Ritson on Recession: what every marketer needs to know

Storm clouds continue to gather over the global economy. With the latest quarterly UK GDP figures released on November 11 and the US and other parts of the world also bracing for a recession, this special recording of System1’s webinar dives into how brands can navigate tough times.

However, tough times also bring opportunity. As the late great F1 driver Ayrton Senna once said, ‘You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather… but you can when it’s raining.’

In possibly the most comprehensive study of recession, Nitin Nohria found that 9% of companies come out of a recession in better shape than they went in.

We're joined by Professor Mark Ritson, brand consultant and creator of the Mini MBA in Marketing, and Orlando Wood, author of IPA best-selling books Lemon and Look Out, to understand how brands should approach this challenging period.

WATCH: The ad Orlando referenced: Hovis - Boy on a Bike

What we covered in this episode:

• Which brands won and lost during covid
• Why the CEO expects the CMO to step up in a crisis
• The 4 issues that hold businesses back in a crisis
• Why marketers must do their market orientation and get their strategy in place first
• The over-whelming evidence that supports investing in a recession
• What happens when brands go dark and why small brands suffer most
• How ESOV can be more achievable in recession and what it means for the long term
• The very strong business case for investment
• The role of operational efficiency and innovation to help come out strongly
• How to get your pricing strategy and communication right
• Whether you should be changing your communication
• Inspiration from a campaign that is as good today as it was 50 years ago
• How right brained creative features are connecting better in recession
• Why wear out is a myth based on thousands of ads on the System1 database
• What we can learn from the current Christmas Adverts
• The role of character fluent devices to make your advert more memorable
• Top 3 reasons to invest in creative right now
• Top 3 ways to make creative emotionally engagement and effective
• Mark and Orlando answer some tough questions
• Why marketing professors don’t teach how marketing actually works