The Power of Inertia: Conservatism in Marketing Resource Allocation

The authors propose a pragmatic methodology to provide management with directional guidance in their marketing-resource allocation decisions.

The Power of Inertia: Conservatism in Marketing Resource Allocation

Marcel Corstjens

INSEAD

Andris Umblijs

McKinsey

Chao Wang

Deloitte

INTRODUCTION

There are two types of marketing-budget decisions:

  • The total budget decisions
  • The allocation of the budget across various marketing vehicles.

In this study, the authors focus on budget allocation. Determination of total budget tends to be taken at a higher level in the organization and to have fewer upside opportunities (Doyle and Saunders, 1990; Bradley and Kissel, 2006).

It is interesting to note that in most industries, there exists a clear hierarchy in terms of the marketing vehicles deployed. These hierarchies...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands