Trump’s win proves that traditional media is broken, and celebrity endorsements don’t cut it
As we observe the evolution of Trump’s next political strategy, what insights can we learn as marketers about how Democrats and Republicans navigated the media and harnessed the role of cultural influence? Rhian Mason, head of cultural design at Clemenger BBDO, explores.
To many (including myself) the second red wave came as a blow. Our echo chamber news feeds pumped us with stories of cautious optimism, liberal hope, and star-fuelled social media posts.
However, with the cultural consensus no longer emanating from traditional media sources, there were indications that the tide was not in Kamala Harris’ favour.
Derek Thompson recently shared a startling theory in his podcast. Plain English. He found that nearly all global incumbent political parties or elected officials in power during COVID-19 are now wiped out. The rise of global inflation, vaccine mandates, and enforced lockdown laws took its toll, and the collective memory holds the blame at the top.
Fatigue towards the establishment has been growing since that moment when COVID showed us the mirror to how the rich and removed saw the world, serenading us to ‘Imagine’ how hope was within reach from their million-dollar compounds.
W0W… what a brilliant article and right on the money too …
so so different to the usual puffed up look at me ‘ dribble that fills this space from so called media specialists
Well done !
Totally agree with @YaksBak, this is a great piece. A clear-eyed overview without partisan rancour. I’d add to the mix that the qualitative experience was a significant player. Conversations with Rogan and Theo Van were congenial and rambling, whereas the interactions with people like Beyonce and Swift were staged and short or just non-existent. It allowed one set of candidates to show their human side, whereas the other set always felt at one remove.
Been seeing Skynews clips on my feed when I normally don’t go near it. Now I know why. Thanks
Trump wasn’t responsible for how COVID lockdown protocols were rolled out across individual states. The Governor’s of each state were.
So, yeah.
I don’t think anyone can truly claim to quantify the many different drivers of the US election results and separate correlation from causation. One notable correlation which may suggest an alternative view to Rhian’s is the difference in the overall national swing versus the shift in the key swing states (where most of the advertising and campaign money was spent – Michigan, Georgia & Pennsylvania in particular) – whereby the swing to the Republican Party was only half of the national result. Correlation or Causation. I can’t say either. But certainly it deserves deeper investigation before claiming that traditional advertising didn’t work.
The Derek Thompson quote is ill-fitting here. Trump and the Republicans were in power during the COVID lockdowns. Yes as Thompson asserts, they were in turn voted out, but now they’re obviously back.
I can understand the media and cultural lens here, but it would be remiss to think it was a driving force. We also need to look at core fundamentals, primarily the economy. US citizens are struggling, and Trump drove home economic change, while Harris drove a different agenda. I think this campaign was more about the staples of bread, milk, and wages.