In times of economic uncertainty, it’s only natural to think about tightening the financial belt – and marketing budgets are often one of the first to hit the chopping block. Yet, this can actually be a major missed opportunity. 

In fact, history has shown that maintaining or even *boosting* marketing spend during an economic downturn often means remaining more profitable in the short term, and expediting growth once the economy recovers. 

With that in mind, we wanted to explore the power of marketing during a potential recession and why it is absolutely essential to continue investing in your marketing efforts.

Money’s tight! Why focus on marketing?

Leverage lower advertising costs

One of the key advantages of marketing during an economic downturn is that advertising costs tend to drop. This means reaching your audience at a lower cost-per-click or cost-per-impression. By taking advantage of reduced ad costs, you can stretch your marketing budget further and achieve a higher return on investment. Score!

Secure a greater share of voice

During a recession, many businesses are quick to drop their marketing spend or pull out altogether. This creates a unique opportunity for those in-the-know to slide in with powerful marketing messaging. 

With less competition in the advertising space, you’ll likely secure a greater share of voice and ultimately capture more attention. And once you’ve got it? You can leverage this attention long into the future by building and nurturing relationships, and (if you get it right) ultimately achieve greater brand loyalty and advocacy.

Maintain momentum – vvvroom!

Keeping your advertising efforts consistent means you’ll avoid losing momentum in the market. When the economy begins to recover, having an established presence and ongoing campaigns already set up will see you better positioned to take advantage of the upswing.

On the flip side? It can be more challenging, time-consuming and costly to rebuild market share from scratch if you’ve completely paused your ad campaigns – so avoid it if at all possible.

Alright, alright – I’m convinced!
So where should I focus my marketing resources?

Learn more about where to invest your time and resources to create the biggest impact on part two of this blog series, marketing with impact during a recession.

If there’s one not-so-secret ingredient to building a powerhouse brand, it’s having a purpose. Something that fires you up, drives your business forward; the reason your brand exists. Without one, and if your sole “purpose” is to make money, you’ll likely struggle to get any real consumer buy-in.

There are loads of brands in various different industries that continue to impress us with their dedication to a purpose. Some brands have well and truly stood the test of time, and others are newer kids on the block, pioneering the way forward (think Who Gives a Crap, Koala, and Frank Green). And the one thing they all have in common? 

Their purpose beyond revenue.

What is a brand’s purpose?

There’s a really interesting journal article by Colin Mitchell & John Shaw, for Ogilvy and Mather, that explains the evolution of an observation, now known as The Big IdeaLTM. It’s quite an extensive observation, so we’ll discuss it in simple terms. 

The observation is that the brands people admire most are built on underpinning ideals that guide brand and company activity. This idea of a brand’s real purpose has been proven to influence business success, particularly in the long term. 

The idea is that the ‘ideal’ is the brand’s best self. The Big IdeaLTM, then, is a statement that defines your brand’s point of view, expressing a higher purpose than making money. But it’s the strength and consistent execution of that purpose that gets people to buy in. 

Let’s look at the framework for developing your brand’s purpose and examples. 

Developing your brand’s purpose

Firstly, look inward. List what makes, or could make your brand great. What do you intrinsically value or stand for? What makes you unique from competitors? 

You’ll then need to refine your list, into its simplest form, as a short sentence that defines your brand’s best self.

In our opinion, Dove is one of the frontrunners when it comes to embodying their purpose. Let’s look at how they’ve defined their best self.

For Dove, the brand’s best self is, ‘a gentle alternative to soap that delivers real care’.

Once you’ve determined your brand’s best self, the next step is to identify a wrong in the world that your brand can help make right. List all of the pain points within your industry. 

For Dove, they looked to their biggest consumer – women. They uncovered the nasty pressures of advertising toward women, often with the intention to make them feel insecure about themselves enough to buy what it is they need to ‘fix’ it. 

So, Dove defined the wrong they set out to right, ‘beauty anxiety in an age of Photoshop’.

Once you’ve defined your brand’s best self and the cultural tension your brand hopes to correct, combine the two, and, voila, you’ve developed your brand purpose. A deeply held conviction on how the world (or some particular part of it) should be, which then forms the foundation of your mission as a brand.

For Dove, ‘the world would be a better place if women were allowed to feel better about their bodies’. 

Notice there is no mention of soap or any product, for that matter. This is because the brand strives for a much higher purpose than just the capabilities of its products. Powerful, right?

Now let’s see that brand purpose in action.

