The Mediabrands Family, which includes Initiative, Universal McCann, Magna, Magna Global, IPG Emerging Media Lab, ID Media, NSA, OSI, MAP, Sandbox and Wahlstrom, has released a MAGNA “Best Investment Practices For a Recession” list to help clients navigate the turbulent market:
1. Question All Traditional Assumptions. Do a clean audit on all properties. Those that may have been historically too expensive might surprisingly become available. Conversely those platforms or properties only used for efficiency may not be relevant or even necessary.
2. Identify Key Platforms and Partners. Wherever possible create deeper, more meaningful relationships to service as many aspects of your marketing efforts as possible.
3. Explore All Contact Options and Assets. Work with Media Owners who can offer cross platform incentives. Media Owners might be more willing to leverage one platform for another.
4. Be Performance Obsessed. Use the softness of the market to protect your client’s investment. Change metrics (and the currency) to incorporate more rigorous ROI. All the inflexibility around measurement should be open for discussion.
5. Control the Purse Strings. Retain flexibility to optimize campaigns within media platforms to maximize leverage and ensure price advantage.
6. Keep your Eyes Open. Identify opportunities where you can gain share of voice from your competitor. Perhaps a key event or property will become available or a brand can secure exclusivity where it was previously unavailable and ultimately block the competition.
