So about advertisers pulling back ad spend. There are two logical reasons.
1. Business is down, stores are closed. This could pretty much be anything deemed non nonessential where physical interactions are required to conduct business. No possibility of physical engagement = no business = ad spend pulled back.
2. Business is doing well, marketing funnel is full. Spend would be pulled back as it would not produce any incrementality. Could also be low/no inventory, this would also lead to ad spend pull back. No inventory = incremental demand does not translate into more sales. In this case it would be smart to save some ad spend for when you need it. Note I say pull back, not obliterate the ad spend.
From the marketing 101 perspective, advertising should never stop if you are planning to do any business at any point in time. So don’t stop advertising. Instead you gotta adjust the what, where and how in your advertising strategy.
Advertisers who ‘get it’ are doing DAILY market scans to determine which categories are up, which are down, as well as what the new trends and sentiments are. Advertising is then adjusted in terms of ‘what, where and how’ in real time to reflect the newly discovered trends and sentiments. Be an advertiser who ‘gets it’. #marketing #advertising