Tough Times Equal Opportunity

I read a story about an ad agency in Portland called Via that won Ad Age's Small Agency of the Year for 2011. The founder said "In some ways, the worse the economy got, the better we did. ... I think the problems became so acute by last year that we benefited from the fact that larger agencies are not handling this very well, and clients are looking outside for innovation, ideas and results. This really is the time for small agencies to prosper."

and

Ralph Santana, the chief marketing officer of Samsung said, "They're a small agency doing big-agency stuff. ... They are really good listeners and they look to partner, not just push this creative or that creative. They tie creative to metrics."

and

"They're more about solving the problem and addressing the challenge than they are about creating something fun that everyone wants to watch," said Romano's Mr. Coleman.

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It's interesting that as we talk about a new(?) recession in the U.S., advertisers are turning back to what works for actual sales. I understand the story is about a general advertising agency but it applies to direct marketers and copywriters, too.

What do you think? Do tough economies provide more opportunities for copywriters that can produce direct sales?