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Recession: Now is the time to SEM
Recession is here, Harvard economist declares
Feldstein heads key forecasting group Slump may be worst since World War II
Source: The Boston Globe
Posted: March 15, 2008
Author: Todd Wallack
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/03/15/recession_is_here_economist_declares/
The United States has already slipped into a deep recession that could be the most serious since World War II, said Martin Feldstein.
Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University, is president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the group that's considered the official word on economic cycles.
" The situation is bad, it's getting worse, and the risks are that the situation could be very bad," Feldstein said in a speech at a financial industry conference in Boca Raton, Fla.
"The economy is now in a recession," he said. "It will last longer and be deeper than the last two recessions, which lasted only 8 months from peak to trough. It could well be longer and deeper than the recession in the early 1980s that lasted 16 months."
Feldstein's view is increasingly the common one among economists. A Wall Street Journal survey of economists published yesterday found more than 70 percent agreed that the US economy is now in recession.
Recession-proof your business
Search Engine Marketing is expected to weather the coming economic storm better than most forms of marketing or advertising.
Direct marketing spending increased in previous recessions because it was the most trackable form of marketing. And search engine marketing IS the most trackable form of marketing. In fact, it is expected that North American SEM expenditures are projected to grow from $12.2 billion in 2007 to $25.2 billion in 2011.
Source: Harvard Business School Working knowledge (HBS Working Knowledge is a forum for innovation in business practice)
Posted: March 3, 2008
Author: John Quelch
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5878.html
"This is not the time to cut advertising" Harvard Business School professor John Quelch, says "It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known brands, and more consumers at home watching television can deliver higher than expected audiences at lower cost-per-thousand impressions. Brands with deep pockets may be able to negotiate favorable advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of advertisements by shifting from 30-second to 15-second advertisements, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of direct marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact. Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them."