Recession Marketing A Book

RECESSION MARKETING

INTRODUCTION A recession is a general slowdown in economic activity over a sustained period of time, or a business cycle contraction. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes and business profits all fall during recessions. What causes it? An economy which grows over a period of time tends to slow down the growth as a part of the normal economic cycle. An economy typically expands for 6-10 years and tends to go into a recession for about six months to 2 years. A recession normally takes place when consumers lose confidence in the growth of the economy and spend less. This leads to a decreased demand for goods and services, which in turn leads to a decrease in production, lay-offs and a sharp rise in unemployment. Investors spend less as they fear stocks values will fall and thus stock markets fall on negative sentiment. Stock markets & recession The economy and the stock market are closely related. The stock markets reflect the buoyancy of the economy. In the US, a recession is yet to be declared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, but investors are a worried lot. The Indian stock markets also crashed due to a slowdown in the US economy. The Sensex crashed by nearly 13 per cent in just two trading sessions in January. The markets bounced back after the US Fed cut interest rates. However, stock prices are now at a low ebb in India with little cheer coming to investors. Effects of recessions Bankruptcies Credit crunches Deflation (or disinflation) Foreclosures Unemployment People have hypothesized that it’s easier to start companies during downturns, because labor, rent, and other resources are cheaper (in economic jargon, the ‘opportunity costs’ are lower). And there have been plenty of news articles talking about out-of-work professionals going into business for themselves. But here’s a slightly different question—is it easier to start a successful company during a downturn? Not so obvious, is it? It might be easier to start a company, but harder to start a successful one if the economy is weak. The following table, based on the Fortune 500, shows what percentages of top companies were incorporated during a recession.

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But as we move up to the most successful companies—the ones at the top of the list—the situation changes. Among the top 10 companies, a full 70% were started during recession years. Let’s look more closely at these top 10. This table includes the name of the company; the date that they were incorporated into business (when two companies merged), whether that was a recession year according to the Wikipedia listing; and then whether it was a recession year, according to NBER dates, which are similar but not identical to the Wikipedia listing.

The above data shows that for companies to be successful in the long term they have to adjust to such periods of slowdown and come out to turn them in to an advantage rather than treating them as just a challenge for survival. All the companies mentioned above undertook strategies to counter the recession by expanding operations and introducing newer brands in the market.

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The greatest slowdown to have hit the world since the great depression, the current recession has led to rising unemployment and extreme drop in sales. As a result, businesses typically cut costs, reduce prices and postpone new investments. The first area to bear the brunt of cost-cutting in any organization is the marketing and advertising department. Marketing expenditures in areas from communications to research are often slashed across the board – but such an indiscriminate cost cutting is a mistake. Although it is wise to contain costs, overall long term performance can be jeopardized if the company fails to support brands or examine core customers’ changing needs. Hence it is necessary to put customers under the microscope and nimbly adjust strategies, tactics and product offerings in response to shifting demands. In times of successful sales and rapid growth, marketers forget that rising sales aren’t caused only by clever advertising and appealing products. Consumers’ factors such as disposable income, feeling confident about their future, trusts in businesses and economy and lifestyles’ that encourage consumption are the most important factors that affect purchases.

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RECESSION MARKETING UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS’ RECESSION PSYCHOLOGY The wave of economic news is eroding confidence and buying power, driving consumers to adjust their behaviour in fundamental and perhaps permanent ways. Spending in much of the developed part of the world was based on a quicksand of debt and dwindling savings. Marketers also abetted consumers in defining the good life in material terms, and urging them to live beyond their means. As a result what consumers are now facing in the current scenario are piles of bills, stagnant or falling incomes and shrinking value for their money. Other factors such as failures in the financial, housing and insurance sectors; and taxpayer bailouts of mismanaged businesses have also fuelled more distrust and scepticism to marketer’s messages. These combined effects have created a profound challenge for marketers, not only to survive during recession but rise and sustain considerable recovery after the worst is over. The first step in responding must be to understand the new customer segments that emerge in a recession. Typically marketers segment according to demographics (“over 40,” or “new parent or middle income”) or lifestyle (“traditionalist” or “going green”). However, in a recession such segmentation may be less relevant. Marketers need to undergo a strong exercise and segment their markets based on a psychological segmentation that takes into account consumers’ emotional reactions to the economic environment. Marketers should think of their consumers as falling into four groups: 1. Slam-on-the-brakes Segment: This segment feels the most vulnerable and the hardest hit financially. Although lower-income consumers typically fall into this segment, anxious higher-income consumers can as well, particularly if health or income circumstances change for the worse. They react to the market changes by reducing all types of spending and by eliminating, postponing, decreasing or substituting purchases 2. Pained-but-patient Segment: Pained-but-patient consumers tend to be resilient and optimistic about the long term but less confident about the prospects for recovery in the near term or their ability to maintain their standard of living. Like slam-on-thebrakes consumers, they economize in all areas, though less aggressively. They constitute the largest segment and include the great majority of households unscathed by unemployment, representing a wide range of income levels. As news gets worse, pained-but-patient consumers increasingly migrate into the slam-on-thebrakes segment. 3. Comfortably well-of segment: Consumers feel secure about their ability to ride out current and future bumps in the economy. They consume at near-prerecession levels, though now they tend to be a little more selective (and less conspicuous) about their purchases. The segment consists primarily of people in the top 5% income bracket. It also includes those who are less wealthy but feel confident about

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the stability of their finances – the comfortably retired, for example, or investors who got out of the market early or had their money in low-risk investments such as CDs. 4. Live-for-today segment: Carries on as usual and for the most part remains unconcerned about savings. The consumers in this group respond to the recession mainly by extending their timetables for making major purchases. Typically urban and younger, they are more likely to rent than to own, and they spend on experiences rather than stuff (with the exception of consumer electronics). They’re unlikely to change their consumption behavior unless they become unemployed. Regardless of which group consumers belong to, they prioritize consumption by sorting products and services into four categories: Essentials are necessary for survival or perceived as central to well-being. Treats are indulgences whose immediate purchase is considered justifiable. Postponables are needed or desired items whose purchase can be reasonably put off Expendables are perceived as unnecessary or unjustifiable. Throughout a downturn all consumers, except those in the live-for-today typically reevaluate their consumption priorities. As priorities change, consumers may altogether eliminate purchases in certain categories, such as household services (cleaning, lawn care, snow removal), moving them from essentials to expendables. Or they may substitute purchases in one category for purchases in another, e.g. Swapping dining out (a treat) for cooking at home (an essential). Most consumers become more price-sensitive and less brand loyal during recession, they can be expected to seek out favourite products and brands at reduced prices or settle for less-preferred alternatives; e.g. choosing cheaper private labels or switch from organic to non-organic foods.

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MANAGING MARKETING INVESTMENTS During recessions it’s more important than ever to remember that loyal customers are the primary, enduring source of cash flow and organic growth. Marketing isn’t optional – it’s a “good cost,” essential to bringing in revenues from these key customers and others. Still, company budget cuts often affect marketing disproportionately. Marketing communication costs can be trimmed more quickly than production costs – and without letting people go. In managing their marketing expenses, however, businesses must take care to distinguish between the necessary and the wasteful. Building and maintaining strong brands – ones that customers recognize and trust – remains one of the best ways to reduce business risk. The stock prices of companies with strong brands, such as Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson, have held up better in recessions than those of large consumer product companies with less well-known brands. Surgically trimming the budget is easier to do during a downturn than in prosperous times. Tough times provide an imperative to cut loose poor performers and eliminate low-yield tactics. When survival is at stake, it is easier to get companywide buy-in for revising marketing strategies and reallocating investments. Managers can defy old mind-sets and creatively search for superior solutions to customer needs instead of relying on the next line extension. The challenge is to make well-defended, case-by-case recommendations about where to cut spending, where to hold it steady, and even where to increase it. Assess opportunities. Begin by performing triage on your brands and products or services. Determine which have poor survival prospects, which may suffer declining sales but can be stabilized, and which are likely to flourish during the recession and afterward. Your strategic opportunities during the downturn will strongly depend on which of the four segments your core customers belong to and how they categorize your products or services. For example, prospects are reasonably good for value-brand essentials sold to slam-on-the-brakes consumers, who will forgo premium brands in favor of lower prices. Value brands can also effectively reach out to pained-but-patient consumers who previously bought higher-end brands, a strategy Wal-Mart aggressively used with its “everyday low prices” policy in the 2001 recession. Value brands have opportunities with postponable products, as well. Repair services can market to the pained-but-patient group, who will try to prolong the life of a refrigerator rather than buy a new one. Where the business opportunities are uncertain or declining, it may be time to part with brands or products that were ailing prior to the recession and are on life support now. For those that remain, companies should concentrate their marketing resources on maintaining relevance to core customers in order to sustain brands through the recession and into the recovery. Allocate for the long term. When sales start to decline, companies shouldn’t panic and alter a brand’s fundamental proposition or positioning. For instance, marketers catering to middle- or upper-income consumers in the pained-but-patient segment may be tempted to

