Is It a Recession? Marketers Seem to Think So

Let the economists and politicians debate whether the American economy is in a recession. Madison Avenue is already battening down the hatches.

New York Times, January 28, 2008 — Let the economists and politicians debate whether the American economy is in a recession. Madison Avenue is already battening down the hatches.

Since September, Wal-Mart Stores, the nation’s largest retailer, has built its entire current advertising approach upon this bald premise: “Save money. Live better.” Skeptics wondered at the time whether Wal-Mart and its new agency, the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, were fixating on price at the expense of other attractions like fashion or breadth of merchandise.

But the economic problems that followed — falling prices for houses, tightening credit and the gyrations of the stock market — vindicated their decision.