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Trump wakes Ad agencies: not everyone wants to be a politically correct coastal city yuppie

The seismic shift continues.

In the new Trumpocene, executives have suddenly realized that there is whole other world out there. This is pretty big stuff. People in Manhattan are even thinking they might need to hire country folk, or, crikey, set up country offices. They are suggesting maybe Big Data from internet surveys is missing the point (and half the country), and wait for it… they may have to really talk to rural people, and (pause, because this is so profound) … face to face.

Even possibly in their homes.

Trump’s Win Has Ad Agencies Rethink How They Collect Data, Recruit staff

Wall Street Journal

“This election is a seminal moment for marketers” says Joe Tripodi, Subway sandwich chain.

Trump’s win spurs concerns that ad agencies are out of touch with consumers

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, advertisers are reflecting on whether they are out of touch
with the same people who propelled the businessman into the White House.
By ALEXANDRA BRUELL and SUZANNE VRANICA

 A few days after the Nov. 8 election, the chief executive of the ad agency giant McCann Worldgroup summoned top executives to discuss
what the company could learn from the surprising outcome. One takeaway for him and his staff was that too much advertising falsely
assumes that all U.S. consumers desire to be like coastal elites.

“Every so often you have to reset what is the aspirational goal the public has with regard to the products we sell,” said Harris Diamond,
McCann’s CEO. “So many marketing programs are oriented toward metro elite imagery.” Marketing needs to reflect less of New York and
Los Angeles culture, he said, and more of “Des Moines and Scranton.”

I predict the ABC in Australia will miss this seismic shift entirely, though they need it so desperately. A  lot of the ABC problems would be solved if we booted them out of Ultimo in Sydney and asked them to live in Bourke, Mildura, or Wagga… you name it. Indeed, how about Orange (where the Nationals just lost a seat they’ve held forever to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, a result that zero ABC commentators predicted. The Trump effect has reached 16,000 kilometers across the ocean. It appears the electors have discovered they can vote in people who are not politicians.

Some marketers, concerned that data isn’t telling them everything they need to know, are considering increasing their use of personal
interviews in research. Meanwhile, some ad agencies are looking to hire more people from rural areas as they rethink the popular use of
aspirational messaging showcasing a ritzy life on the two metropolitan coasts. One company is also weighing whether to open more local
offices around the world, where the people who create ads are closer to the people who see them.

Read it all (though it may be behind the paywall) Wall Street Journal

h/t a friend in the Alps and David B.

 

The U.S. now needs to decide,
That the urban-rural divide,
Between city adorables,
And country deplorables,
Should end and be swept to one side.

— Ruairi

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