Earlier this fall, and against our advice, a client pulled back on what had always been an important investor communication. After disappointing year-end results, the CEO believed it was simply not worth the investment. His stark perspective was this: Do without the project or another FTE.

It's hard to argue with brutal reality. Nevertheless let me try.

There is another argument, equally based in reality: When times are tough communication is even more important. It's when you need to tell stakeholders that, despite everything, the company remains strong-that it is viable and still investing in growth, and that it will come out of the recession primed to compete.

The truth is, reaching out to stakeholders in good times is easy. (What's simpler than describing how smart you've been, and how new ideas will yield even greater results.) While it's infinitely harder, it's also more important to reach out to constituents when they're concerned - even worried - and when the results are nowhere near what you, or they, would prefer to see. One lesson learned in the economic turmoil of the past year is that, among stakeholders, honesty and transparency clearly win the day. Telling the truth, it seems, earns the loyalty of customers, employees and investors. In the end, this can be key to saving not just one job but many.

As with all businesses, this past year has been challenging for us. We've seen major clients slash brand-building budgets and precious few prospects step into the breech. However, as we noted last summer, some leading companies took a different tack. They made the seemingly counterintuitive decision to raise, rather than cut, communication spend. In the words of my colleague Brett Gerstenblatt, they "took advantage of economic disruption," increasing investment despite the recession, whether to gain share, enter new markets or strengthen relationships.

As we noted back then, not all companies had the deep pockets to do this. But with the economy reaching equilibrium now, more clients are making the move. I believe our company is a pretty accurate microcosm of the larger economy. When clients are feeling more secure our phones start ringing off the hook. In the past few months, we've experienced a considerable upturn in our business. We've also received a number of RFPs, from both new prospects with new ideas and old clients seeking to reconnect with stakeholders. Apparently, companies are starting to believe that its time to invest in the conversation again.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to follow companies that invested at the depth of the recession. Will their brands have an advantage in the upturn? I believe they will.

Are your recession investments paying dividends? Or are you glad you saved your money?