I just left a meeting with the CMO of a major consumer brand who spoke of networks calling him offering free advertising (zero fee or commitment at all). Essentially the dialogue was, “Try us and if you like it then we will chat.” Confidence or desperation?  My guess is in this environment, it’s more likely to be desperation.  How will this offer affect advertising on this station in the future ?

Which leads to the question: how important is brand integrity when it comes to marketing or PR?  While certain luxury flagship stores will never “officially” discount (Louis Vuitton, Hermes, etc.), choosing to burn their goods rather than discount them, other brands discount heavily and readily. Neiman Marcus stepped up discounts and promotions after dismal same-store sales.

During times such as these, brands have many questions and concerns vis a vis brand integrity.  Do we lower prices and cover costs, or do we go deep into our pockets in hopes of a better tomorrow?  It’s an interesting dialogue, and one I’m sure we’ll hear more of.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 2:59 pm and is filed under CRISIS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.