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Stewart Oxley, sales and marketing director at contract packer and services provider Granby Marketing Services, argues that marketers should rethink their views on outsourcing as the downturn takes hold.

In the current economic climate companies must ensure they operate in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. Factors such as changes in consumer demand and budgets being squeezed can add unnecessary strain on a business that may already be apprehensive about what 2009 holds. One obvious answer is to reduce the level of non-core activity operated by the business.

Rightly or wrongly, many companies will have reservations about outsourcing parts of their operations to other companies. Amongst the most common worries are the inability to track the progress of the operation accurately; whether a third party will fulfil work to the same operational standards, and concerns about losing control over your brand's image and status. But, I would argue that none of these problems should put you off outsourcing.

It is essential for any marketing department to keep track of the progress of any work undertaken. Most fulfilments companies give their clients access to a tracking system which will enable them to view those key details. Clearly, it is more useful to be able to view one, which is as near to real time as possible, as opposed to one that has been updated the evening before.

Damage to your brand is clearly the biggest concern brands have of outsourcing. But, if outsourced staff are fully briefed they can provide a seamless service, which can even help improve the brand's customer relationship. For many brands, rather than use the in-house team and risk badly managing potential peaks of activity, outsourcing allows brands to quickly and effectively deal with any problems and maintain service levels across all aspects of their operations.   

As we sink further into this economic downturn it is more important than ever for brands to maintain a constant level of marketing activity and consumer communications. The trick is to review the channels used and the ways the activity is undertaken to see how it can be accomplished at a lower cost.