The Recession: Problem or Opportunity?

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Finally, a 1980 Harvard Business Review article entitled “Advertising as an Anti-Recession Tool,” stated, “The rationale that a company can afford a cutback in advertising because everybody else is cutting back (is fallacious)… The company courageous enough to stay in the fight when everyone else is playing safe can bring about a dramatic change in market position. Advertising should be regarded not as a drain on profits, but as a contributor to profits, not as an unavoidable expense but as a means of achieving objectives.”⁴

This article says it all. Recessions are opportunities to grow market share because most organizations are slashing budgets for misguided short-term savings. The savvy marketer should take advantage of the opportunity.

For hospitals, whose fortunes rise or fall on their brand identity (i.e., their community’s perception of the hospital), maintaining marketing activities during a downturn is possibly even more important than other businesses.

From a marketing point of view, recessions are not the time to move to the sidelines. Some elective procedures notwithstanding, consumers still need hospital services regardless of the state of the economy, so you can’t stop vying for their attention.

Please understand, I’m not advocating a spend-at-all-costs approach – you’ve got to maintain adequate cash – but if you’re financially healthy, this isn’t the time to rein in the marketing.

Think about it:

• Maintaining market share is much less expensive than rebuilding it later;
• Maintaining advertising during an economic downturn projects organizational stability, a definite plus for hospitals;
• As competitors cut budgets, there is less clutter for your message and a much greater opportunity to grow market share and share of mind;
• Cutting advertising provides a savvy competitor the advantage;
• Media costs are much lower.

History has shown the greatest opportunities for large returns are during periods of uncertainty and transition. Time after time downturns have rewarded the aggressive marketer and penalized the timid. Now is your opportunity to gain market share and visibility over your competition – and do it for a fraction of the time and money it took just a year or so ago.



1 Surowiecki, James. “Hanging Tough,” The New Yorker, April 20, 2009
2 Wall Street Journal
3 Greenburg, Eric Rolfe. “Fortune Follows the Brave,” Management Review, January 1993
4 Dhalla, Nairman K. “Advertising as an anti recession tool,” Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 1980



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