Revisiting the Depression

When the Depression hit, there were two cereal companies--Kellogg and Post. When consumer demand dived, Post did the predictable thing: it reduced sales, marketing and product development expenses. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies. By 1933, in the worst of the depression, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become the industry's leader.

In this nifty article from the New Yorker, James Surowieki also reminds us how Chrysler overcame Ford in the 1930's with a big brand push behind Plymouth, and how Kraft bet big on Miracle Whip. And remember, in 2000-2001 with the dot com crash and when 9/11 paralyzed the world, the iPod and Xbox were introduced, and the Pocket PC made their big push to overtake Palm. When others try to save their way of out of bad time, winners compete with new products, new ideas, and new plans. When others try to survive to fight another day, leaders make their own history.