Marketing in a Downturn do the opposite

I am seeing companies going bust left and rite and the remaining ones are scared to death to spend any money these days, but you know what in a downturn thats the worst thing you can do, since during good times you work on sales and during bad ones you build you brand, or market share. A downturn does not mean customers have moved to mars they are just clinging to the dollars a little more. I think this is the best time to create further brand awareness,create strategies to have customers come back to you as soon as economy revives. Its like preparing for the Olympics, you prepare your best, Jog, swim, High jump and get to the point where you know you can compete with the top athletes, even though you know they happen only once 4 years! do you wait till the last moment ofcourse not, thats how preparing yourself and your brand should be during an economic downturn,do low budget branding activities, create buzz by doing something people dont expect,since everyone specially the customers love surprises,send a thank you note for being your patron over the years, do a event,a road show , something crazy because when the times roll back you will be first in line to hear the dollars coming out.