Advertise, Advertise, Advertise

An economic downturn brings opportunity for those who are willing to take a leap of faith and who have a cash cow they can use to buy advertising when times get tough.  When you go looking for success stories - or survival stories - from the Great Depression, you read that there are a number of examples of brands becoming successful through the trying times. 
The most widely quoted are Chevrolet cars, Camel cigarettes and Procter & Gamble.  Each of these relied heavily on advertising because they realized that they needed advertising to create and maintain brand loyalty.

In 2008, Dave Chase wrote "How brands thrived during the Great Depression", and provided a good rundown on these three:

• Procter & Gamble. To this day, P&G maintains a philosophy of not reducing advertising budgets during times of recession, and the company certainly did not make any such reduction during the Depression. It's not a coincidence that P&G has made progress during every one of the major recessions. While competitors cut ad budgets, P&G increased its spending. While the Depression caused problems for many, P&G came out of it unscathed. Radio took P&G's message into more homes than ever, and P&G became a pioneer in effective use of that medium, including its role in creating the notion of soap operas.
• Chevrolet. During the 1920s, Fords were outselling Chevrolets by 10 to 1. In spite of the Depression, Chevrolet continued to expand its advertising budget and, by 1931, Chevrolet took the lead in its field. It is believed that Ford's weaker balance sheet entering the Depression rendered it unable to respond to Chevrolet.
• Camel Cigarettes. In 1920, Camel was the top-selling tobacco product. American Tobacco Co. then struck back with the Lucky Strike brand, and by 1929 Lucky had overtaken Camel as the No. 1 brand. Two years later, in the heart of the Depression, Chesterfield also overtook Camel. Camel countered with a dramatic increase in ad spend and, by doing so, demonstrated the power of advertising during depressed times. By 1935, it was back on top.

Advertising Lesson #5 from the Great Depression: Advertise ... Hard.

This is my final installment on Depression Marketing.  Hope you enjoyed it, and found it uplifting.