At Mower, we’ve seen how smart marketing can do more than drive growth. It can build resilience. Although this McKinsey article was published in 2023, its insights (drawn from the tail end of the pandemic) are just as relevant now as businesses brace for a potential recession. The playbook for navigating economic uncertainty hasn’t changed. What worked then can work now.
McKinsey’s research makes a clear case. Companies that continued to invest in brand, customer insight, and marketing agility during past disruptions were the ones that rebounded faster and gained market share. Resilient organizations treat marketing as a strategic lever, not a line item to trim.
So, if your bank or credit union leadership is considering drastically reducing marketing budgets in the current environment, consider sharing some of these proof points from a trusted source like McKinsey to balance maintaining marketing investment to achieve your customer acquisition / deposit growth / customer retention goals.
Three Ways Marketing Builds Resilience:
Know your customer, better: Real-time data and journey mapping help identify shifting behaviors and focus on the segments that matter most.
Pick your priorities: Rather than spreading efforts thin, resilient brands invest in the initiatives with the highest potential for growth and impact.
Give teams room to move: Agile marketing teams that test, learn, and adapt quickly are better equipped to respond to changing market dynamics.
The lesson is clear. Resilience comes from clarity of purpose, not just cost-cutting.
Read the full article from McKinsey: Beyond belt-tightening: How marketing can drive resiliency during uncertain times