Faced with a downturn, many businesses cut advertising and marketing spend. But it's their biggest commercial mistake.

In every recession of the past 90 years, independent studies show that the businesses who increase their advertising spend are the ones who survive the tough times and thrive afterwards.

That's why we're still advertising. Make sure you are, too.

In the recession of the early 90s, Barclaycard doubled its adspend while Access halved theirs. Barclaycard saw advertising awareness almost triple; Access's awareness halved.

15 years of consistent advertising helped BMW to treble sales volume and market share. In 1993, BMW estimated that their advertising had been responsible for creating 35,000 enquiries to dealers.

Source: FT desk research