What we do in bad times matters more than what we do in the good.

Yesterday data from the Office for National Statistics showed overall Inflation in the UK eased slightly, down 0.2% from 10.1% in July to 9.9% in August.

That’s some relief for the #hospitality sector, amongst many others now. It follows on from last week’s welcomed announcement on energy price cap freezes across the sector and reducing fuel costs. However, the future remains uncertain in the long term.

Of course with uncertainty and challenge comes the temptation to save money by cutting budgets. And very often that happens first in marketing. But throughout history, challenging times have driven greatness.

What we do in bad times often matters more than what we do in good times The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)’s databank echoes that showing marketers who increased advertising investment got 4.5 times as much market share growth as brands that did not.

So why would you increase marketing spend in bad times? Well, the best time to do it is when others aren’t. It increases your eSOV, which means your share of voice becomes bigger than your share of market. The ideal balance for growth.

So, in the sector, what would you increase spend on? According to The Caterer in July 2021 ‘Everyone working in hospitality seemed to agree on one thing: finding new ways to communicate with customers will be crucial to success in the post-pandemic market.’

Another example of savvy marketing to support growth is likely to be heard at this year’s The Restaurant Conference where Nisha Katona, MBE, founder and CEO, Mowgli Street Food will share how she leads the business, keeping the culture and consistency of the brand intact as it expands beyond 20 local restaurants across the UK.

Succeeding in bad times requires extraordinary skills. The economic challenges of the next few years require savvy brands to boost eSOV by increasing customer communication. This can be done by enhancing their network’s local marketing abilities. It’s already proven that it will pay back dividends.

A recording of the webcast 'Successful Brand implementation and activation in the Food & Beverage sector' is available to watch here. Alternatively you can listen to it as a podcast on Spotify and Apple Music. If you are in Food & Beverage or Hospitality it will be 30 mins well spent.

Spotify
https://lnkd.in/ei6tFzCX

Apple Music
https://lnkd.in/e3QfdJtb

Or if you'd like to read more about Local Marketing have a look at our blog page "Local Thinking': https://www.weareacuity.com/local-thinking-our-blog

Or get in touch with us today to learn about growing your local business. You can book a FREE 30 minute chat here.

#foodandbeverage #advertisingandmarketing #restaurant #hotel #restaurantreport #hospitalityrecovery #hospitalityindustry #menusizing #chainrestaurants