Or old man Procter and his friend Gamble, either for that matter. Just as Henry F. Potter tried to use the onset of the Great Depression to lock up ownership of Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” P&G Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley has told Ad Age that his company is going to renegotiate contracts and get a bigger share of commercial air time while his competitors panic and pull back.
RBR/TVBR observation: Make sure all your clients understand that they may hunker down until the economic picture brightens, only to find they’ve been squeezed out of the market by bolder competitors. Sell them on being Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey now while it counts, not some poor loser sucking down boilermakers at Potter’s Tavern wondering how things might have been.
