Tighter belts demand smarter media: Why 2023 will be better than 2009

Preparations that occurred in the back end of 2022 to tackle economic downturn will have a different and more positive effect than in 2009, accelerating the trend for advertisers to take greater control of their media decision making.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Or at least that’s what the song lyrics say. The going has certainly been tougher of late, and it’s encouraged me to think about what happened the last time the global economy hit hard times.

I’m thinking of the 2009 recession, caused by the banking crash and the sub-prime mortgage issue. As the economy dived, brands had to take radical action and media, as the largest proportion of the marketing budget, was in the firing line.

Unfortunately, many of the wrong decisions were taken and it took our business nearly a...

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