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move down- market. This could confuse and alienate loyal customers; it could also provoke stiff resistance from competitors whose operations are geared to a low-cost strategy and who have intimate knowledge of cost-conscious customers. Marketers that drift away from their established base may attract some new customers in the near term but find themselves in a weaker position when the recession ends. Their best course is to stabilize the brand. Even cash-poor firms would be wise to commit a substantial portion of their marketing resources to reinforcing the core brand proposition. Reminding consumers of how the brand matters can add to the cushion provided by previous investments in building the brand and customer satisfaction. De Beers came to this realization aft er it reduced its U.S. marketing budget early in 2008 in response to the grim economic outlook. When research revealed that diamonds represent enduring value to a majority of consumers, the company doubled its Christmas advertising spending over the previous years. Brandawareness ads in several media proclaimed, “Here’s to less,” and enjoined us to buy “fewer, better things” because “a diamond is forever.” Although Christmas sales in the United States softened compared with the previous year’s, prices were stable – and trends in consumers’ desire to buy diamonds remained healthy. When opportunities are stable or uncertain (but leaning toward stable), firms should push their advantage. In past downturns, consumer goods companies that were able to increase share of voice by maintaining or increasing their advertising spending captured market share from weaker rivals. What’s more, they did it at lower cost than when times were good. On average, increases in marketing spending during a recession have boosted financial performance throughout the year following the recession. (Of course, not all increases have raised performance. Therefore, especially in the current, deep recession, resources should be judiciously targeted to viable business opportunities.) Firms with deep pockets can make cost effective acquisitions that strengthen their brand portfolio or customer base. In the 2001 downturn, Smucker’s acquired the Jif and Crisco brands from Procter & Gamble. These brands were too small for P&G and not in any of its core categories, but they proved to be a good strategic fit for Smucker’s. In the current recession, Smucker’s is acquiring another such brand from P&G – Folgers. Though it does not meet P&G’s margin targets, with renewed marketing attention it has the potential to be an important source of future sales for Smucker’s. In deciding which marketing tactics to employ, it’s critical to track how customers are reassessing priorities, reallocating budgets, switching among brands and product categories, and redefining value. It’s therefore essential to continue investing in market research. As the recession winds down, consumers will regain buying capacity but possibly will not return to their old purchasing patterns. Market research should explore whether consumers will go back to familiar brands and products, stay with substitute products, or welcome innovations. In recessions, marketers have to stay flexible, adjusting their strategies and tactics on the assumption of a long, difficult slump and yet be able to respond quickly to the upturn when

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it comes. This means, for example, having a pipeline of innovations ready to roll out on short notice. Most consumers will be ready to try a variety of new products once the economy improves. Companies that wait until the economy is in full recovery to ramp up will be at the mercy of better-prepared competitors. Even during a recession, new products have an important place. Live-for-today customers, with their undiminished appetite for goods and experiences, oft en appreciate novelty. And the other segments will embrace new products that offer clear value compared with alternatives. Because new-product activity slows in recessions overall, launches can economically gain visibility. In 2001, for example, Procter & Gamble’s successful introduction of the Swiffer WetJet established a new product category that eased the chore of mopping floors and weaned consumers away from cheaper alternatives. Balance the communications budget. During recessions cash-strapped marketing departments are under pressure to do more with less and demonstrate high returns on investment. Typically, the share of the advertising budget devoted to broadcast media shrinks, whereas the share that goes toward efforts with more-measurable results, such as direct marketing campaigns and online ads, grows. Point-of-purchase marketing–promoting price cuts or generating in-store excitement–also tends to pick up during recessions. Internet advertising in particular is targeted and relatively cheap, and its performance is easily measured. Despite a deepening recession, marketers spent 14% more on online ads over the first three quarters of 2008 than they did over the same time frame in the previous year. Another factor driving this growth in digital-ad spending is consumers’ migration to online social media such as MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, which help people intensify networking efforts amid layoffs and a tough job market. The new-member sign-up rate at LinkedIn, a site that focuses on professional networking, has doubled in the past year. That said, broadcast media still remain important for building mass-market consumer brands. Although strong brands can be carried for a period on the momentum of previous brandbuilding investments, no brand can afford to coast solely on earlier efforts. Brands that are out of sight on the television screen will sooner or later be out of mind for a large percentage of consumers. Indeed, while advertising in newspapers and magazines and on radio and local television all declined in 2008, advertising on the four national broadcast television networks in the United States remained steady.

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ADVERTISING: AN ANTI-RECESSION TOOL

When the American arm of Hyundai, a South Korean carmaker, said that it was worried about the economy and may cancel its plans to advertise in the Super Bowl, American football's grand finale, on February 3rd last year, the advertising and media industries shuddered. Marketing spending is one of the first things companies decide to cut when faced with slowing sales. Suddenly a recession in ad-spending seemed imminent.

This data makes the company believe that ad spend does not give enough returns for the amount spent on it, so the first thing in a slowdown is to cut the advertising budget. But in this data the long term impact of advertising is not quantified. The explanation is generally based on share of voice. In a recession, some brands reduce ad spend, which can allow those brands which don’t cut to steal market share from those which do. There are probably more subjective elements too: in a recession, advertised brands may appear to consumers as safer, more aspirational choices. But ultimately the main factor seems to be whether or not a brand is being advertised more than its competitors. Of course this suggests success is not just about being brave and maintaining budgets in a recession. It also requires that at least some competitors aren’t so bold and are

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cutting back. There are additional factors at work in a recession. For a start, advertising (especially TV) becomes cheaper due to reduced demand. So the same money buys more media. Consumers reining in their spending also tend to stay at home more so the TV audiences available to advertisers can go up. These trends allow brave advertisers to get better value for their media ad spends. The long term effect of advertising (which often comprises up to 80 per cent of the total effect of ad spend) and its duration can be a significant determinant of sales not only during the recession but for some time afterwards. To demonstrate this, Figure shows the sales generated by advertising under three different scenarios: 1. Maintaining ad budgets. 2. Cutting budgets by 50 per cent for one year. 3. Axing budgets by 100 per cent for one year. In the latter two, scenarios we assume the brand in question returns to spending a “normal” budget in the year after the cut. The result on sales directly attributable to the company’s decision to stop advertising altogether for one year and then returning to normal weights after this, it takes three-four years to get back to the sales level where the brand would have been had its ad budgets been maintained. Even cutting budgets by 50 per cent for a year takes two years to recover fully (as shown by the middle line in Figure). This is one explanation why those brands not cutting budgets during a recession seem to benefit for two to three years after the recession is over: rival brands that did reduce spends will take time to get back to their pre-recession levels. Looking at this another way, if ad spend is cut during a recession; it has to be increased during recovery to get back to pre-recession sales levels quickly. The crunch is that for the example in Figure the increased spend required during the recovery just to get back to pre-recession sales levels within a year will have to be around 60 per cent higher than the amount saved by cutting the ad budget in the first place. And this, of course, assumes that the lost consumers can be won back easily. From a financial point of view it would seem the only justification for cutting advertising spends in a recession would be if a company needed the cash flow earmarked for advertising. Otherwise, the figures simply do not justify the cut in the ad spend. Value, value, value Ultimately, there may be no choice for a company, and marketing budgets may have to be cut for a business to survive on reduced revenues. It may be decided that profits have to be shored up during the recession by reducing expenditure, even in the knowledge that future profits will be hit during the recovery if the brand has to spend more to claw back lost ground. Before swinging the knife, marketing teams should investigate whether they can make current budgets work harder in a way which would allow them to reduce outlays without experiencing a drop in sales. For advertising there are many alternatives to investigate: from quality viewing (buying media time within more relevant programmes) to

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more efficient budget allocation and improvement of advertising creative. Some of these could more than compensate for fairly sizeable budget cuts. However, if cuts have to be made, the question then becomes which expenditure adds the least value? This is possibly what drives companies to reduce their advertising expenditure - simply because they do not understand its full value and especially as it is usually the single biggest investment on the balance sheet. The temptation to switch to greater use of promotions, which could generate a visible short term increase in sales, may be too strong. But there is evidence that even promotions rarely achieve a positive ROI (for the manufacturer) so understanding the brand and how effective its different marketing spends are is crucial for responding quickly when the recession bites. Then the expenditure stream that adds the least value can be reduced first. For most brands, however, that would not be advertising.

Facts which substantiate the importance of advertising in recession: 1970 recession year – American Business Press (ABP) and Meldrum & Fewsmith study showed that “sales and profits can be maintained and increased in recession years and [in the years] immediately following by those who are willing to maintain an aggressive marketing posture, while others adopt the philosophy of cutting back on promotional efforts when sales appear to be harder to get.” 1974-1975 recession years – ABP/Meldurm & Fewsmith 1979 study covering 1974/1975 and its post-recession years found that “Companies which did not cut marketing expenditures experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than those companies which cut in either or both recession years.” 1981-1982 recession years -- McGraw-Hill Research’s Laboratory of Advertising Performance studied recessions in the United States. Following the 1981-1982 recessions, it analyzed the performance of some 600 industrial companies during that economic downturn. It found that “business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their marketing expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth both during the recession and for the following three years than those which eliminated or decreased marketing.

