Making Marketing Smarter Amidst the Cuts
Published 2/2/2009
Author: Fred Geyer and Chiaki Nishino
Fred Geyer and Chiaki Nishino are Partners at Prophet.
Summary
The troubled economy is forcing corporate leaders to re-evaluate their spending plans across the board and marketing is not exempt. In fact, marketing is often first in line for cuts as corporate leaders attempt to identify immediate cost reductions that may take longer to achieve in other areas.
In reducing marketing budgets, corporate leaders face a difficult set of choices: How much is too much? Are we trading off long-term brand building, which may be acceptable in the current climate, or are we doing what is not acceptable — damaging our ability to drive revenue in the current period? Making these choices is particularly difficult if the marketing team lacks a systematic method of measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing spending and a proven method to link marketing spending to business outcomes.
The reality is that in this economy, budget cuts may well be necessary to survive. Few can wait to generate better information, and most don’t have to. Most businesses can use their existing intelligence to address five tough questions and rigorously guide how best to reduce and reallocate their budgets in difficult times.
© 2009 Prophet
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Prophet
AMA Content Partners
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Stuart Atkins wrote:
Good article. Fits well with the recent "Tweak vs. Slash" concept in a Marketing News article a few months back. Cutting and then shifting those savings to growth tools seems the better route than risking the severe "slash" approach. Being bold when other become timid can have benefits...
Stuart Atkins, MBA: www.atkinsmarketingsolutions.com
Posted on : 2/10/2009