Lean times create the need for innovation in advertising.

• Author: Smith, Marjie
• Position: Marketing Report

When the economy slows and sales dwindle, a company cannot afford to stop spending on advertising, says Elizabeth Fournier.

According to Fournier, vice-president of McGuinty Consulting Inc. in North Bay, business owners must deal with reduced cash flows by being smarter and more aggressive, and by advertising selectively rather than not at all.

Jim Thompson, the account director with Henderson Delta Lakehill in Sudbury, recommends that business owners find innovative new ways to sell their products and that they research all available advertising mediums.

Thompson says it is a mistake to stop advertising in lean times. Statistics prove that businesses which retain a high profile in slowdowns recover more quickly when the economy turns around.

Maintaining a high profile could mean becoming more involved in the community or "dressing up" the business, Thompson adds.

For Holmes Pellerin Real Estate Ltd. of North Bay the challenge was met with a new and innovative way of advertising the company's name.

In 1989 Holmes Pellerin opted to have a city bus painted with its colors and logo. Because the idea was novel at that time, the company received a great deal of free publicity.

Company owner Mike Holmes says clients have listed their homes with him because they believed this innovative advertising indicated that the company would be equally innovative when it came to selling real estate.

SPECIALTY

The use of specialty advertising is another way of maintaining a company's profile.

Paul Meyers, the owner of Meyers Promotions and Marketing in North Bay, says the restrained economy has forced many buyers to select less expensive promotional products such as magnets, buttons and pens.

These products are particularly popular when used as part of a business-to-business direct-mail advertising campaign, or with other forms of advertising.

Meyers says small, flat promotional aids are easy to mail, they make a company's letter stand out from other mail and they can deliver such pertinent information as a company's name and address, or the date and location of a trade show which the company will be attending.

As a member of the Advertising Specialty Institute, Meyers has access to information on the availability of about 300,000 promotional products through his electronic...