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Cahners and Strategic Planning Institute (SPI) produced their report, “Media Advertising when your market is in a Recession.” It disclosed, “During a recessionary period, average businesses do experience a slightly lower rate of return relative to normal times. However, expansion times do not generate a higher level of profits than normal periods as might be expected.” This phenomenon was explained by an analysis of changes in market share. “During recessionary periods,” said the Cahners/SPI report, “these businesses tended to gain a greater share of market. The underlying reason is that competitors, especially smaller marginal ones, are less willing or able to defend against the aggressive firms.” The study then pointed out that businesses that increased media advertising expenditures during the recessionary period “gained an average of 1.5 points of market share.” Media Ad Expenditure Impact on Market Share Average Point Change

1990-1991 recession years – Management Review asked AMA member firms about spending during the 1990-1991 recession. “Fortune follows the brave,” it announced, noting that the data showed that most firms that raised their marketing budgets enjoyed gains in market share. Among the magazine’s sample, 15 percent reported “greatly decreased” ad budgets. Advertising was “somewhat cut” by 29 percent. “The keys to gaining market share in a recession,” concluded Management Review” seem to be spending money and adding to staff. Firms that increased their budgets and took on new people were twice as likely to pick up market share.

Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy (PIMS) Study In 1999, PIMS conducted a study of 183 UK-based companies that compared advertising spend during recessions to share and profit gains during recovery – those that spent in recession did better afterward than those that did not.

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Beyond the statistics, why it may be more important than ever to market despite economic downturn: Strong consideration should be given to the idea that marketing plays a more critical role now than it did during previous recessions. While marketing’s role was once more informational than brand identity building, and considering that never more than today has the clutter factor been so great, relationships between customers and brands are critical. Evolving role of marketing over the period:

INFORMATIONAL

BRAND AND RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Relationship marketing has surged to the top of effective marketing campaigns as a means to keep an appropriate level of share of mind for purchase loyalty. Marketing serves to foster and maintain consumer-brand relationships. The effect on profits - From the Harvard Business Review, “Advertising as an antirecession tool,” come the effects of cutting advertising on the bottom line. “The rationale that a company can afford a cutback in advertising because everybody else is cutting back [is fallacious]. Rather than wait for business to return to normal, top executives should cash in on the opportunity that the rival companies are creating for them. The company courageous enough to stay in the fight when everyone else is playing safe can bring about a dramatic change in market position.” In addition, the article points out “Advertising should be regarded not as a drain on profits but as a

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contributor to profits, not as an unavoidable expense but as a means of achieving objectives. Ad budgets should be related to the company’s goals instead of to last year’s sales or to next year’s promises.”

OPPORTUNITY MATRIX

HIGH

BRAND EQUITY LOW

HIGH LOSS POTENTIAL

RECESSION Opportunity

SURVIVAL GAME

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

LOW

HIGH

BRAND INVESTMENENTS By combining two dimensions of brand equity at the onset of the recession and brand investments in the recession, we get four scenarios. 1. Brand Equity (High), Reduction in brand investments: High Loss Potential 2. Brand Equity (High), No reduction/increase in brand investments: Recession is opportunity 3. Brand Equity (Low), Reduction in brand investments: Survival game 4. Brand Equity (Low), No reduction/increase in brand investments: Double or nothing Brands in cell (1) run the distinct danger that their equity will be significantly eroded in the current recession. They start from a favorable position, but their behavior will lead to a significant weakening of their position by the competition from private labels and the brands in cell (2). Managerial decision-making for these brands is overly cautious and focused on the short-term. These brands should emphasize activities that keep their customers satisfied (and, hence, retain them), rather than focus on cost-saving activities. Indeed, customers lost during the recession may never come back, even when the economy’s outlook improves again.

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For brands in cell (2), the recession is an opportunity to pull ahead of their shortsighted competitors in cell (1). Their proactive behavior will strengthen their (relative) position, not only in the recession period, but also in subsequent years. Brands in cell (3) are in the worst possible situation: they start weak, and their management makes the wrong decisions. They are prime candidates to be de-listed by retailers who are pushing their private labels in recessions – and many of them will. Their brand equity will decline, and many will not even survive the recession The brands in cell (4) have the opportunity of a lifetime to fight back. They start in an unfavorable position – their equity is low and, in normal times, it would take tremendous marketing investments to break through the competitive clutter. However, given that most brands cut back in recessions and, hence, belong to cells (1) and (3), brands in cell (4) are able to increase their share of total market communication in the category dramatically by maintaining or – even better – increasing their marketing investments. But it is a risky strategy – if it is poorly executed, the anticipated increase in sales and profits will not materialize and the brand may be discontinued. Conclusion: Just as slumps in the stock market offer great opportunities for courageous investors, slumps in the real economy offer great opportunities to courageous managers. All evidence indicates that a proactive strategy is associated with increased brand success and shareholder value. If you wait till the good times come back, you ignore the advice given by the legendary ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” Recessions are not for the faint-hearted but who said that fair weather makes great managers?

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DIGITAL AND INTERNET MARKETING Some traditional media only make sense if you have sufficient funds to run the media enough times to reach a certain ‘threshold’ level. It requires enough funds so the production-to-media expenditure ratio stays sufficiently low. However, some digital options – such as search marketing – can be used at virtually any scale and budget; effectiveness is not dependent upon threshold levels. Search terms, which generate leads to your site, can be bought as single words or thousands of words. They can be bought for a day, a week, a month or whatever intervals you choose. They can be bought immediately around key events or special promotions. Even small businesses can buy search terms. And the key is that you only pay for results (when someone clicks on to your site). So there is a direct correlation of spend and return, with no production costs involved. Creative pre-testing: More companies are realizing that they can use the instant feedback of the Web-to-Test ideas – including for non-digital material. Web-based testing can be overt, in the form of asking for consumer feedback or it can be covert, by simply looking at the data related to consumer usage patterns to determine which material performs best.

WEB Based testing

COVERT Techniques

Feedback by looking at the data related to consumer usage patterns to determine which material performs best

OVERT Techniques

Feedback by asking the consumers

Competitive monitoring: The last point is a reminder that even during the tough times, your competitors aren’t sleeping. In fact, they – like you – are probably considering new and better options. During tough times, it’s important to monitor their activities. Where they are, outdo them. Where they aren’t, fill the void (if it’s cost-effective and makes sense for

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you). When they stumble, pounce on the opportunity with better offers, better information and better options – punishing them by swaying consumers away from them. Doing some simple online monitoring will help you know what they are doing and what consumers are currently saying about your competition. The next digital difference to note is the benefit of digital channels relative to data and interactivity. Data is both the fuel and the byproduct of digital marketing. It is the ‘fuel’ because you generally need some data (email or website addresses, opt-in permission, etc.) to enable your digital marketing efforts, such as sending out emails. Most companies these days already have some of that data. At the same time, every interaction with consumers generates data; it is the natural byproduct of digital marketing. As noted in the previous point, a lot of this data (on site traffic, etc.) can be used for measuring and improving your digital marketing. Digital marketing can also generate a great deal of personal user data that has value. In fact, this is data that often costs money when it comes from third-party sources. So smart activities can yield real benefits. Beyond user data, you can also gather user opinions, views and insights. Nowadays, brands are looking for more innovative ways to attract customers – whether be it increasing brand awareness, acquiring users, promoting new products or simply tapping into a new segment. India being the biggest untapped and fastest growing online market in the world - brands are more than happy to explore this space and use their money intelligently. Brands do not seem to be reducing their advertising investment; instead they are investing money in the right media vehicles. They are weighing all the options and maximizing returns. With the Indian Web space packaging a mix of both online and offline advertising solutions, brands want every penny’s worth at this time of recession. The Indian online space is booming with new and innovative websites/portals. Economic woes are not expected to spell disaster for the Internet advertising industry due to a few key factors that will create spending buoyancy. Measurability with better understanding of the audience More effective ad placements Better targeting Wooing audiences through video advertising and reaching that vital audience following eyeballs.

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According to a recent poll by marketing consultancy firm R3 of at least 50 marketers who manage around 100 of Asia’s top 500 brands, 25% are planning on reducing their expenditures.R3 however also says that at least 40% of Indian marketers said they were going to spend more than originally planned on digital media, direct media and promotions. Digital marketing is beginning to pay off for automakers since it allows them access to urban well to do families and a recent article in Economic Times points out the payoffs from internet marketing for cars Maruti claims over a lakh cars it sold last year originated from digital marketing initiatives Tata Motors saw 4,000 customers booking its low-cost car Nano over the internet. Around 17-18 % of Maruti's sales now are estimated to originate from digital marketing from mere 2-3 % in 2005 Internet is responsible for 5% of Honda’s total sales in India. Tata Motors’ dedicated website on Nano got a little over 30-million hits from the date of launch of the car to the closure of the booking. Digital channels can indeed drive sales. One mobile phone handset company in Asia saw 50% of sales coming directly from digital, while only 21% of their marketing money for the phone model actually went to digital channels. Mobile based marketing is a part of digital marketing which has come up as an innovative way to market in recession as every penny spend is very important. HSBC conducted a mobile-based promotion with High Networth Individuals (HNIs) at international airport’s departure lounges, offering them applications that would be useful in the country they were travelling to—such as tips on communicating better in the new language or locating a bank branch. According to Vinod Thadani, regional head, mobile, Group M, South Asia, which conducted the campaign for HSBC, a valid database of 14,000 was generated of which almost 30% was converted.

