Opportunities of marketing in a recession: Textappeal’s Polak

Low-Cost High-Return recession marketing was the premise of Textappeal’s founder and CEO Elliot Polak’s presentation. Polak spoke about the numerous opportunities that brands have in the present economic crisis and spoke in detail about the various qualities that brands can adopt to weather the economic climate.

“Empathy or the ability to feel people’s pain is an important lesson for brands today, to tell consumers that they understand how they feel and react accordingly,” he said.

He gave the example of Carrefour’s advertising in Spain where women were encouraged to buy value for money products that would continue to make them feel beautiful.

Another trend is inconspicuous consumption. There are consumers who may have the money but don’t want to be seen indulging in conspicuous spending. Brands have realised that there is an opportunity in doing business online where the products get delivered to their home. Less is more is another trend. Being green is another trend that is driving a considerable amount of loyalty among consumers and brands have realised that. Fiat tapped into this by introducing Fiat Eco:Drive.

which allows drivers to transfer fuel consumption data from a car to a USB memory stick so people could see how much fuel they had saved or wasted as the case may be.

Emotional comfort is another value add that brands can offer to consumers today. Here, Polak gave the example of the popular Snuggies blanket.

Brand stretch was another trend that Polak said had been evident recently. He was of the view that while brands like McDonalds had successfully adopted this by offering McCafe at their outlets, those like Starbucks have not, having chosen a pricing led strategy.

Going Mobile is another trend that could work in a brand’s favour by offering convenience and value. Idea Transfer is another key trend that some brands have identified and used to their advantage, by adapting ideas from one part of the globe and adapting them in another cultural context.

Polak shared a few details from their Worldwide Marketing Sentiment Index which shows a gradual recovery in the global economy. The report can be accessed here.