Value is another important message to build into marketing campaigns during a downturn, according to Williams. Many marketers design communications aimed at justifying the price they charge for goods and services, either by emphasizing a low price or touting the benefits the company can provide to buyers. “Advertisers will do both,” she says. “Some are in a better position to talk about lower costs while others will have to focus on what you get for your money.”

Luxury businesses should take a completely different approach, appealing more to emotion, Williams notes, emphasizing the need for some emotional release or comfort in difficult times. High-end advertisers will also attempt to emphasize long-term value — such as suggesting that a watch is not just a purchase for today, but for years to come. “You can try to remind people that this is, hopefully, a temporary state of things and we should not be focusing on the immediate future but also longer-term.”

David Sable, chief operating officer of Wunderman, a brand-building agency that is part of the global marketing firm, The WPP Group, advises advertisers in a downturn to rally to protect and preserve brand equity that has been nurtured for years, with continued investment in and support of branded products. “The worst thing you can do is cheap-out on products — put less coffee in the cappuccino — as many have in the past.”

According to Sable, while price is important in a recession, the majority of price-driven consumers still factor in the importance of branding. Companies must maintain “good housekeeping” during a recession, such as product quality and good distribution systems, but he suggests that clear brand association and leadership comes through communication. “If you cut the communication, you have a major problem.”

He urges marketers to make sure they understand the “elasticity” of their brand, which would be a gauge of how much — or how little — advertising is necessary to sustain sales. “It's not a science. There's a lot of art there,” he acknowledges, “but you must be supporting your product.”

He also warns that in today's networked, digital marketplace, consumer buzz about disappointments with a product can metastasize quickly and widely. “You must give people good things to talk about by continuing to have good products and communication.” The biggest lesson is that recessions come and go, but “hopefully your brand is for life. It's forever. So you have to be careful how you react because the downturn is not going to be forever.”

If companies cut deeply into advertising and communications in a down period, the cost to regain share of voice in the market once the economy turns around may cost four or five times as much as the cuts saved, he adds. “You must really keep a balance in times like this. Don't go dark when customers and consumers need you because they need you as much as you need them.”

Matt Williams, a partner at The Martin Agency, says a downturn is a natural time to focus on core strategy. A recession, he says, can be an “opportunity disguised as a problem.... You can position the brand as an ally to consumers in tough times with product development or sponsorship programs so the consumer can say 'I see by its actions that this brand is on my side.' That will pay dividends not only during the recession but beyond.”

When Life's

(Not So) Good

According to Wharton marketing professor John Zhang , advertisers in all categories must be in tune with consumers in the current climate. For example, he notes that LG Electronics is backing off its “Life's Good” slogan. “That's not the mood people are in. If you do that, it will generate resentment. You need to fine-tune your message to be sensitive.” In challenging times, marketers must also work harder to segment consumers with specific messages. “If, in the past, you used mass media, you probably want to be more targeted now to make sure the message gets to the right people.”

Research indicates that combative advertising which targets competitors escalates during an economic downturn. “When the marketplace is shrinking, you tend to become a little more competitive in your tone,” says Zhang, who cautions that this approach can backfire. “If you say your competitor is bad and your competitor says you are bad, ultimately the customer thinks both are probably good and bad. They tend to be indifferent. Even in a downturn, if you want to create loyal customers, you don't want to be overly competitive. You want to highlight what you do best and be sensitive to the needs of your customers rather than bashing the competition.”

The Ever-elusive Gold Standard

All forms of media can be successful even in a recession, although the impact of digital marketing might be easier to quantify and therefore able to withstand the close scrutiny of senior executives demanding justification for any spending while their operations are under recessionary pressures, says Lodish.

Fader points out that direct marketing and other kinds of interactive communications might be valuable but do not yet deliver easily quantifiable results. “Unfortunately, the industry is still in its early infancy. A lot of people talk about what we are capable of doing in measurability, but no one has established the gold standard yet. Maybe this forthcoming recession will be the chance to catalyze that and make it happen.”