Move Ad $ to Events

An article in the Sunday paper talks about the ripple effect of company's reducing their ad buys in traditional media, the financial challenges newspapers, television, and radio are experiencing with reduced revenue, and the resulting layoffs of employees. 

I have two thoughts regarding this topic:

The first, is that it is proven that during tough economic times innovation increases. Company's have to think differently, pursue new business differently, develop new services and products. The company's that do this will not have just survived the recession, but thrived during it.  So, are you the type that tightens your belt and just keep hoping things get better, or are you going to look for new opportunities?

The Events Company is projecting 19% growth for 2009. We are aggressively growing our "themes, decor & more" division with amazing results. This division focuses on adding the "wow," which is all the cool branding, decor, and entertainment elements that make for a great event without getting involved in the planning. We're creating new events that I will share at a later date. But, let it be said that we are pumped for 2009 to be a successful and profitable year. Are you?

My second thought regarding the reduced ad buys in traditional media is that company's should not scale back their advertising. Maybe they aren't, maybe they just aren't spending it with traditional media... A trend over the past decade is that more marketing dollars are being spent on events. Events are an effective way to get one on one face time with your target market. Think about your product or service, is everyone reading the newspaper or listening to the radio your target? How many times do they need to see or hear your ad before they buy? Events can evoke emotion and appeal to all the senses in an interactive personal experience. So, have you included events in your marketing plan?