The Jolt: J&J and LG fight back

We’ve heard a million times that maintaining or increasing your marketing spend during a recession is a smart ploy, but some brands are actually taking notice and heeding the advice.

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, which is in charge of products like Acuvue contacts lenses, has raised its spend on public relations in Singapore. J&J Vision Care told Marketing that it is spending 20% more on PR in 2009 than it did last year.

And LG Electronics has announced that it will not reduce its outlay on marketing, branding, design and R&D despite the downturn, and may even increase its investment in these areas, in a bid to gain market share. LG said partnerships “will continue to be a key element of the company’s marketing activities to elevate its brand position”, and the company as set up a crisis war room to manage its aggressive business plan.

Bebe Teo, who heads up marketing for J&J Vision Care, which works with SPRG Singapore, said PR is a good way for the division to get its messages across to both mass and targeted audiences. Teo said its increased PR effort is for brand-building and education purposes, including public education of the problem of astigmatism.

“We need to sustain the [PR] program all year, to educate the public,” she said.

Edwin Yeo, general manager of SPRG Singapore, said SPRG’s appointment to the account in October last year is the first time J&J Vision Care has had a PR agency on retainer.