By Nathan Richter, Senior Partner
Sometime in the next 6-12 months, there is likely to be a global recession that will also blight US shores. Such an event will produce enormous changes in consumer habits, values, priorities and behaviors. As a result, there will be a profound shift in the media landscape for 2020.
What have you done to ensure that, when the shift occurs, your brand is prepared to lead?
For most brands, that answer is: nothing.
We at Wakefield Research have been here before. Beginning in 2007, and continuing well through 2009, the Great Recession followed a collapse of the US housing bubble. Oil and food prices hit the roof. Venerable financial institutions collapsed. The automobile industry reeled. Jobs became scarce. Pay stagnated. Through it all, brands and agencies scrambled to pivot towards programming that reflected the new American recession reality. The impact on the media landscape lasted well after the recession officially ended.
The media landscape became saturated with brands competing for thought-leadership positioning on their particular issues. For the vast majority of these brands and their agencies, they were, more often than not, late to the game. Trying to establish thought-leadership after the conversation has started is the quickest path to the back of the pack.
The solution is to plant your flags now through newsworthy market research. Now is the time to train editors to think of your brand as a resource. Every brand with an interest in top-tier, earned media coverage in 2020 should be conducting research. This data will be essential to establishing your brand as a legitimate thought-leader and it will provide a baseline against which you can compare data once the recession is underway.
Wakefield Research’s PR Polling division’s reputation was built, in large part, during the Great Recession. We offered – and continue to offer – whip-smart research consultancy at a price that provides unmatched ROI. As a result, the professional relationships we forged during that time remain strong.
Contact us if you’re interested in scheduling a consult. We look forward to hearing from you.