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Affiliate marketing is another technique to consider when you want fast, efficient activity. In affiliate marketing, another advertiser posts your material on their (existing) website. When people click onto your site from theirs, you pay them an agreed amount per lead, just as you do with search terms. Software can manage this transaction, so this relationship – or multiple relationships – can be managed efficiently. Simple, existing material can be used in affiliate marketing. Leveraging social networking sites Social networks, such as Facebook, and a variety of other language equivalents, are now also aggregating large audiences. These sites present the potential for brands to costeffectively reach very large audiences, often with little/ no costs associated. In marketing through social networks, you can possibly re-purpose or produce very low-cost communications material. As with video distribution, penetrating social networks requires a clear strategy. SPRITE’s latest campaign launched online before hitting TV Coca Cola India is launching its latest campaign for Sprite, the second-largest selling carbonated drink in India, on the Internet. This is the first time the cola major is breaking a campaign for one of its brands online, giving TV a miss. This campaign is being done at Network18's In.com site. Breaking this campaign online before hitting TV is a major achievement and highlights why TV18 group seems most likely to emerge as India's best organized online entity. The new campaign will see Sprite building on its Seedhi baat no bakwaas proposition, with communication around Fridge Mein Jayega Bade Kaam Ayega for the 1.25-litre fridge pack. For instance, the online contest will bring in interactivity as internet users view eight seconds of the Sprite commercial and will have to complete the rest. The first six participants who guess the ending would win Nokia multimedia phones. The interesting point is that for the two days that the campaign is being aired online, Coca Cola expects close to 4 million page views. This type of activity results in effective advertising to millions of people and spend on it is very less as compared to other traditional forms of advertising. Trends in print advertising This is an economic downturn and there is a sharp drop in marketing and advertising budgets of various companies but this slowdown has caused some people to innovate and adopt new strategies and approaches to traditional print advertising. 1. While there may not be a substantial drop in ad rates, media houses are throwing in

freebies and value-adds for consumers without changing the rack rate (officially quoted maximum rates), resulting in an effective drop in ad rates which results in an overall discount up to 10-20% through various routes.

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2. Big Bang Approach: There is a rise in new trend that of going for big bang ads running full-page ads, front-page flaps and cover jackets in newspapers and magazines. In a twist of selective scheduling, some advertisers are looking at cutting down on frequency and duration of the ad campaigns and instead running a few big ads during select periods.

Selective Scheduling

Big bang ads running full page ads, front page flaps and cover jackets in newspapers and magazines

BIG BANG APPROACH

3. Another interesting trend is in categories such as consumer products that are choosing to advertise in bursts at the beginning and end of the month, which may coincide with consumer buying patterns, as opposed to running the campaign throughout the month. 4. Another trend is the equality in ad rates for national clients and retail (local) clients, traditionally retail rates are 40-50% lower than regular rates as they are applicable to local businesses which may want their ads to appear only in a local edition. National brands these days are, however, striking rates closer to retail rates for national release. Trends in television advertising Due to the current slowdown there has been substantial planning in TV ad’s to avoid wastage. As the economic slowdown deepens advertisers are trying to optimize their ad spending by moving to targeted channels known as frequency builders because they offer advertisers the scope to air their ads at a much higher frequency to select audiences. Ad rates on general entertainment channels are around 10 times those on channels targeted at select audiences. Multiple airing of an ad on a targeted platform would be much cheaper than a single airing on an entertainment channel.

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WAYS TO RECESSION MARKETING As explained before, the classification of customers and classification of consumers according to priorities by sorting products and services in the section “Understanding Recession Psychology”; the ways in which in which marketing could be done in recession is different for different groups of consumers and different for different products and services. This could be well summarized with the following table: -

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Some of the ways which companies could follow at the time of recession are: 1. Increase the advertising budget. Increasing spending increases a company’s share of voice. If your competitors cut back, your message has the chance to grow stronger. 2. Utilize sponsorships. This type of awareness advertising and promotion gives a business valuable exposure to targeted, core audiences. 3. Stay in contact with loyal customers. Keep in touch and let them know what you have to offer. 4. Product introductions. Don’t hesitate to introduce well-conceived and properly marketed new products when the competition is weak. 5. Sustain awareness. Advertising works cumulatively—remind people frequently about your brand or they’ll forget you. 6. Don’t “cheapen” your advertising. Trying to save on creative or production costs can be a kiss of death, and customers will notice. 7. Enhance product and company publicity. Maintain a media presence with a smart, effective, ongoing public relations program. Strengthening relationships with key media will provide long-term financial benefits. 8. Be more aggressive in marketing your products so that you become the choice for consumers even in the tough times of the consumers. 9. Start sponsoring. This type of awareness advertising gives your business valuable exposure to targeted, core audiences. 10. Maintain continuity to sustain awareness. Advertising works cumulatively so you have to remind people frequently about your brand or they'll forget you. 11. Step up public relations efforts. Be sure to maintain a media presence with smart, effective PR programs. 12. Keep an eye on the competition and don’t panic. 13. Concentrate on your core brands and products. 14. Don’t price promote unless you can cut costs or live with lower margins. 15. Don’t cut on the quality of your products for cost-cutting because this could hamper your brand image and if known by the consumers would result in loss of sales of your product. 16. Focus o perfect segmentation of the market and positioning of the brand. 17. Make your creative work harder. 18. Review on the budget allocation of your product basket. 19. Have a more effective communication with the customers for retaining them. 20. Spend more on media dollars, less on overheads. Need in the recession is to focus on your current results rather going for long-term results. 21. Use digital marketing software tools for finding whether or not the particular advertisement would give the desired results, even before implementation, which in a way helps in reducing cost. Some of the tools to measure results are: -

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Ad Server for Advertisers. Ad Server for Publishers. Web Analytics. e-Mail Marketing. Mobile Analytics. Mobile Ad Server. Web Server Statistics. e-Survey Systems. Feedback Systems.

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MARUTI-SUZUKI: AN AUTOMOTIVE MASTERSTROKE Maruti Suzuki is an example of the automobile sector, which lies in the one of the badly hit sectors during the time of recession. This sector goods and services lied under the groups of “Postponables” as explained in the classification of goods. The automobile sector has been divided in four major segments:1. Economy. 2. Mid-range. 3. Premium. 4. Luxury. It caters more to the urban population of India, directly linked to disposable income. In this sector, the critical success factor has changed from price to price-value. Maruti Suzuki is one of India's leading automobile manufacturers and the market leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and revenue earned – a people’s car for the middle class India. Until recently, 18.28% owned by the Indian government, and on May 10, 2007, it sold its complete share to Indian financial institutions. The parent company is a globally renowned for its mini and compact cars for three decades, its technical superiority, power and performance into a compact, lightweight engine that is clean and fuel efficient. Maruti has been labelled as an “employer of choice” for automotive engineers and young managers. The company vouches for customer satisfaction.

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• SX4 • D'zire

MUV

Segment

• Alto • Wago n-R • Zen • Swift • A-star • Ritz

• Gypsy • Grand Vitara

A3

Segment

• Omni • Versa

A2

Segment

• M800

C

A1

Segment

Maruti has segmented its cars in the following segments:

It seems, changed gears just in time to survive and thrive despite the slowdown. They revitalized their brand despite and in spite of the slowdown by simply emphasizing its core brand proposition – value for money, fuel efficient cars – and increasing its value! But managing their brand portfolio well is not Maruti’s only claim to the marketing fame. Over the last quarter of stagnating sales, the motor company went on an overdrive to enhance its market penetration. For one, instead of restricting its annual dealer level discount scheme till the end of December (as it does every year to clear yearend sales), Maruti 1. Extended the lucrative cash discounts way into February; 2. Next up is their strategic tie-up with Corporation Bank to finance Maruti Suzuki vehicles on an all India basis to enable credit access at a time when banks are antsy about lending too easily; and 3. Finally, proactively embracing the ‘voluntary disclosure of fuel economy’ to drive home the message to consumers about their leadership in making highly fuel efficient cars. As per Shinzo Nakanishi, MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the move “would enable customers to make an informed choice when purchasing a car in the market.” So this was the way Maruti-Suzuki tackled recession without showing any kind of negative impacts in the sales of their products.

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Sales of MARUTI-SUZUKI after implementation of their marketing strategies during the times of recession till and in July: -

Analysis of sales data: Severe impact on A1 segment car (Maruti) as shift of customers to newer brands and cars which give them similar facilities and are new in the market at similar prices; No impact on C and A2 segment cars with new implementation of strategies and getting more and more new cars in the segment for getting customers go for something new. Though not completely unaffected by the slowdown (the market leader posted a decrease in sales for all three months in the last quarter), in January 2009, Maruti Suzuki bucked the trend and reported a 5.59% increase in domestic sales. A closer look at their figures reveal that their recent additions to the A3 segment (D’zire and SX4) is what is making the numbers look so cool. The segment saw a twofold growth, selling 6,590 units (even higher than their cash cow Maruti 800) as against 2,939 units in the same month last year. High sales seen due to the marketing strategy implemented by the company in the A3 segment cars.

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SX4 was launched in May 2007 and D’Zire in March 2008.Both the cars are runaway success ever since they have been launched in India and they have kept the A3 segment unaffected. Overall, recession has not adversely impacted the passenger car segment.

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VODAFONE: GO THE “ZOO-ZOO” WAY

One of the best campaigns seen so far is the Vodafone's ZooZoo campaign. Never in the history of Indian advertising, had we witnessed a campaign that generated so much interest and curiosity among all the segments of the society, be it young or old. So much has been written about ZooZoo in various media. ZooZoo was created to promote the value added services (VAS) of Vodafone. Vodafone was trying hard to capture the VAS space because it is a potential cash cow for cellular companies. Vodafone also wanted to make the most of the IPL Season2. Although IPL is a crowd puller, it is also a marketer's nightmare because of the clutter. IPL attracts all the deep pocket advertisers and to standout, one needs to think out of the box. Thus ZooZoo was born. ZooZoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in an earth-like place (lot of which is left to the viewer's imagination).These are very simple beings who are very expressive. They laugh aloud, cry loud and have a child like simplicity around them. Thus have an emotional and personal attachment with all the consumers.

