‘Credit Crunch'.  Two words that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary.  Turn on the TV, pick up a paper or speak to a banker and you will be told how you should be looking after your nest egg, keeping hold of your savings and avoiding Icelandic Banks. The next thing you know, we'll be heading into the bunkers clinging on to our tins of baked beans and ration vouchers.  The fact is, the Credit Crunch has swept across the nation and businesses everywhere are feeling the pinch. 

 

Despite all of this, consumers continue to spend day in, day out.  People need to eat, drink, put petrol in their cars and pay for the roof over their head.  At this time of year, people find the money to buy Christmas presents for loved ones and embrace in the season that is meant to be ‘jolly'.  So with all of this spending still going on, what is your business doing to get the lion's share of their spend.

 

 As Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds said "if any of my competitors were drowning, I'd stick a hose in their mouth and turn on the water".  Kroc was talking about what he needed to do to stay ahead in times of recession.  He credited his success to being more aggressive when his competitors were shying away.  So what should you do in times of recession, when every penny counts? Stop advertising?  Stop advertising and you will simply kill your brand.  It's a fact that companies who cut back on their advertising spend in a recession fail to achieve the profit increases seen by those who continue to invest in their brands.  It is also a fact that advertising is still one of the cheapest forms of selling.  So if you're not looking after your existing customers, somebody else will and if you aren't growing your customer base it's probably because someone else is growing theirs at your expense.

 

But advertising is too expensive I hear you cry.   Advertising doesn't need to be expensive.  When times are hard it's even more important to squeeze as much out of every pound as you can.   That said, it's just as important when you do start looking at advertising, to have the right message, delivered to the right people at the right time.

 

60-70% of your advertising spend this year will drive transactions for the future rather than this year.  That figure may come as a surprise to many businesses, but the fact that your advertising efforts today will have more impact on future profits is good.  After all, that's exactly what shareholders are interested in. 

 

At Zeffa our mission is to deliver today and create tomorrow.  Sales promotions are great for driving short term sales, but the real skill is to deliver them in a way that supports the future.  Advertising may have a hard sell message such as ‘25% off now' which serves well to drive immediate take up, but you may choose to adopt a positioning statement such as ‘The Future's Bright, The Future's Orange' which is a long-term, brand-building strategy, shifting customer perception and delivering brand affinity.

 

Living in the Western World, we generally have everything that we need.  Yet we are always looking for the newest, the coolest and the best.  Everyone, in every industry, is looking for a way to connect with their customers.  At Zeffa we suggest the following starting points:

 

1.      Better your proposition.  Leave your customers with no choice but to choose you

2.      Extend your brand experience.  Make every aspect of a customer's interaction with you positive

3.      Develop stronger customer benefits.  Give your customers no reason to look elsewhere

 

Advertising is a cost effective way of achieving these when done in the right way.  So, get advertising and if you need some help, give us a call.  We'll deliver today, whilst creating tomorrow. 

 

And the next time someone murmurs the words Credit Crunch reply with ‘ Credit Crunch?  What Credit Crunch?  I'm going to be busier than I've ever been!'

 

Zeffa - delivering today, creating tomorrow

 

If you would like to receive a FREE copy of our "How to beat the Credit Crunch" CD, email your details to crunch@zeffa.co.uk