Ogilvy launches recession website

by Staff, Brand Republic 17-Dec-08, 08:55

LONDON - Ogilvy Group has launched a website to help marketers through the recession and offers advice on how best to cope.

The agency says it is offering "a glimmer of hope" for marketers who the WPP Group agency argues should seize this moment as an opportunity to grow their brands and secure future success.

The website, Ogilvyonrecession.com publishes several of what will be a number of white papers beginning with 'Optimizing the marketing budget in recession', which is available on the UK site, and 'Doing More With Less: A Point of View on Marketing in a Recession' on the US site.

What clients have to remember, said Colin Mitchell, chief strategy officer for Ogilvy North America, is that the downturn is an opportunity to innovate.

Mitchell said: "History shows many brands and companies have been successfully launched during recessions while others have leveraged tough economic conditions to gain significant market advantage.

"We have at our fingertips, a new constellation of marketing strategies and metrics that can be measured quickly and implemented efficiently. These strategies create upside for our clients."

'Doing More With Less' details proven marketing strategies for building market share in downturns with actual case studies that detail how marketers can protect high value customers, capitalise on those customers who are ready to spend.

Mitchell said: "While some companies do face real cash flow issues, the option of winning marketing share in a recession by smart spending is open to most.

"Making do with less involves not just setting a competitively sensible budget but using it more imaginatively in channels from digital to retail.

Each booklet will draw upon Ogilvy's experience across all marketing disciplines, from advertising, to retail marketing, direct marketing and digital, as well as regions around the world.

Gary Leih, Ogilvy Group UK chairman and CEO, said: "While some companies do face real cash-flow issues, the option of winning marketing share in a recession by smart spending is open to most.

"Making do with less involves not just setting a competitively sensible budget but using it more imaginatively in channels ranging from digital to retail."

Comments

David Parker - 12/01/2009

While this is fine, agencies take some responsibility during times of hardship, in looking at the way in which they service their clients and the efficiency and effectiveness of their people. Miles Young comments are right on the www.ogilvyrecession.com site however, will the mantra be adopted by the agencies? The global agency groups need to realize very quickly that they are not the most efficient business managers, the groups are a conglomerate of SME's all fighting individual P&L's dictated by their Group holding companies. I am sorry but I haven't seen one agency with proficient centralized business systems that deliver real time global, regional and local KPI's to their business. These kind of inefficiencies have to be removed to convince clients that the agencies creativity is matched by professional execution and efficient use of their clients marketing expenditure. Most industries use down turns to invest in themselves to innovate and improvise \(Oil industry during the 1980's for instance) so they don't get caught again, tell me is a smart reaction to remove 10% of your staff? Or is it when the business picks up that you don't reemploy another 10% \(meaning your margins never go up) all over again. I am afraid the days of having 200 local offices and 1,000s of employees is not a measure of capability or credibility, it's a measure of not moving with the times, that's why the smart new agencies have fewer locations and use their network efficiencies and/or business systems to be more competitive. Let's see what happens.