The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. Although the production process of ZooZoo ads are not simple, as a consumer I was attracted to the simplicity of the concept and the execution. ZooZoo also highlights the power of storytelling. Each ad tells a very simple story. After all brands are made through story telling.

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Another factor that aided the success of ZooZoo is the scale of the campaign. Reports suggest that there are around 25 different ads of ZooZoo to be aired during this IPL season. This unprecedented scale has kept the curiosity high among the viewers. It has infact dwarfed all the other advertisers in this season. There is lot of risk being taken behind this campaign. The Vodafone managers who okayed this campaign may have risked their jobs to bring out such a massive campaign. The agency also risked their credibility. One should appreciate the creative talent of O&M and Nirvana Films who proved that Indian Advertising has come of age. Vodafone has taken ZooZoo beyond advertising. The fan club in the facebook page of ZooZoo has already touched 316,572 and counting. All these has transformed into a great viral movement. There are already a plethora of mail forwards and blogposts celebrating ZooZoo.

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ZooZoo is a great marketing story. Vodafone has benefitted immensely by this campaign. It caught the attention and fancy of the consumers, aroused curiosity, told stories and made people retell the story.

Marketing Guru Seth Godin always emphasized that Brands should be Remarkable. He defined remarkable as "Worthy of Making a Remark about " The ZooZoo is a classic example of being Remarkable.

Sales of VODAFONE after implementation of their marketing strategies during the times of recession of the month of June 30, 2009: -

Vodafone reported an increase of 23 percent in revenue at constant exchange rates, and 33 percent, taking into account exchange rate fluctuations. The revenues included a 7 percent benefit of revenue from their stake in Indus Towers. Data revenues for Vodafone remained flat quarter on quarter, but were up 30 percent year on year. Strangely enough, messaging (SMS) revenues declined quarter on quarter.

However, much like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, Vodafone India reported a decline in ARPU, impacted by the mobile termination rate cut.

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In terms of Minutes of Use, Vodafone clocked 10% higher minutes of use, at 71,775 million minutes, up from 65,276 million minutes used in Q4-09. Of its Total Customer Base, 93.2 percent was Pre-paid. The company’s average customer base grew by 56 percent year on year, on launching in seven new circles.

Net additions for the company declined quarter on quarter - Vodafone India added 7.68 million subscribers in the quarter, as opposed to 7.83 million subscribers added in the previous quarter. Much like other operators, Vodafone India has suggested that usage per customer declined on account of multiple SIM usage, which is being attributed to the free minutes and free SIM cards being given by operators, particularly in new circles.

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The above picture clearly depicts how the ZooZoo advertisements have helped in increasing the customer base for Vodafone in the last quarter with a sharp increase of 3.8%, from 17.5% to 21.7%. Vodafone reports churn on an annualized basis, and the company saw a pre-paid churn of 26.3 percent churn for the last four quarters, with a Pre-paid churn of 26.4 percent, and a post-paid churn of 25.3 percent.

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HORLICKS STRATEGY DURING RECESSION: Horlicks has a significant presence in over fifteen countries. Today Horlicks is the best known brand in the health foods category in India. The brand enjoys the trust of generations of Indian mothers and this relationship has been nurtured by the brand by fortifying the product from time to time. Today, Junior Horlicks contributes 11% to Horlicks’ total sales turnover and has been one of the fastest growing product extensions to the Horlicks brand. But it isn’t just product development that Horlicks has concentrated upon. It has also created new attractive packaging options including jars, refill packs and sachets. Horlicks was the first brand in India to introduce a refill pack option and also the first to shrink-wrap bottles. In a way, there’s a Horlicks pack for every occasion and mood. Indian health drinks market is still in its infancy due to the lack of awareness among the population. In value terms, the health food drink market is around Rs 1, 400 crore and in volume terms around 65,000 tonnes per annum. Glaxo Smithkline (GSK) with four brands Horlicks, Boost, Viva and Maltova - is the leader in Indian health drink market. Complan, Glucon D from Heinz India and Cadbury India’s Bournvita are also popular among the Indian health drink brands. Examination time (January-March) every year is a great time for health drink powders like Horlicks and Boost, Glaxo Smithkline’s (GSK) flagship health drink powders for kids. It is GSK’s peak sales period, following which demand slumps by about 10-12%, thanks to a nearhalt in hot drinks by consumers in the ensuing summer months. And so begin the good times for kids and bad times for brands like Horlicks. In the last summer however marketers at GSK decided to challenge these bad times head on. They launched a cold-consumption campaign for Horlicks – first by teaming up with the launch of the successful movie Ice Age 2 in India and then by roping in the Taare Zameen Par child star Darsheel Safary and adding summer variants to their portfolio. The chilled drink positioning for Horlicks not just translated into red-hot national sales for Horlicks during the summer; but also gave the brand a chance to keep its visibility high throughout the year.

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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: “Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words and pictures.” Marketing has been inside-out (one way) approach – to broadcast the product message to the consumer with & expect the user to listen, consider purchase of the product. Social Media Marketing is use of media that is capable of two way communication, engage consumer in a dialogue, hear their review comments, spread your product message among their network – along with increase in product sales, you would also get feedback from consumers.

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TRADITIONAL MEDIA:

Television, Radio, Print are the traditional media, currently used for marketing the products or services, characteristically it adopts the “law of few” (scarce resource) that leads the products to fight for limited media available to broadcast their message, pricing. Demand to Price elasticity is driven by the quality of the program on the media. So many brands have fewer channels to advertise in a particular slot of time.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

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Internet & Mobile Phones are the two main constituents of Social Media and it differs in availability of scale, does not have the problem of few, less elastic demand curve compared to traditional media. Specific and narrow target user social media channel can be found or created to market the product, a new channel creation has lower entry barrier. Here fewer brands have a lot of channels of advertising so they can reach a wider audience in effective ad spending. There are many ways to brand development. One such way is brand extension wherein a company extends its brand to various categories. One such brand in league of brand development is what is done by Horlicks. Horlicks was introduced in market as a health drink. It then extended into biscuit category. Now it has extended to another class of products namely functional foods category with its new Horlicks Nutri-Bar in the time of economic slowdown. This energy bar is positioned as a ready-made healthy solution to hunger. Challenges: Marketers should not get infected by Competition Myopia, wherein the marketers view the competitors too narrowly. In this case, Horlicks Nutri-Bar may see itself as the pioneer in cereal bars category, but they are not the only one in ready-to-eat hunger satisfying food class. In this context or category, they have a major competitor, namely Mars Snickers, which has a positioning similar to Horlicks Nutri-Bar, though it comes in confectionery category. Horlicks Nutri-Bar is a recently launched product, while Snickers is an established player. Horlicks has to identify its competitors, and strategize accordingly to highlight its POD (Point Of Difference) and gain SCA (Sustainable Competitive Advantage). The rural market is growing at a fast rate and GSK has taken it as a strategy to expand its distribution in the rural area to expand in sales and fight the recession and increase its sales. In an aggressive ‘Go to Market’ approach, it created a second layer of distributors in the smaller towns to supplement the existing chain of around 500 big distributors. The current market reach of GSK Consumer Healthcare is about 25 percent and the goal is to reach 40 percent.

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The Internet is a good way to connect with kids. So, there are tips posted on examinations on the website — “Exams ka bhoot bhagao” (Drive the exam demon away). Besides, the company has also reached out to children with Wizkids, a contact programme that provides a platform for schoolchildren across 25 cities to showcase their talent. Positioning: In the minds of the consumer it is communicated as a Value-for-Money product while its competitors like Complan are perceived to be more expensive. So compared to its competitors it is the best money proposition and the consumer gets value for the money spent. Parents even in a slowdown are not ready to compromise on the nutrition of their children. They are willing to spend more for their children. This allowed the company in succeeding to even increase its price by about 5 percent. Target for Horlicks Nutri-Bar: “Young working adult” as the growth market. To conclude GSK Consumer Healthcare for its product Horlicks has done good innovative marketing so as to maximize the return on the money spent during the economic downturn.

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JET AIRWAYS – SOARING HIGH Introduction:Famed investor Warren Buffett once joked that a generation of Wall Street investors would have been served well if someone had shot down the Wright brothers as they attempted their historic flight. Indeed, it’s been a tough decade for the airline industry and their investors. The same can be extended to the Indian Aviation industry which has seen a double digit growth in the recent decade but has also borne the brunt of recession. Soaring fuel costs, aging fleets, dwindling number of passengers are the every day challenges that a manager in an airline industry has to deal with. The recent recession wave that took the world by storm has even added to the woes of the aviation industry. "We are bleeding. Everybody is bleeding. Giving a helping hand to the airline industry is done all over the world,", Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways said while asking the government for a ‘rationalization of taxes’.

