When markets tighten, confidence dips, and boardroom conversations turn to “cash now, growth later”, marketing budgets often become the first casualty.

The instinct is understandable: focus on activity that delivers an immediate return. Shift spend from long-term brand building to short-term lead generation. Protect the bottom line.

But history, data and experience tell a different story. Brands that maintain visibility and consistency during crises often emerge stronger, trusted, and better placed to grow when stability returns. Those who retreat entirely into short-term performance marketing tend to find that recovery costs more, takes longer, and rarely restores the same equity they once held.

The Pressure to Perform

In the current environment of economic volatility, shifting regulations, and political uncertainty, businesses are trying to stay agile. It’s natural to ask, “What can we measure this month?”

Short-term metrics offer reassurance: clicks, conversions, sign-ups, revenue lifts. They provide the illusion of control. But brand is the silent multiplier that makes those numbers possible in the first place.

According to research highlighted recently in Marketing Week, around 84% of purchases happen because the consumer was already primed; they knew, liked, or trusted the brand before the ad ever appeared. In other words, performance marketing works best when brand marketing has already done its job.

The Cost of Going Dark

When a company “goes dark” on its brand communications, even for six months, the decline is rarely immediate, but it’s inevitable. Familiarity fades. Competitors step in. The pipeline becomes harder to refill.

Marketing effectiveness research by Binet and Field has consistently shown that cutting brand spend in a downturn might protect profits in the short term but reduces market share and profit growth over the next two to three years.

For SMEs and growth businesses, the stakes are even higher. Many rely on reputation and personal trust as their main differentiators. When that trust is left untended, it doesn’t just erode; it’s replaced by louder, more visible competitors who continue to tell their story.

Balancing the Equation

This doesn’t mean we ignore short-term realities. Every business needs performance activity to keep sales moving. But the art of crisis-era marketing lies in balance: maintaining brand consistency while adapting tone, channels, and expectations.

Some practical approaches:

Refresh your brand message, don’t silence it. Consumers and clients understand challenging times; they value authenticity and empathy more than polished perfection.

Invest in ‘priming content’. Stories, testimonials, and case studies that show what your brand stands for build familiarity and trust long before conversion.

Use performance data to inform brand storytelling. The audiences who engage most with short-term content reveal where your strongest emotional connections already lie.

Build community, not just campaigns. Especially in B2B and technical markets, engagement through webinars, local partnerships, or thought leadership keeps your brand credible even when budgets are slim.

Experience from the Front Line

At Taesea, we’ve worked with businesses navigating turbulent policy shifts and economic uncertainty. What we’ve seen time and again is that the brands that keep showing up even modestly create stability for their customers. They signal reliability when others appear reactive or absent.

Similarly, in more technical sectors like water treatment, where I’ve seen firsthand the importance of trust and regulation, brand reputation isn’t a luxury. It’s operational insurance. When buyers face high stakes — health, safety, compliance — they turn to names that have demonstrated long-term credibility. No flash campaign can replicate that.

The Long View Is the Smart View

Crisis marketing often tempts us to think in quarters rather than years. But it’s the brands that remember who they are and keep reminding their audience to gain a compound advantage. Brand equity is like fitness: hard to build, easy to lose, and impossible to regain overnight.

So yes, cut waste, measure rigorously, and optimise performance. But never cut the signal that tells the world what your business stands for. In uncertain times, brand isn’t the garnish. It’s the anchor.

In times like these, there’s no single playbook that fits every brand, but sharing experiences helps all of us make smarter decisions. If you’ve found effective ways to balance brand building with short-term pressures, or if you’re wrestling with that challenge right now, drop a comment below. I’d love to hear your perspective and keep the conversation going.