SLOW BURN MARKETING
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Contact

Want Your Competitors To Love You?

9/22/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Want Your Competition To Love You? Stop Advertising.
 
I've been having conversations with readers of this weekly screed. It's disappointing (and no surprise) to see a recurring theme.
 
Business owners have stopped advertising.
 
More than one media salesperson is bemoaning an "immediacy mentality over a marketing mindset." (Credit to Debra Carpenter at Michigan's Joy 99 for that gem.)
 
The familiar refrain: Business owners can't understand why they should advertise.
 
Business is slow, inventory is scarce, people are staying home, things are locked down--name an excuse.
 
 
History keeps showing us the power of advertising when things are bad.
 
It's the power of thriving versus dying.
 
Authoritative sources are always showing that benefits of advertising in a downturn.
 
"But my budget! I have no revenue!"
 
And without advertising, where is more revenue going to come from?
 
We have a friend who owns a remodeling business. When the 2008 recession hit, he was leveraged to the teeth.
 
 
He also knew: stop advertising, and he would never recover.
 
So he was resourceful. He kept finding creative ways to keep the marketing tap open and flowing.
 
His main competitor did not.
 
Our friend's business is now huge. It's a juggernaut.
 
His competitor never recovered.
 
 
Freight train, a supertanker, or marathon runner?
 
Pick your marketing metaphor. It's about momentum and the long haul.
 
When your business stops advertising, your customers forget you.
 
Advertising is about keeping your brand in motion. Keeping it rolling. Keeping it afloat. Keeping it running.
 
Stop the momentum, and getting back to speed is difficult.
 
 
"But what if I can't afford to do it?"
 
Better question: Can you afford not to?
 
The overused word of our time is "pivot." Everyone's pivoting like ballerinas on meth. Yay, pivoting!
 
Despite the overuse of the word, pivoting is about survival, from the macro to the micro, from the economy to the solopreneur.
 
Pivot. Swivel. Revolve. Spin. Swing. Whatever your metaphorical verb, find a way do it. Work on a way to keep advertising.
 
"I can't afford it!" is reactive thinking. "How can I afford it?" is proactive wisdom.
 
 
And understand how to be effective.
 
Being effective means being evocative.
 
Your brand is the fuel that informs the emotion of your message. If you don't understand your brand, it's time to change that.
 
For proof of the power of advertising in a downturn, don't take my word. Google "advertising in a recession."
 
The first hit should be a great article from Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2009/04/how-to-market-in-a-downturn-2
 
After that comes a parade of intel on doing the smart thing.
 
Keep running your marathon, do it with wisdom, and you will beat the runners who quit.


LIGHTNING BRANDING ON AMAZON
The Kindle edition of our new book is now available at Amazon for the bargain price of $19.95. 
 
For details about our new Lightning Branding courses, both do-it-yourself and we-do-it-with-you editions, click here. (There's even a video of us!)
Cheers,

Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in
Park City
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Blaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. 

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Advertising As Art
    Ad Writing
    Amazon
    Art And Advertising
    Attack Ads
    Authenticity
    Beat Bobby Flay
    Best Ads Of 2017
    Big Ideas
    Billboards
    Bobby Flay
    Book Marketing
    Brand Advertising
    Branding
    Branding Book
    Branding Santa Claus
    Brand Names
    Bud Light
    Budwieser
    Burger King
    Burger King Advertising
    Burning Man
    Burning Questions
    Buy Now
    Carefu;-ish
    Careful-ish
    Casablanca
    Christmas
    Commitment
    Communication
    Core Customer
    Corny
    Corporate Culture
    CoupleCo
    Couplepreneurs
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Crazy Ivan
    Creativity
    Creativity Over Message
    Cult Brands
    Customers
    David Ogilvy
    Dick Orkin
    Diisruptive
    Down Market
    Dr Sam's Eye Care
    Effectivness
    Electronics
    Exceeding Expectaion
    Facebook Advertising
    Feeling
    Focus
    Focus Grouping
    Fonts
    Food
    Fraud
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Hair Club For Men
    Hanukkah
    Hugo Boss
    Hurricane Relief
    Influence
    Internet Radio
    Jeep
    Jerry Lewis
    Johnnie Walker
    Jungles
    Krylon Spray Paint
    Lawyers
    Lightning Branding
    Logos
    Lulu Lemon
    Make Customers Care
    Marketing
    Masks
    Meaning
    Media
    Medical Tourism
    Membership
    Me Too
    Millennials
    Milton Glaser
    Must See TV
    Napa
    New Clients
    New Skills
    New Years
    Nicaragua
    Niche Brands
    Offers
    Ogilvy On Advertising
    Pasta
    Patriotism
    Pen & Paper
    Personal Brand
    Pizza
    Poetry
    Point Of Purchase
    Political Advertising
    Price Advertising
    Product Experience
    Publicity Stunts
    Puppy Monkey Baby
    Radio
    Reader Question
    Reality TV
    Research
    Rhode Island Tourism
    Rosser Reeves
    Sales Staff Writing Radio
    SEO
    Small Business
    Small Business Branding
    SnapChat
    Social Media
    Social Media Marketing
    State Farm
    Subaru
    Super Bowl Ads
    Sy Sperlling
    Taglines
    Thanksgiving
    The Big Short
    Trademarks
    USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
    Vail
    Velcro
    Wine
    Words Good
    Writing
    Writing Advertising
    Zeitgeist

    RSS Feed

OFFERING:
Branding & Marketing
Speaking
Books
Newsletter


INFO:
Services Breakdown
​
Clients
About
Testimonials
Contact
​
​
© Copyright 2020 Slow Burn Marketing LLC
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Picture
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Contact