Let’s have a look at the comparison of Indian aviation industry:-

Disadvantage India:-

ATF price in India 60-70% higher

Sales tax in India averaing at 26-30%

Airport charges, landing and parking fees high

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As a result of the cumulative effect of all the above mentioned effects the airlines in India have a huge amount of operating cost which adds to the woes of the airlines industry in India. Adding to this is the current economic slowdown that has hit the world. The airline industry is in tatters worldwide as the recession has squeezed purses, forcing people to look for cheaper modes of transport. This has not only stung the high cost, luxury airlines but the low cost, no-frills one also. Jet Airways strategy:Jet Airways, has been a stalwart in adopting new marketing strategy to attract new customers, to maintain visibility. Jet Airways has always been a forerunner in the Indian aviation industry in adopting unique ways of marketing which has in part helped the company attain and retain number uno position in the sector. To combat the economic slowdown Jet Airways has adopted a new Digital Marketing Strategy known as “Affiliate Marketing Strategy.” Jet airways is a pioneer in this regard. Though Affiliate Marketing is a tried and tested technique in US and European countries, Jet Airways has pioneered this technique in India, atleast in the aviation sector. Understanding Affiliate marketing:Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts. It is an application of crowd-sourcing. The Affiliate Marketing industry has four core players at its heart: the Merchant, the Network, the Publisher and the Consumer. The market has grown sufficiently in complexity to warrant a secondary tier of players, including Affiliate Management Agencies, SuperAffiliates and Specialized Third Parties vendors. Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates often use regular advertising methods. Those methods include organic search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner Merchants favor affiliate marketing because in most cases it uses a "pay for performance" model, meaning that the merchant does not incur a marketing expense unless results are accrued (excluding any initial setup cost). Some businesses owe much of their success to this marketing technique, a notable example being Amazon.com. Unlike display advertising, however, affiliate marketing is not easily scalable. Affiliate websites are often categorized by merchants (i.e., advertisers) and affiliate networks. There are currently no industry-wide accepted standards for the categorization. The following types of websites are generic, yet are commonly understood and used by affiliate marketers.

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

Search affiliates that utilize pay per click search engines to promote the advertisers' offers (i.e., search arbitrage)



Comparison shopping websites and directories Loyalty websites, typically characterized by providing a reward system for purchases via points back, cash back CRM sites that offer charitable donations Coupon and rebate websites that focus on sales promotions

    

   

 

Content and niche market websites, including product review sites Personal websites (This type of website was the reason for the birth of affiliate marketing; however, such websites are almost reduced to complete irrelevance compared to the other types of affiliate websites.) Weblogs and website syndication feeds E-mail list affiliates (i.e., owners of large opt-in -mail lists that typically employ e-mail drip marketing) and newsletter list affiliates, which are typically more content-heavy Registration path or co-registration affiliates who include offers from other merchants during the registration process on their own website Shopping directories that list merchants by categories without providing coupons, price comparisons, or other features based on information that changes frequently, thus requiring continual updates Cost per action networks (i.e., top-tier affiliates) that expose offers from the advertiser with which they are affiliated to their own network of affiliates Websites using adbars (e.g. Adsense) to display context-sensitive, highly-relevant ads for products on the site

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Jet Airways and Affiliate Marketing: -

Features of Jet Airways Affiliate Program:-

Commision •CPS:- Rs.12,500 •Recurring permanent

Customer Demographics •Gender:-men, women. •Target Countries:-All, especially India, Australia, New zealand, Malaysia.

Keyword policy •Restricted keyword access.

Promotion Methods •Organic Search Engine optimization. •PPC Search Engine. •Contexual Advertising •Blogging/Forum postings. •Own/Publisher Website.

Marketing Resources •Banner •Text Links

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Why Affiliate Marketing by Jet Airways: As mentioned above, the company, due to the economic recession was facing dwindling profit margins and reduced occupancy. But at the same time, the airline was aware of the fact that, the brand of “Jet Airways” need to be in people`s mind. If they cut down on their marketing, any competitor who aggressively markets in this economic slowdown will get a large share of people`s mind. So major reason for Jet adopting affiliate marketing was that this strategy gives the company a large economical “Virtual Field Force”, so as to say. The marketing strategy gives the airline many other advantages like:1. Increased cost effectiveness:- Due to the Activity based pricing, the affiliate can realize his commission of Rs. 12,500 only when a sale is materialized through the affiliate site. This drastically cuts down the marketing cost of the company as spending on inefficient traditional marketing ways are reduced. 2. Greater visibility:- Today many potential customers look at the internet as an ultimate source for all their problems. So by adopting this strategy, the company is increasing their visibility in the digital world, akin to hoardings in the real world. This increased visibility results in instant recall by the customer, especially in untraded waters of Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia. 3. Tapping the younger generations:- This digital strategy which also encompasses contextual advertising, gives the airline to reach to the younger generations, which are becoming a high revenue earner for any airline. This strategy gives the airline to be present where it matters. Because of contextual advertising used by the traditional publisher and more effectively by the affiliate the airline gets presence on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook. 4. Reporting:- Since the site of the affiliate is connected to the Jet Airways main site through Shoogloo network, the potential customer can easily book tickets from the site of the affiliate. Also for Jet Airways, it results in increased validity of sales and better tracking of sales.

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ALASKA AIRLINES

Strategy to overcome recession: Focus on two areas 1. Discounted airfare deals 2. Frequent flyer program bonuses. Go all in with double miles, for all flights, on all routes; in all classes of service make those double miles qualify for elite status. Times like these call for bold measures This offer won't overcome the effects of a worldwide economic meltdown exacerbated by a stage-5 swine flu epidemic. No promotion would, or could. But Alaska's offer will prompt a few more people to fly, and give those already committed to flying a reason to book on Alaska rather than on another airline. It will reinforce and reward Alaska's customers' loyalty. And—perhaps most importantly—it will force other airlines to seriously consider mounting similar promotions One thing that would have done differently: Rather than the somewhat timid seven week promotion period, it has put the bonus on offer for a solid three months or more.

Booking strategy by airline industries to overcome recession American Launches Elite-Oriented Promotions With business travel still in the doldrums, American is offering double elite-qualifying miles and bonuses to maintain the loyalty of its most profitable customers. Consumers Win With Booking Fee Elimination

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With online travel agencies eliminating booking fees, how do their fares compare to the airlines' offerings? The results of our comparison tests may surprise you. New US Airways Offer: Up to 50,000 Bonus Miles For those whose normal travel and spending patterns put significant bonus miles within reach, this promotion lives up to its "Grand Slam" moniker. American Discounts Annual Airport Lounge Memberships With American's discount on airport lounge memberships, flyers can buy peace and quiet for less. Infrequent flyers should steer clear At Your Service: Online Cruise Reservations As cruise lines expand options for online reservations, cruise travellers can spend less time queuing up onboard and more time enjoying their vacations. Starwood Extends Bonus Points Offer Through November The latest bonus offer for stays at Starwood hotels may push other hotels to extend bonuses through the fall as well. It's yet another reason to cheer the travel slump on. Double American Miles, for New Yorkers Only American's new double-mile promotion applies to all flights, through the end of the year. But to qualify, travellers must live in the New York area. US Airways' Mileage Sale Rates a 'Buy' With US Airways' 100 percent bonus, the economics of buying miles from an airline turn Combine Cash and Priority Club Points for Hotel Nights Priority Club Rewards' new Points and Cash feature lets members combine points with cash for award nights at any of more than 4,200 hotels in the Intercontinental Hotels family. New Club Med Program Offers Few Rewards If a trip to Club Med isn't its own reward, the new loyalty program isn't likely to be a difference-maker. The hurdles are high and rewards only so-so. Frequent Flyer strategy

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Consumers Win With Booking Fee Elimination With online travel agencies eliminating booking fees, how do their fares compare to the airlines' offerings? The results of our comparison tests may surprise you. Southwest Adds Wyndham Hotels to Its Loyalty Program While Southwest's program remains somewhat anemic, adding the Wyndham Hotels network is at least a down payment on a brighter future for Rapid Rewards members. United's New Credit Cards Offer Unique Benefits United has three new credit cards that offer extra mileage and extra benefits for frequent travelers. But are the high annual fees worth the bonuses? US Airways Discounts Caribbean, Europe Awards Looking for cheap frequent flyer award tickets to the Caribbean or Europe this fall and winter? If your miles are in US Airways' Dividend Miles program, you may be in luck New United Credit Cards Offer Elite Miles for Charges For some travellers, the $375 annual fee for United's new Mileage Plus credit card may be more than offset by the card's perks, making it a high-flying bargain.

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MORGAN HOTELS – “F@#!ING IT OUT” Introduction:The hospitality industry is in the business of serving to even the enemies. The biggest enemy that the US hospitality industry facing is the economic slowdown. If the hospitality industry is a measure of the wealth in people’s pockets then the news is very bad indeed. The industry is facing one of its worst times in memory as pubs, clubs and restaurants close at an unprecedented rate. Insolvencies in the sector have risen by 95% in 2 years as people opt to stay at home and preserve their cash rather than splurging on luxuries like nights out, meals and other entertainment. A report by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed that there were 281 business failures in the third quarter of this year, up from 175 last year and well ahead of the 220 insolvencies reported in the first quarter and the 212 recorded in the second. It was almost double the number reported – 144 - in the final quarter of 2006. This data clearly points out to the fact that people have indeed stopped spending money on these vices and are looking to invest the money rationally. Certain comments made by the pub owners especially in US, points out to the fact of branding and brand image during the slow economic conditions. “The majority of pubs suffering distress are wet-led community pubs losing out to supermarkets. Some have also found the competition from well known pub chains has had a detrimental effect as brand and familiarity become more important to consumers when personal expenditure is under pressure.”- Mr. Stephen Brown, the hospitality and leisure director of PWC.