How to use a brand purpose 

It’s been statistically proven that having a solid brand purpose is linked to greater brand consideration, positive opinions, and salience, which are then associated with business profitability and success. In simple terms, stick to your promise, and your brand will be rewarded. 

In saying that, a strong brand purpose doesn’t eventuate in 10 minutes. It’s an exercise that should be well thought out and executed consistently, throughout everything you do, to give your brand the best shot at long-term success. 

Your brand purpose should be built on real cultural truths that truly matter to you and to your audience. It should be emotional rather than functional, supported by in-depth research, and brought to life with texture and dimension in a well-executed brand strategy and identity. 

It should feel authentic and aspirational – but achievable – and it should be referred to at every single decision-making stage in your company’s future. 

Ready to build a brand for the future? Let’s chat. 

When we think about visual creativity, art and design are two of the most common disciplines that come to mind. Both use colour, line, shape, spacing, composition and many other elements to create a visual outcome. But despite their similarities, both art and design have a set of very distinct qualities that set them apart. 

Okay, but why does it even matter?

As creatives, we often see people confuse design outcomes they like with effective design. They evaluate design in the same way that they would art. Yet the purpose, process and data source behind them is completely different – meaning the way we evaluate them should be different, too.

To help you better judge the value of art vs design, we’ve unpacked the three key features that distinguish them.

Purpose: Expression vs function

Perhaps the most fundamental difference between art and design is purpose.

Art is about creative self-expression. It uses the infinite imagination of the artist to provoke thought and evoke emotion. It might tell a story or provide commentary on societal issues. It takes the opinions, feelings and observations of the artist and turns them into something others can experience. 

Design, on the other hand, is the process of systematically planning and developing something for a specific purpose. It’s a means to an end. It provides a solution or serves a goal, like triggering a psychological response, informing a judgement or perception, helping the audience to complete an action or providing them with relevant information. Design simplifies the thought process and allows the audience to complete a task with less effort. It provides value for this audience in a way that art does not, and this lies within its purpose.

Art is expressive, imaginative, thought-provoking and emotive. 

Design is functional, purposeful, influential and outcome-oriented.

Process: Intuitive vs systematic 

While artists often have their own creative process, much of their work comes from intuition and instinct. Their output comes from personal style and preference and doesn’t need to follow a specific structure or process – unless the artist chooses to.

When we think about the design process, it is largely methodical and structured. Designers work backwards in their approach, focusing on the objective or goal of their design before using a creative process to get there. 

In the context of brand, marketing or product development, design also needs to be consistent; it should be driven by the parameters of the brand and informed by the wants or needs of the audience, not the creative preference of the designer. 

Art is instinctive, spontaneous, creative and internally driven. 

Design is systematic, structured, consistent and informed.

Source of truth: Subjective vs objective 

Art is subjective. It is a reflection of the way the artist sees and experiences the world, and can be interpreted many different ways by many different people. It’s founded in or influenced by personal feelings, preferences and opinions. For this reason, one person may completely resonate with a piece, yet another might truly dislike it. 

While design may still be subjective in terms of whether a person likes it or not, it is still objective by nature. That is to say, it is not influenced by the personal feelings of the designer, but rather is created based on data about the communicator (e.g the brand) and the audience (e.g their consumer). With this in mind, design should be interpreted the same way by many different people within the audience group. 

Art is subjective, intrinsic and based on the artist.

Design is objective, extrinsic and based on the audience.

Crossing the barriers between art and design 

Of course, there are instances where art and design collide. Consider an artist that is commissioned by a brand to do a piece as part of an advertising campaign, or a design that serves a purpose while also making people feel something. An artist could apply design principles to their work, and a designer could let their personal style inspire their creative direction. 

But in essence, art is driven by expression, intuition and subjectivity, while design is led by function, structure and objectivity.

They’re similar, but not the same – so the way we judge their value needs to be different, too.

Back when there were far fewer brands in the market, branding was a pretty straightforward practice. Find an opportunity in the market, stick a few key USP’s on your packaging and gain exposure through mass media. 

However, things weren’t always going to remain this simple…

With the introduction of the World Wide Web, social media, and an influx of competitors seeking out a slice of the market pie, maintaining your brand’s status in the mind of consumers became a little more challenging. So, how did some brands go from strength to strength throughout the years? 

To put it simply, they made a promise and stuck to it. Even before Marc Gobé released his breakthrough emotional branding concept 20 years ago, these brands were well ahead of the game, tugging on the heartstrings of their customers. 

