Learn How to Market in an Economic Downturn

Based on Quelch & Jocz, HBR, April 2009 – Reimagined with sarcasm, strategy, and help from Episode 11 Productions.

So the economy is slowing. Again. Your CFO just banned flavored creamer, and the marketing team is pitching chalkboard ads and interpretive dance. Take a breath and learn some techniques to marketing in a slow economy.

While recessions feel like the time to zip up the budget tighter than your jeans after Thanksgiving, research says smart marketing doesn’t stop—it just gets scrappier and more strategic.

Step 1: Know Thy Customer (and Their Panic Level)

According to Harvard Business Review, during downturns, customers fall into four categories:

• Slam-on-the-Brakes

These folks go full panic mode. They cancel everything that doesn’t come with a heartbeat or a coupon. Selling them luxury is like offering caviar on a lifeboat.

• Pained-but-Patient

This group is large and cautious. They’ll spend, but only if the purchase feels essential or comes with emotional reassurance. They’re looking for “smart buys,” not showy ones.
Comfortably Well-Off

• Still spending, but low-key about it. Think discrete value and long-term usefulness, not flash and hype.
Live-for-Today

The “I’ll worry about it later” crowd. They’re still out buying motorcycles and concert tickets. Target them with indulgence and experience, not guilt.

Citation: Quelch, J. A., & Jocz, K. E. (2009). How to Market in a Downturn. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2009/04/how-to-market-in-a-downturn-2

Step 2: Rethink What You Sell

Marketing in a downturn, customers mentally categorize your offerings into four buckets:

  1. Essentials: basic survival stuff. (Toilet paper, coffee, emotionally intelligent video content.)
  2. Treats: justifiable little luxuries—small bursts of joy.
  3. Postponables: things that can wait a little while.
  4. Expendables: goodbye, gold-plated stapler and monthly hot stone therapy.

If your product lands in “Treat” or “Postponable” territory, Episode 11 Productions can help you reposition it into “Essential” or at least “Emotionally Worth It.” Through strategic video storytelling, we make your product feel necessary, urgent, and human.

Step 3: Don’t Go Dark

This is the part where a lot of brands make the mistake of disappearing until “things get better.” But brands that cut marketing too hard during a recession often lose more in brand equity than they save in dollars.

Here’s what smart brands do:

• They keep marketing in a slow economy—they just market smarter.

• Shift your message from “BUY NOW!” to “Here’s how we help you.” Stories work better than slogans, and Episode 11 Productions knows how to tell yours.
They double down on value.

• Offer clarity, confidence, and trust. We create testimonial videos, product explainers, emotional appeals—anything that shows you’re still delivering, even when wallets are tight.

• They stay visible.

Go dark and you risk getting replaced in your customer’s mind. Stay consistent, helpful, and relevant with short-form video content that’s easy to produce, fast to launch, and budget-wise.

Citation: Quelch, J. A., & Jocz, K. E. (2009). How to Market in a Downturn. Harvard Business Review.

Step 4: What You Should Actually Do

Focus your message. Be direct, be human, and tell the truth. Don’t overpromise—show real, relatable value. Episode 11 can help you script, shoot, and share this kind of messaging in videos under two minutes.
Use psychology. A downturn is an emotional event. Fear, uncertainty, hope—they all influence buying behavior. We build video content that taps into this emotional economy to make your product feel like the solution people have been looking for.

Avoid fluff. You don’t need glitter or a slow-motion eagle soaring over a mountain (unless your business is literally eagles). You need clarity, empathy, and strategy. That’s what we make.

Bottom Line: Don’t Just Survive the Downturn—Outmarket Everyone Who Gave Up

Your competitors are cutting corners and hoping the storm passes. That’s your opportunity to show up stronger. Episode 11 Productions helps companies like yours stay present, persuasive, and professional. We help you manage marketing in a slow economy.

We’ll help you:

  • Create short, strategic, emotionally driven video content
  • Stay in front of your customers, not behind your competition
  • Translate your value into a message people trust and remember
  • Avoid the mistakes that cost more in lost loyalty than saved dollars

If your goal is to stay visible, respected, and relevant when things get rocky, we’re the team you call.

Visit www.episode11productions.com

Call us at 704.451.5073

Let’s make something that matters—even in a downturn.