Thus we clearly see that the brand image and familiarity in the minds of people become an important factor during crunch time. This only reinforces the fact that recession is not the time to cut back on advertising spending but time to spend the marketing budget rationally. Shown below is a graph depicting HIP index of the US hotel industry. The Hotel Industry Pulse, or HIP for short, is a hotel industry indicator that was created to fill the void of a realtime monthly indicator for the hotel industry that captures current conditions. The indicator provides useful information about the timing and degree of the industry’s linking with the U.S. business cycle for the past 40 years. Simply put, it tracks monthly overall business conditions in the industry, like an industry GDP, and points in to the changes in direction from growth to recession or vice versa.

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The composite indicator is made with the following components: revenues from consumers staying at hotels and motels adjusted for inflation, room occupancy rate and hotel employment, along with other key economic factors that influence hotel business activity.

We infer from the graph that the HIP has declined to a figure of 83.1 in year 2009, which shows that the hospitality industry is indeed facing a crunch in the past two years.

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Recession to Recess-is-on campaign:To combat this depressing situation in the economy and also to boost up its occupancy rate, a high end hotel chain in America, named the Morgan Hotels came up with a campaign titled “Fuck the Recession, Attitude is Everything.” The campaign was a bold move on the part of the marketing team at Morgans as it is not easy for a top brand to put its whole existence at stake by shouting aloud what people say in private. The campaign was of the same magnitude as the magnitude of the problem at hand. Also it kept in mind the frustration the people had in mind about all the crisis talk and moulded a campaign which actually gave vent to people’s anger. The company knew that people were frustrated with all the crisis talk and wanted to break away from it. So the mentioned tagline garnered great interest and brought cheers on the peoples face. This was only the one part of campaign. The other part which said “Recession” actually told people that the economic slowdown is not the time to complain but a time to play. It painted in the peoples mind the idea that at Morgans, there is no crisis, that Morgans presents an alternative reality, where everything looks exactly like in the real world, except when you see a guy with an eye on his forehead passing by. “We like to offer our customers a different point of view. We like to take a dare and be provocative. We want to talk to customers in an authentic way, to look ’em in the eye and tell them we have a soul as a brand.” “Come ride it out with us and you’ll have a better time than with anyone else.”

Says Scott Williams, chief marketing officer At Morgans Target audience:An internal analysis of the Morgan hotel revealed that the biggest revenue generator for the hotel was the pub and the restaurant business which garnered maximum revenue for the company. So the Recessison campaign as targeted towards the young affluent crowd of the American society. When the campaign was initially launched by the company it was targeted all the average people in the American society. They did this by getting average people in the American society to endorse the FTR campaign. This was the easy part to do. But an average American endorsing for a hotel which charges $800 for a weekend getaway does not look authentic. This average American story did not add any value to the FTR campaign.

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Challenges:The major challenge faced by the marketing team was to convince the people that fear is for small minds. In a century where people have become more aware of the resources and the importance of the economical use, an ad campaign which urges people to have a risk free approach towards life becomes very difficult to accept for the people. Strategy:Feeling guilty about ordering that $14 capiranha while headlines trumpet economic collapse in every quarter? Morgans Hotel Group has a message for you: "F&%k the Recession!" That’s the sentiment adorning the back of the bartenders’ Tshirts at the posh new Mondrian here in South Beach. The front of the shirt urges guests to forget the collapse in retail sales, the burgeoning foreclosure figures, the potential demise of the Big Three automakers: “RecessIsOn” they say. It’s a campaign that New York branding consultancy Ito Partnership concocted for the hotel chain as a way of dealing with the dissonance travellers might feel about booking themselves into a hotel known for the chandeliers in its showers instead of a monk-like Motel 6. “The strategy behind “RecessIsOn” for Morgans is: 1. Keep cool (maintain the vibe and image that our guests expect) 2. Give the guests permission to enjoy the brand, even in negative economic times,” says Ito Partnership’s CEO, David Melancon, at a party celebrating the Mondrian’s opening during Art Basel Miami. “The first phase was about instantly connecting with customers by verbalizing the pungent, slightly off-color thought that we all have: F#*k the Recession. We did that through guerrilla media tactics (video projections, wild postings and some other outdoor media.)” Morgans

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had wanted to buy print space, but couldn't find a way to do that would sufficiently convey their feisty sentiment in a family-friendly way. They also launched a YouTube channel -- RecesIsOn -- that has a short video with images of caviar and people flipping the bird alternating with screens trumpeting, “Attitude is Everything” and “F$%#k the Recession.” It has asked various celebrities to talk about “what they want to tell the recession” and will continue to post their responses as they come in.

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PARLE AGRO’S STRATEGY: The competition for the Indian beverage market has been at its peak in the recent years. The two traditional rivals, Pepsi Co. And Coca cola ltd have been at each other introducing innovative marketing ways to drive customers towards their products. However the recent slowdown of the economy has brought out another competitor in this market. Parle Agro which is a subsidiary of Parle Ltd. came out with an aggressive marketing strategy to introduce new products as well as advertising them aggressively. As an industry pioneer, Parle Agro was the first to introduce fruit drinks in a Tetra Pak in India, the first to introduce apple nectar and the first to introduce fruit drinks in PET bottles. Its brands like Frooti and Appy are successful and have created their own niche. The battle in the beverage market has been in the carbonated beverages so much so that the non-carbonated beverage market has gone unnoticed. However simple market research proves that traditionally the simple “nimbu-pani” has been the drink of choice for the average Indian household. Hence Parle realised the importance of this segment and during the recession launched their lemon drink brand “LMN” which was the sms short form for Lemon. The striking green and yellow color makes the pack noticeable and increases its shelf appeal. In the PET offering, the unique bottle design of “LMN” makes it stand apart from the rest. LMN differentiates its appearance from common carbonated lemon drinks like Limca and Mirinda. “LMN” also takes a refreshingly fresh take on lemon, with a catchy tagline – “The Emergency Lemon Refresher”. Interestingly, "LMN" was everywhere into the market much before its TV commercial. The creative was dreamed up by local agency Creativeland Asia. They were tasked by Parle Agro with launching a new lemon drink – and had to find a way of branding the drink to make it stand out in the marketplace. As well as creating and designing the LMN look, they also had to come up with a spot that was funny and different but had mass appeal. The idea was a play on the fact that the human body is 80 per cent water – wouldn’t really thirsty people become 20 per cent of their usual size? “The thought of a pint-sized man running around, dragging his pants in panic, searching for LMN looked and sounded hilarious. While the film has strong youth

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undertones, strategically the commercial has to appeal to people from various social and economic backgrounds across various languages in India. A powerful visual metaphor and the humour helps cut across languages and various socio-economic segments in a huge market like India. Although Parle faces stiff competition from the Pepsi Co. lemon drink brand “Nimbooz”, which was launched just after the launch of LMN, it still has fairly less players in the entire market of non-carbonated beverages. Hence Parle has created a niche market for itself and it will still take time for others to enter it. Parle responded to the other challenges by also launching “Grappo Fizz”, which is a carbonated grape flavoured beverage. It has been positioned as an extension of the successful “Appy Fizz”, so as to ensure that people connect the two brands. In fact so much effort has been put in to ensure a connectivity that Parle recently launched an online “friendship election” pitting Appy Fizz against Grappo Fizz and calling the entire exercise “Survival of the Fizzest” and the world’s first friendship election. Such an exercise will surely ensure the continual presence of Parle whilst it consolidates itself on the success of its current products.

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IMPACT OF RECESSION ON FMCG (FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS) MARKET The Indian FMCG market has been rather immune to the current recession. This is not because the FMCG goods do not take a hit during slowdown, but this has been possible due to the aggressive marketing strategies that have been adopted by the Indian FMCG companies. The following table gives us some interesting information.

Table 1 Consumption movement from June '08 to Dec'08

The FMCG market grew at record levels of 18 and 25 per cent in the last two quarters of 2008. Listed retailers selling apparel, accessories and electronics saw sales growth down to 15 per cent in the December quarter, from 61 per cent two quarters earlier. According to the recent reports, India's fast moving consumer goods industry has so far been resilient to the slowdown in the economy and a dip in consumer sentiment. If we go by the numbers for the past few months, the growth only seems to have got better when compared to the earlier months. The sector may not be recession-proof but it is recessionresilient. This statement on the whole stands strong for most the leading players in the FMCG sector. So let’s take a look at some of the marketing tactics adopted by them Trends: Targeting the rural market: the rural economy is yet to be hit by the slowdown, and demand from this side may prove resilient for a while. The increased efforts from both the large MNC’s and Government in the rural sector have increased the potential market for the FMCG marketers. So this has somewhat negated the effect of recession on this sector because of the expanding customer base.

