Recession Cuts Into Area Ad Budgets

With the recession cutting deeply into the pockets of city store owners, many businesses are resorting to slashing advertising budgets to combat the stagnant economy.

"In terms of the overall ad industry in the New England market, it's as bad as it's ever been in recent history," said Judy Warner, editor of the New England edition of Adweek, a publication covering news and trends in the advertising industry.

The decline is not new--newspapers and magazines have seen a sharp reduction in advertisements since the late 1980s. But the dearth of ads has grown more pronounced as the recession lingers.

The recession cuts both ways for area businesses. While the number of pages dedicated to advertisements has declined during the recession, the economic downturn has also created a window of opportunity for those businesses able to invest more in their ad budgets.

Warner said more businesses opt to cut advertisements, but others seize the opportunity to "gain a competitive edge."

"Recessions are a great time to advertise," she said. "There's less volume of ads, so you're more likely to stand out."

The Crimson Sports Grille, Boston Chicken and Filene's are all taking advantage of their competitors' decreased advertising by boosting their own.

Still, most businesses are not looking at the recession as a time to beef up their ad budgets, according to officials at The Boston Globe.

"We have been affected like every other newspaper by reduced advertising," said Globe spokesperson Richard P. Gulla. He added that the ad industry has been particularly shaken in New England, where the recession hit early.

The Harvard Coop in one of the Square businesses scaling back its advertising.

We've cut everywhere," said Jon P. Telow, an advertising executive at the Coop.

He said the recession kept the Coop's advertising budget at the same level as last year, forcing the retailer to think twice before spending its money.

According to Telow, the Coop has maintained advertising in campus publications to target student consumers. "We can get lost in The Globe but we can almost dominate The Crimson or the [MIT] Tech," Telow said.

The recession has helped some advertising areas, namely the help wanted and real estate section of classified advertising.

The help wanted section of The Globe has been expended by six to seven pages in recent months, according to Gulla.

And the entertainment industry maintained--if not increased--ads over the last few months, said sales executives at the Boston Phoenix, an arts and entertainment weekly.

"The Globe and papers like it rely heavily on help wanted and classifieds, but that was never our bread and butter," said Carola E. Cadley, salesdirector at the Phoenix.

Cadley cites the demographics of the Phoenix'sreadership--a more affluent 18-to-40-year-oldpopulation--as the reason why the newspaper hasnot suffered ad sales losses.

And according to Cadley, entertainmentadvertising in special interest publications likethe Phoenix is the last to get cut in a recession.

"Whereas some publications have had precipitousdrops, we haven't," she said

Cadley cites the demographics of the Phoenix'sreadership--a more affluent 18-to-40-year-oldpopulation--as the reason why the newspaper hasnot suffered ad sales losses.

And according to Cadley, entertainmentadvertising in special interest publications likethe Phoenix is the last to get cut in a recession.

"Whereas some publications have had precipitousdrops, we haven't," she said