Winning brands see marketing as an investment

Marketing budgets often come under pressure, but there is a stark contrast between winning and losing brands when it comes to investment. While nearly half (47%) of all winning brands saw their marketing budget increase year on year, just 13% of losing brands can say the same.

And this pattern isn’t likely to change next year, given just 22% of losing brands expect to see their marketing budget rise over the next 12 months versus 50% of winning brands.

A close link has always existed between a brand’s growth and its share of voice, and this does have an impact on budget allocation. Other factors are at play too, such as how much a brand’s competitors are spending.

We need to be ever vigilant to what our needs are and have a flexible partnership with our agencies.
However, the brands that cut budgets, particularly during times of economic or political uncertainty, often lose market share and come out of any downturn damaged.

Amanda Griffiths, head of communications planning at Royal Mail MarketReach suggests the organisations that continue to invest in their brands even when times are tough tend to win out in the long term.

“You have to maintain your brand strengths and create a positive presence so your customers retain their confidence in you,” she says. “If you pull back too much on your marketing your customers get nervous and move to brands that seem confident. In a digital age it is too easy to forget brands – just look at the high street.”

Winning brands work with more partners

Another similarity among winning brands is the fact they tend to work with a higher number of partners. Winners have worked with almost twice as many agencies as losers in the past 12 months (6.1 vs 3.3). One reason is that many companies have invested in technology and talent and in-sourced their capabilities.

Specsavers’ Shaun Briggs says a brand must recognise its capability gaps and use the right agencies strategically to plug them.

“This is reasonably easy to do in a moment-in-time way; the challenge is how to maintain this alignment as your needs change,” he says. “We need to be ever-vigilant to what our needs are and have a flexible partnership with our agencies.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.marketingweek.com