issue - Meet the China 50

B Y N A N C Y S . G I G E S
If this is the downturn that is unusual not because of its depth
but because it can’t seem to recover (as financial institution
HSBC recently said), then it’s also an economy when marketers
are challenged with finding ways to keep from feeling boxed in.
C O V E R S T O R Y
Whether it’s expanding into more non-traditional advertising
activities or trying new forms on traditional media vehicles,
clients are placing high priority on innovative ideas to stretch
shrinking budgets for valuable brands.
They know that the brand, increasingly recognized as a major
asset, requires investment, but they also look at what those
expenditures will do to their quarterly results.They want to see
that investment make an immediate return to show that the
spending is worth it. Thus, keeping brands highly visible with
shrinking ad budgets is today’s big challenge.
“We’ve tried to gain efficiencies over the years whether our
budgets are up or down,” says Lisa Kowitt, Eastman Kodak
worldwide media director. Even with savings, she feels a crunch.
“You always have a million more things [you want to do] than
your budget allows,” she says.
ed in
branding
with
shrinking
budgets
“Even when my budgets are
high, the squeezing is the same.”
Some companies are taking
the models they’ve developed
working with ad agencies for
pan-regional advertising into
the PR sector, which is becoming more integrated into the
marketing mix. Both Xerox and Dell, for example, have moved
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