Navigating Volatility

Businesses are no strangers to volatility. In the past two decades, the dot-com bubble burst, the financial crisis triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression, and the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a global shutdown. But the level of confusion during this bout of economic volatility is unlike anything CMOs and other business leaders have experienced in past crises. To help marketing and growth leaders better manage their brand and business through this period of uncertainty and shifting consumer behaviors, we have a new report, Choose Precision, Not Panic, When Marketing During Volatility.

A Three-Pronged Approach

As marketers navigate this period, they can rely on some tried-and-tested recipes from their crisis cookbook, but they must alter the flavor of their approach to adapt to some unique characteristics. In this revised playbook for CMOs, we recommend a threefold “good, better, best” additive approach:

 

  • Good: Stick to a solid long-term strategy. Keep a cool head and resist knee-jerk reactions to upend your marketing. The foundational elements of your customer segmentation and brand value proposition will, in all likelihood, endure this period of volatility intact, so be careful not to undo the carefully considered brand you’ve built.
  • Better: Optimize your marketing for the new environment. Correct course by discerning the unique and meaningful changes in the environment. For example, unlike during the pandemic years, most consumers today are stretched financially, which has significant implications for affordability. Throw in the likelihood that tariffs will raise import costs, and many CMOs need to revisit their pricing and messaging strategies.
  • Best: Make bold bets if available and feasible. Severe volatility creates anomalies in the market, which can present opportunities to make a bold play to seize new territory. For example, during the financial crisis, Target took a big bet in launching a grocery business that is now worth $24 billion. But be aware that it takes gumption to do this.

Five Precise Marketing Plays

To optimize marketing for this new era of volatility, we recommend five precision plays:

  1. Apply a financial resilience filter to customer segmentation.
  2. Scrutinize and optimize advertising spend, and plan, buy, and measure media to maximize cross-channel halo effects.
  3. Revisit the five levers of growth — salience, product, experience, price, and access — and retune your marketing tactics.
  4. Double down on loyalty and focus on the most loyal of customers: the “devotees.”
  5. Step hard on the AI pedal to be more effective and better use resources.

For more details on implementing these plays, clients can read our new report, Choose Precision, Not Panic, When Marketing During Volatility.

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