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The essential nature of groceries and FMCGs means that these areas may not see a slowdown, and spends on wellness, nutrition and food may continue, though already suspected ‘down-trading’ — foregoing purchase of a premium brand in favour of a cheaper one — may increase. Hence to counter this FMCG companies introduced strategies such as “Buy more to save more” – by offering customers more goods at premium prices to project an increase in savings. GCPL’s promotional offers, for instance, include one free cake of soap on purchase of three, and discounts on purchase of linked packs. FMCG companies have employed “tactical promotions” in order to promote their products, as promotions help boost sales and as and when a price reduction is possible, the benefit is passed on to the consumers. E.g. Nivea India. Introduction of “bundled offers” in the market has been a strategy that has yielded a lot of success in the consumer goods market. For instance, a few of Emami’s schemes include Emami Pure Skin worth Rs 22 free with Boroplus Advanced Moisturising Lotion worth Rs 98; five pieces of Sardija Cough drops worth Rs 5 free with 100 ml of Sardija Cough Syrup worth Rs 50, among others. Another important tactic that FMCG companies have undertaken is highly aggressive marketing campaigns which include high spending on advertising and promotions. This ensures the continuous presence of their brands in the consumer’s minds and helping them choose the right products

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when they shop. This figure somewhat explains the approach of FMCG and consumer durables. The ad spend by the two sectors are 33% and 22% i.e. they both contribute about 55% of the total ad spend. This explains the sustained growth because of the ad investments in the recession period.

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MARKETING OF “FINANCE” Superior Customer relationships and a Customer Centric Strategy One of the biggest blunders: –

Branded financial products in the hope that it will create a differential in the marketplace.

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But it is easier to remember the brand name of a soap than that of a financial service.

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Can’t touch, see, smell, taste the promise of future gains.

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Branding commoditised products does not produce customer - centricity

Branding commoditised products does not produce customer – centricity Are Banks truly marketing savvy and customer centric? •

Myth 1 – The larger the range of products, the more customercentric I am.

•

Myth buster – The range of products has emerged from being competition-centric.

Myth 2 – Launch a product and the customer will start using instantly. Give a customer a card and he will learn how to play with it immediately Myth buster – Customers need to be educated too…

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Myth 3 – Just advertise and - You will sell. Myth buster – Advertising will only sell, Not retain customers.

The real differentiator of customer – centricity in a commoditised world of financial products - Customer Service! Keeping Your Bank Brand Alive During a Recession Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change from AIG to AIU at the failed company's New York headquarters reminds us that a brand is a precious asset. The value of any brand asset depends upon whether it has delivered on its past promises and is believed likely to do so in the future. It takes years of effort to build brand trust but only a few months--or minutes--to squander it. A brand that has lost consumer trust is no longer a brand; it is merely a name. Merrill Lynch is no longer a brand. Both before and after the collapse of the Internet bubble, Merrill and its commission-based executives were challenged by investors and government regulators for hyping stocks and other questionable practices. The last CEO spent over one million dollars to redecorate his office and pushed through $3.6 billion in executive bonuses the day before he agreed to a takeover by Bank of America. The Merrill Lynch brand is now close to worthless. It drags down Bank of America's brand every time it is mentioned in the same breath. The Merrill Lynch brand is unlikely to ever recover and Bank of America should drop it. Merrill Lynch was one of 25 financial services brands that appeared on BrandZ's 2008 top 100 most valuable brands list. The rival 2008 Interbrand ranking of the top 100 global brands included 13 financial services brands. Citi appeared on both lists. Today, with its brand reputation seriously damaged, Citi's stock price is in the doldrums and the bank is all but insolvent (depending on how much credibility you place in the bank's valuation of its assets). Why then has there not been a run on the bank? Being too big to fail is hardly a

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solid basis on which to build brand equity. The true answer to the question is that retail depositors who do not trust Citibank do trust the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpopration. Today, the FDIC is the most important ingredient brand in the world, way more important than Intel. Trust in the FDIC and the United States Government enables consumers to confidently deposit up to $250,000 in any insured bank in the USA. In these uncertain times, only FDIC insurance persuades consumers across the nation to deposit funds in higher interest CDs in Puerto Rico banks and in non bricks-and-mortar low cost Internet banks such as ING. Financial brands today must address the most basic of consumer concerns: will my money be safe with this company? So long as they are not triumphalist, large banks like JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo that were less involved in chasing too-good-to-be-true sub-prime returns have a differentiating advantage. But it's hard to rebuild consumer trust based on the fact that as Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, has stated: "We suck less." Especially since the reward these banks and their consumers and shareholders earned for being prudent was being forced by the United States Treasury to absorb the failed banks, Washington Mutual and Wachovia, respectively. In any recession, consumers focus closer to home. They become more local and less global in outlook. So these are times of opportunity for the thousands of conservatively run community banks that have never held any exotic financial instruments and continue to assess accurately the risk profile of each local customer seeking a loan. As advertisement of PNC Bank states: "Now more than ever responsible lending is everything." When consumers are uncertain, they need to have their hands held. They need to feel that the brands they use identify with their predicament. They consult their friends and neighbors more than ever. Advertisement that captures these mood shifts is more effective. Thus, in Kansas, billboards use the first person to proclaim "I trust Intrust." Charles Schwab's two year old advertising campaign focusing on retail investor pain points is perfect for the recession. In one recent ad, a consumer says: "I've got a lot less cash and a lot more questions." The voiceover then invites the consumer to "Talk to Chuck." Investors are also searching around longer before making a purchase decision. That leads a niche player like TD Ameritrade to extend a similar invitation: "Why not talk to TD Ameritrade? There's never been a better time for a second opinion." Advertising by financial services firms in the USA is down around 40% year-on-year. Should financial firms continue to advertise when media stories of trips and bonuses remind consumers of their extravagance and malfeasance? For consumers to change banks is burdensome but they can easily move assets among their accounts at different firms. No

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advertising by a brand might be interpreted by consumers as indicating guilt, lack of customer care or financial weakness. Financial brands should continue to advertise but with messages that help customers now with recession-relevant product and service offerings. Useful, full-page ads in national newspapers were placed recently by NatWest Bank in the United Kingdom. Signed by the head of retail banking, the ad itemized four ways in which NatWest aims to help property owners, mortgage holders and all customers, with an invitation to "talk to us" and a practical promise of "extended opening hours" at retail branches. NatWest was acquired about ten years ago by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS has been fiercely criticized and is perhaps the worst UK example of bad bank behavior surfaced by the current crisis. RBS advertising these days is minimal; advertising is being placed behind the acquired NatWest brand, uncontaminated by the scandal and previously on a slow glide path to oblivion. The RBS brand, like the Merrill Lynch brand, is dead. We may well see RBS branches rebranded NatWest and NatWest become the dominant surviving retail brand within what was the RBS group. The turmoil and distrust in the financial services sector is an open invitation to other nonfinancial companies to exploit the brand vacuum created by the demise of the likes of Merrill Lynch and RBS. Look to Tesco, the leading retailer in the United Kingdom, to extend further its reach into financial services. Look to trusted brands like Wal-Mart and even Google in the United States to do the same. After all, the financial services industry is crying out for a brand that promises to "do no evil." Deliver functionally and engage emotionally Truly successful customer relationships should be mutually beneficial and long lasting. To achieve this, brand owners need to deliver their brand promise to their customers consistently across the various touch points and over time. Equally important, they must also be able to evaluate their customers’ experience and proactively manage their relationships with them. The problem is that, until now, no one has looked at customer relationships as ‘real’ relationships with an emotional component. Customer relationship measurement in the financial sector (and elsewhere for that matter) has been focused on gauging ‘customer satisfaction’ or ‘loyalty’. However, a satisfied and loyal customer is not necessarily a profitable one, and could well be spending more with a competitor. Consequently, a new approach is needed. To this end, we need to remind ourselves of what makes a successful relationship. The truth of the matter is that business relationships are basically the same as personal relationships, and it is a combination of both functional and

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emotional elements that make a successful relationship. It is not only ‘what do I get?’ but also ‘how do I feel?’ As a result, the essence of customer relationships must be evaluated from the perspectives of both the functional and emotional promise of the brand (see chart below). Let us take a look around: why do Chinese consumers pay a super-premium for a cup of coffee at Starbucks? Why do they line in endless queues at the checkouts of Ikea stores? The answer is simple: because both Starbucks and Ikea know exactly what their value customers want from the experience at their stores, and focus their resources on delivering precisely that unique experience across the various touch points and over time.

Our own work in the financial sector shows that different strategies are needed to move customers from one level to the next, depending upon their departure point on the relationship ladder. Unfulfilled customers complain about the staff at their banks not having a particularly friendly attitude, about having to wait in long queues, and about the lack of a comfortable waiting area. These are all basic functional aspects of the service that, if addressed, can help turn unfulfilled customers into satisfied ones. On the other hand, the main differences between satisfied and connected customers relate to the softer side of service: being offered solutions suitable to them, being serviced by staff with sound expert knowledge, and being treated as valued customers. Improvements in these areas would help turn satisfied customers into customers that are also emotionally connected with the bank.

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CONCLUSION Noted billionaire Warren Buffet once said, “Somebody told me that recession is coming. I decided not to take part in it.” This statement, in a way, sums up this project. Recession is not the time to cut back on your sales and marketing expenditure and save for the future. In today’s dynamic environment and a consumer driven market, the biggest share to capture is the mind share of the consumer. Any company which lapses in this regard is out of this rat race. Recession is actually a wonderful opportunity for start-up firms to expand their operations, to pull up their socks and gain a larger piece of the market pie. Recession marketing is all about finding innovative means to capture the consumers mind and to rule the roost. To put our sentiments in a nutshell, the team quotes Mr. Buffet again, “Make hay when others are wary and be wary when others rush in”

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