Posted by Raphael on Mar 10, 2010 in Marketing, My Business Adventures | 0 comments

I get it. The economy has been hurting and everyone’s scared of spending money. I’m not immune to that feeling myself…it’s this time of year where all my advertising renewals start to happen and I’ve been re-evaluating what my spending strategy will be this year as well. I don’t want to continue spending big bucks on things I don’t think are working very effectively, but at the same time, I don’t want the recognition and awareness of my brand to disappear during this year as well.

I’ve been lucky enough to have had a couple of other established graphic designers as friends. Eric Woo just recently celebrated his 25th year for his business which would make him quite the veteran when it comes to marketing through both good and bad times. I stumbled across one of his posts recently which really resonated with me, so I’d like to share it with you:

“During World War II, one London bakery owner continued his billboard advertising despite the massive bombings by the Nazis. Every time one billboard was destroyed he would replace it with another. This strategy not only kept his bakery in the public eye, it also had an impact on his fellow Londoners; they admired his perseverance and tenacity. After the war, his brand flourished and bread sales were nearly double that of his competitors. When the economy is suffering, savvy CEOs and entrepreneurs understand the value of keeping their brands visible and dynamic. When the good times return it is their companies that remain in the consumers’ mind. And that’s something you can’t put a price on.”  – Eric Woo, April 2009

The point is this…things will get better. Before they DO, you better make sure you do something now so that when they’re ready to find a business, they’ll think of you first.