Let us elaborate.

C.C Filson (or just Filson these days)

Since 1897, Filson has remained competitive in the men’s apparel space. So, how did they gain their status, and how do they continue to compete after such a long time?

Firstly, the founder, C.C. Filson truly believed that his products were the most durable and reliable apparel for outdoorsmen.

He believed in them so much that he backed up his claim with a lifetime guarantee on all Filson products. Even to this day, the brand reassures its customers that if they purchase from Filson, they’ll always be clothed appropriately for the great outdoors.

Rather than pushing product benefits, Filson sells a ticket to the outdoors that lasts a lifetime.

At the time, Filson knew their customers’ needs better than the customers themselves. The company famously placed an ad in the local newspaper with an illustration of skeletons and frozen bobsleds at the bottom of a mountain pass. By them marched a group of men wearing parkas, with the simple slogan, ‘Victims of cheap outfitters’.

Back then, Filson’s customer base was largely gold miners heading north to try their luck at Klondike River; however, the same promise is still relevant to the outdoorsmen of today.

Filson has capitalised on its rich history and unwavering craftsmanship to continue selling a ticket to the outdoors for men all over the world.

Patagonia

Another brand that has stood the test of time is Patagonia. 

Throughout its 48 years, Patagonia has stuck to its guns and never once swayed from its mission, ‘to be in business to save our home planet’.

One of the most powerful quotes we really admire was by founder Yvon Chouinard:

“You can’t reverse into a mission and values through marketing. The organisations that are struggling with this are probably the ones that are thinking about marketing first. The role of marketing is to authentically elevate that mission and purpose and engage people in it, but the purpose needs to be the business.”

Focusing on remaining brand-led and forging its own path based on the brand’s purpose rather than responding to the demands of its consumers has granted Patagonia’s long-standing success. 

The brand never wanted to be in business to mass-produce clothing that would impact the environment and has demonstrated that promise in some pretty expressive ways.

Patagonia turned Black Friday on its head with its ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’ campaign. 

If you managed to miss the ad featured in The New York Times, Patagonia straight up called out consumerism. 

The company got major attention for trying to achieve the complete opposite of every other Black Friday campaign that year. Patagonia restated its purpose and in doing so, solidified itself as a brand doing good for the rest of the world. 

Patagonia has never faulted in its mission to work for environmental change. Though there have been calls for the company to become publicly listed, Patagonia has responded with a hard ‘No’ in a bid to avoid ‘selling out’ to people who don’t share their values.

Patagonia’s authentic purpose has been the powerhouse behind its success, never failing to impress its passionate followers.

We love your work, Patagonia!

Vegemite

If you grew up without Vegemite in your cupboard, we’re sorry to say, but you’re well and truly in the minority. Since its inception in 1923, Vegemite has secured itself as the spread for Australians and has dominated the condiment market ever since.

So, how did Vegemite, a rather simple product made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract, and founded by an American, make it as one of the most well-known brands in Australia to this day?

Well, they positioned themselves that way.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Vegemite. The brand had to overcome numerous setbacks before finding its feet. 

In the lead up to the brand’s success, Vegemite faced some harsh backlash for failing to take down the market leader at the time, Marmite. However, Vegemite stayed true to itself and believed in its superior product to remain undiscouraged by its numerous failed branding attempts. 

Vegemite took a step back to reevaluate its purpose. 

Rather than selling a relatively healthy product packed with vitamins or putting up a petty fight with the current market leader, Vegemite was now in the business of fuelling the Australian spirit.

Eventually, after increasing the brand’s exposure through various competitions, and official endorsement by the British Medical Association, Vegemite became a staple in the ration packs for Australian soldiers during World War 2, reinventing itself as a patriotic symbol of Australia.

“Vegemite: Keeping fighting men fighting fit”

Since then, they’ve cast their entire focus on serving Australian soldiers, fathers, wives and children. 

Cue the famous jingle, ‘happy little vegemite’.

The jingle won our hearts, and even today remains the secondary anthem of our nation, simplifying the choice of spreads for generations of Aussie families.

Nowadays, Vegemite is not only our nation’s spread of choice but a mark of pride and ownership as an Australian.

So, what do these brands have in common?

They each have a concrete purpose that drives every business and brand decision.

To create a strong brand that stands the test of time, you need to first determine why you’re in business. Establishing your ‘why’ helps you to define a clear and compelling promise. This is the most fundamental step in establishing a strong brand.

From here is where the magic happens.