One of the reasons why big brands need advertising and PR is to maintain brand equity
& influence.
Cutting down the advertising budget might seem like a good idea to reduce expenditure and increase profit in the short run, but the effect, in the long run, is market share erosion.
There are no two ways about it. You have to be consistent with your advertising and PR to remain relevant, otherwise over time, you’d lose market share, lose touch with the younger generation and sales/profit would begin to decline.
The reason some might think they no longer need Pr & Advertising is that they use it as a strategy to drown competitors, but that’s not all advertising is all about. It’s more like a reinvestment in the brand to keep it alive and fresh!
Take Coca-Cola for example, as huge as they are worldwide, they still budget huge amounts for PR and advertising. In fact, their Advertising & PR tactics are some of the most innovative in the world to date. It keeps them relevant, young, refreshing and fun!
And Coca-Cola is not even in competition with one particular brand. Nah, they are not competing with Pepsi even though the latter is in competition with them. They’ve gone past that.
They can be said to be competing with water, no scratch that, they are competing for the market share of all fluids consumed by a person. So if you ever need a reason to keep your marketing budget, set a higher target.
Do you have any other reason why you think big brands should do PR and advertising? Please share in the comments.
