Advertising Age published a great article yesterday, How Media Would Weather a Recession. The article covers all the major media channels and gathers opinions from some major players in media buying and selling. There is a general consensus among these media buyers and sellers that online marketing will remain strong through a recession due to marketers’ ability to accurately measure online marketing ROI.
Some highlights from the article:
Digital, said Bryan Wiener, CEO of digital agency 360i, is the least vulnerable media spend in times of economic downturn because it is inherently more measurable than other media. [Wiener] add[ed] that the categories that tend to drive the best return on investment are e-mail and search — so marketers are likely to continue investing in those categories regardless of the economy.
Search marketing, because it’s so closely tied to sales, more often is thought of as a cost of goods sold rather than a marketing and administration expense. Therefore, it is assumed to be the most recession-proof of all marketing channels.
“As consumers get more frugal, [Consumer Package-Goods] will shift their media to things that have a more immediate return on investment,” Mr. Garga said. “Shopper marketing is a captive audience in the store with an immediate effect. … Online is a medium, too, that supports more value-oriented messages.”
I highly recommend reading the article. It offers some great insights.