Don't cut ad spend when business slows

Handling public relations in Newbury and throughout the Thames Valley we have started to see in the last few weeks companies who have slashed their advertising spend and have turned to us to maintain their presence in the media.

Absolutely when it comes to creating reputations - our specialty - PR will have a far more convincing and persuasive impact than most advertising could ever hope for. Indeed, a well written, carefully targeted and impeccably timed press release will lead to a news story that people will give a credibility that advertising will never achieve.

However there will always be a place for both and simply stopping one in favour of the other because times are tough is foolish. Ideally your marketing strategy will strike a balance and use each method when most appropriate.

I have been involved in journalism for almost 25 years now and was a cub reporter in the late 1980s and saw the boom bust cycle from a ringside seat. Something that was clear though, was the firms who kept advertising kept doing business while those who cut their spending simply didn't.

Today I read on the Guardian website that this Bank Holiday weekend has seen a plethora of companies targeting the retail market spending many millions of pounds in the hope of motivating the public to spend this weekend. They probably will and most likely on those businesses that advertise. Spot the pattern?