pirovan also says manufacturers will try to slow down the growth of private label brands by offering customers "innovative packaging, unique flavors and additional health and wellness claims."
Wholesale prices on food and fuel may decline, he adds, but retailers will try to hold the line on their prices because they have had to control prices for several years while wholesale prices were increasing.
More 3D Films
Here are a few 2009 opportunity areas cited by the Nielsen report:
- Wireless gizmo marketers will lure consumers with more "cutting-edge devices and advanced data services." Pirovano says "the adoption of Internet capability on phones shows no signs of slowing" and United States mobile Internet subscriptions were up 32% in 2008.
- A crop of new "Swiss Army" style media phone devices will attract more consumers.
- Theaters will be able to attract more customers, at higher prices, with an increasing number of 3D films. That’s also good news for the popcorn and concession suppliers.
- Marketers can save dollars by reviving old brands rather than creating as many expensive new ones.
- The over-25 crowd will invade the text messaging market currently dominated by teenagers. Nielsen says they will be lured by the opportunity to use text messaging for searching and mobile marketing.
- Higher restaurant and prepared ingredient prices will encourage more homemakers to cook from scratch, increasing the sales of flour, cooking oils, and shortening, as well as cooking and baking utensils.
- While Neilsen sees no jump in overall book sales, it does expect more interest in self-help books by unemployed workers trying to "rediscover themselves."
Nielsen also expects all the above to be accompanied by a decrease in advertising, except perhaps in online and new media ads.
Reference: Nielsen 2009 Industry Outlook2009 Advertising Outlook Grim for Most Media
Troubled Economy Increases Media Ad Bartering
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