Pandemic data reveals which brands should still advertise in tough times

Sean Hargave

New research shows brands the adage to not ‘go dark’ in a recession is sound advice – unless the maths isn’t right.

Whether the cost of living crisis will lead to a full-blown recession cannot be predicted with complete confidence but history suggests that if and when it does, marketers will be under pressure to reduce budgets to correspond with the expectation of lower sales.

However, if marketers can get to the heart of the discussion, they just may be able to persuade boards that the old adage that brands which continue to advertise through downturns generally thrive still applies.

The only problem, though, is the figures executives can quote usually date back to the 1990s or the financial crisis of 2008....

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

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