A man lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio or computer. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers, he didn’t watch television. He didn’t know much about the outside world, but he sold good hot dogs.
He put up a sign on the highway telling how good they were. He had a website built. He stood by the side of the road and cried “Buy a hot dog, folks!” And people bought and bought and bought.
He increased his meat and roll orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his growing trade. He got his son home from university to help him. He hired a hotdog chef.
But then something happened.
His son said, “Dad, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? Haven’t you been watching the television? There’s a credit crisis. If money stays tight, we are bound to have bad businesses!
There may be a big recession coming on! You’d better prepare for poor trade!”
Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son has gone to university. He reads the papers and listens to the radio and television, and he ought to know”.
So the father cut down his meat and roll orders. He took down his advertising signs and turned off his website. And he no longer bothered to stand on the side of the highway crying, “Buy a hot dog, folks!”
And his hot dog sales plummeted almost overnight!
“You’re right son,” the father said, “We’re certainly headed for a recession!”
The moral of the story is…
History has proven companies that maintain or increase their advertising investments in periods of economic downturn increase their sales and share of market, both during and after the downturn.
- TheWriteMarket.com
