How to do marketing in times of crisis?
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 6:43 am
Anyone who decides to start a business or has been doing so for some time in Brazil knows that living in the midst of crises is a routine. The country has a wide range of economic and political problems, which requires a lot of flexibility from both companies and marketing.
In the case of the second, because there may be different needs for actions to adapt to that current crisis. And even depending on the case, there may be a window of opportunity for certain businesses.
Below, we will explain these scenarios in more detail and how to develop marketing strategies in times of crisis.
What are the definitions of a crisis?
To begin, we need to better understand the different types of crises we have. We can divide them into two large groups: external crises and internal crises. External crises are caused by a variety of factors that are beyond the company's control.
For example: political crises, economic crises, which in some way affect the argentina phone number list smooth running of the business. Internal crises, on the other hand, are those caused by factors that are beyond the control of management and which end up affecting the entire company.
In this case, we have financial crises, a sudden drop in revenue, corruption resulting from scandals, among others. A global consulting network called PwC listed factors that define a crisis as follows:
Triggered by significant internal or external factors and/or by the addition or worsening of minor problems;
Has a cross-functional impact across the enterprise;
Creates disruptions in business operations;
It poses economic and/or reputational risks to the company.
It is also worth noting that they can be small, medium or large, as well as having a reach limited to the company, regional, national and global.
How do companies and marketing usually respond in times of crisis?
According to PwC's own studies from 2019 (pre-pandemic scenario), in Brazil, on average, 67% of companies seek external help to try to overcome the crisis. In addition, only 27% of Brazilian businesses have response plans for these moments.
In short, the vast majority simply disregard crisis scenarios, even though they are so present in Brazilians' daily lives. However, there is a curious fact: even with this lack of planning, the study showed that on average 57% of companies emerged from the crisis better off, compared to only 16% that got worse.
It's actually quite interesting, considering that even without response plans, results tend to be better at the end of crises. But much of this has to do with quick marketing actions, which are able to find alternatives, and which, already aware of what happens cyclically around here, are able to find solutions based on their own experience.
How to do marketing in times of crisis?
Whenever a crisis scenario arises, it is necessary to take measures that help the company reinvent itself. In the case of marketing, some tips are important to be taken into account at this time. Check them out:
1 – Make a plan
When a crisis hits, we need to rethink our short, medium and long-term planning . It may be necessary to rethink strategies, campaigns or even put some aside to prioritize other fronts. Here, especially, it is worth observing how much the situation in question is affecting your business and whether or not this can be converted into an opportunity.
But in general, the main thing is to observe how the crisis has impacted your budget, if anything will need to be put on hold, etc. In addition, understand the exact impact it has had on the company and how much marketing will have to act in order to mitigate these effects.
2 – Know how to distribute your budget, without leaving marketing aside
Thinking about cuts when there is a crisis is usually the first thing management does. However, most of them focus on areas that will further harm the business: employees and marketing.
Speaking specifically about marketing, despite this being a time to cut costs, the business needs to keep running and to do so, it needs to sell products or services. Stopping marketing means losing visibility and this will have even more disastrous effects on the company, which could see an even greater drop in revenue.
You can think about optimizations, as well as focusing on certain areas that continue to deliver good results, instead of those that are still establishing themselves in the market. However, above all, you must keep marketing active, so that it can help in your recovery.
In the case of the second, because there may be different needs for actions to adapt to that current crisis. And even depending on the case, there may be a window of opportunity for certain businesses.
Below, we will explain these scenarios in more detail and how to develop marketing strategies in times of crisis.
What are the definitions of a crisis?
To begin, we need to better understand the different types of crises we have. We can divide them into two large groups: external crises and internal crises. External crises are caused by a variety of factors that are beyond the company's control.
For example: political crises, economic crises, which in some way affect the argentina phone number list smooth running of the business. Internal crises, on the other hand, are those caused by factors that are beyond the control of management and which end up affecting the entire company.
In this case, we have financial crises, a sudden drop in revenue, corruption resulting from scandals, among others. A global consulting network called PwC listed factors that define a crisis as follows:
Triggered by significant internal or external factors and/or by the addition or worsening of minor problems;
Has a cross-functional impact across the enterprise;
Creates disruptions in business operations;
It poses economic and/or reputational risks to the company.
It is also worth noting that they can be small, medium or large, as well as having a reach limited to the company, regional, national and global.
How do companies and marketing usually respond in times of crisis?
According to PwC's own studies from 2019 (pre-pandemic scenario), in Brazil, on average, 67% of companies seek external help to try to overcome the crisis. In addition, only 27% of Brazilian businesses have response plans for these moments.
In short, the vast majority simply disregard crisis scenarios, even though they are so present in Brazilians' daily lives. However, there is a curious fact: even with this lack of planning, the study showed that on average 57% of companies emerged from the crisis better off, compared to only 16% that got worse.
It's actually quite interesting, considering that even without response plans, results tend to be better at the end of crises. But much of this has to do with quick marketing actions, which are able to find alternatives, and which, already aware of what happens cyclically around here, are able to find solutions based on their own experience.
How to do marketing in times of crisis?
Whenever a crisis scenario arises, it is necessary to take measures that help the company reinvent itself. In the case of marketing, some tips are important to be taken into account at this time. Check them out:
1 – Make a plan
When a crisis hits, we need to rethink our short, medium and long-term planning . It may be necessary to rethink strategies, campaigns or even put some aside to prioritize other fronts. Here, especially, it is worth observing how much the situation in question is affecting your business and whether or not this can be converted into an opportunity.
But in general, the main thing is to observe how the crisis has impacted your budget, if anything will need to be put on hold, etc. In addition, understand the exact impact it has had on the company and how much marketing will have to act in order to mitigate these effects.
2 – Know how to distribute your budget, without leaving marketing aside
Thinking about cuts when there is a crisis is usually the first thing management does. However, most of them focus on areas that will further harm the business: employees and marketing.
Speaking specifically about marketing, despite this being a time to cut costs, the business needs to keep running and to do so, it needs to sell products or services. Stopping marketing means losing visibility and this will have even more disastrous effects on the company, which could see an even greater drop in revenue.
You can think about optimizations, as well as focusing on certain areas that continue to deliver good results, instead of those that are still establishing themselves in the market. However, above all, you must keep marketing active, so that it can help in your recovery.