BUSINESSES are tightening their belts and with talk of a recession looming, advertising budgets are being looked on by some as the first place to make cutbacks.

For that reason, the Financial Times launched a campaign in London at the end of last month to highlight the strong evidence which shows that reducing or cutting back on advertising during lean times can be very harmful to the long-term success of an organisation.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising also held a conference in March to look at the most successful ways to handle an economic downturn.

Its conclusion was that reducing advertising could be extremely damaging to a company in the long term. In the short term, profits might seem higher as costs are cut, but the downside is that the product and brand become less well-known.

Managing director of The Partnership Tony Tostevin (pictured) agreed. ‘Advertising is an investment into the brand of your company. Results may not be immediately obvious, but statistics overwhelmingly show that organisations which remove themselves from the public eye during difficult times take a long time to recover.’