Advertising Age presented 33 Adland executives predicting how President-Elect Donald Trump returning to supremacy could impact marketing.
The panel featured quite a few representatives of underrepresented groups in Adland, which spiked mentions of DEIBA+ topics.
It’s hard to guess what predictions the exclusive majority—ie, White people—might offer on the subject. Probably not much, as the political powershift doesn’t adversely affect Adland’s White power structure.
Here’s the color commentary from DEIBA+ defenders:
Joseph Anthony, founder, Hero Media
The election results will unfortunately embolden and empower the current marketing power base to deprioritize inclusive business practices that include hiring goals, supplier diversity and the prioritization of audiences and insights that may require going outside of the supply chain and solutions providers they want to work with. This will result in the closings of smaller diverse-owned boutique agencies, production companies and consultancies. It will result in an exodus of Black, Indigenous and people of color executives who have to work under duress or on work where they aren’t really contributing, more cultural appropriation and so on.
Omid Farhang, founder and CEO, Majority
What started with the Bud Light fiasco will only magnify with this election outcome: Fortune 500 brands stiff-arming any and all creative ideas that have so much as a whiff of political undertones, for fear of Kid Rock shooting up their product with an AR-15 on Truth Social.
Marina Filippelli, CEO, Orci
One thing this election doesn’t change and actually brings to the forefront is the need to understand your audiences at a deeper level. We will likely hear much in the coming days about the Latino vote and that we need to stop treating it as a monolith. This is true of all minority segments in this country, who as we’ve seen, are more complex than we sometimes get credit for.
As marketers and brands, it is our job to truly understand how consumers think and how to motivate them based on those insights. The election doesn’t change that. If anything, it heightens the need to better understand the unique subdivisions in our country so that brands don’t make the fatal mistake of thinking that the election results mean that multiculturalism is not important. Whatever your politics, our role as marketers is to help brands connect with their consumer audiences, and anyone who uses the results of this election to turn a blind eye to uniquely targeting their growth segments will suffer in their sales and brand love accordingly.
Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO, IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn
Trump returning as U.S. President means that the closed loop of white guys talking to white guys about other white guys at the top of our industry will feel even more emboldened to keep women out of leadership and power while sexually harassing and grabbing them by the p---y wherever and whenever they feel like it, while shutting down even token DEI efforts completely, because those will now actively disadvantage them business-wise, thereby keeping our industry as racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, ableist and ageist as it’s ever been.
This is why Blackweek, fresh off its inaugural year, becomes even more important as a disruptive force for business change in our industry, why every organization that’s been working to combat all of this for years—AdColor, ColorComm, She Runs It, Asians In Advertising, etc.—will need to redouble their efforts, and why every one of us who believed in a world where a Black woman could lead and steer the future of the nation, now needs to start our own industry—one where we ensure, as I said to the Blackweek audience, that Black women lead and steer the future of advertising.
Randy Gudiel, senior VP, media director, Orci
With immigration at the forefront, brands should recognize the need to engage multicultural audiences thoughtfully. It’s no longer just about diversity in creative—it’s about understanding the unique values and challenges faced by our communities. Partnering with multicultural agencies will be key, as we bring cultural expertise that resonates authentically.
Brands that paused spending pre-election might cautiously reinvest, with a focus on digital and contextual placements to control their message in a highly charged environment. To avoid misalignment, brands will be more selective about where their ads appear and lean on audience segmentation to reach consumers thoughtfully and effectively.
We’re seeing a shift in values, especially among multicultural audiences, which increasingly look for brands that align with their core beliefs. For communities impacted by immigration issues, there’s a growing emphasis on supporting brands that actively advocate for diversity, inclusion, and community support.
Mike Kapetanovic, founder, marketing consultancy GrowthLab
Ad agencies are likely to experience fewer regulations, especially in advertising and media. This anticipated shift toward deregulation may offer a more flexible environment, easing restrictions on content, targeting and campaign spending. As a result, agencies might embrace a bolder, less restrained approach to creative work, feeling empowered to explore new messaging and formats. However, this freedom also brings increased public scrutiny, as brands navigate an intensely polarized landscape where cultural and political stances are frequently under the microscope.
On the cultural front, the administration’s focus on national priorities over DE&I initiatives could shift the tone of advertising, with brands potentially moving away from social equity messaging. Marketing budgets may increasingly align with themes the administration emphasizes such as defense, national pride and economic growth, while areas associated with social programs and environmental initiatives could see reduced investment. Agencies will need to balance the opportunities created by deregulation with the risks posed by a politically sensitive climate, weighing the benefits of creative freedom against the potential for heightened backlash in a divided public arena.
Adrienne Lucas, global head of DEI and strategic partnerships, The One Club for Creativity
Trump has openly criticized DEI initiatives and training, labeling them as “divisive” and “anti-American propaganda.” Under his presidency, many brands may become more hesitant to engage in DEI conversations, fearing potential legal backlash or public criticism. This could lead to a bigger retreat from DEI-related initiatives and spending, a trend we’ve already seen in recent years. That said, bold brands, like Nike and Ben & Jerry’s, may continue to push the envelope with purpose-driven campaigns that resonate with their core values.
The cultural shift could also extend to social media dynamics. With platforms like X (formerly Twitter) reducing content moderation and reinstating banned accounts, brands and their influencers may find themselves tangled in harmful or offensive conversations, risking reputational damage.
Austin McClelland, VP of PR and earned creative, Spool
We can expect brands with core audiences on both ends of the political spectrum to continue being risk averse in their campaign work, brand activations and even partnerships as to not draw unwanted attention, especially as the new administration takes off in 2025.
While personally, as a queer man, I’m disappointed there will be less LGBTQ+ campaigns to work on, it’s not without the benefit of seeing which brands have been performative in their purpose-based or DE&I-focused programs. If there is a brand that has consistently shown up with minority or disenfranchised audiences that no longer does Pride activations, or supports International Women’s Day for example, those audiences can and will take note. If you abandon certain audiences in times where they arguably need the most support, that action has long-term implications regardless of future political climates.
Brands may struggle with engaging celebrity talent who have been vocal on either side of the [political endorsement] coin, especially in the new administration’s first year. With regard to the Trump administration specifically, he is transparent and responds directly to dissent with celebrities. We can expect the most vocal of his supporters to follow suit and therefore put any brands that partner with those celebrities at higher risk for heated commentary.
Luis Miguel Messianu, founder, president, and chief creative officer, MEL
As the nation starts to recover from what has been one of the most divisive elections in our nation’s history, more than ever, advertisers are presented with the opportunity to connect with people through unifying emotional messages. This could be at the national level or within specific cultural communities.
Adan Romero, executive VP and executive creative director, Razorfish
The result should be a wake-up call for our industry—not a moment to sit back and return to business as usual, because that clearly hasn’t been working.
A significant part of the population didn’t vote for the president-elect, and now, more than ever, they feel overlooked and invisible. This is a large, diverse group of people who deserve to see themselves authentically represented in the work we produce and in the teams we build. If brands and agencies don’t step up to genuinely address their perspectives, we risk not only losing credibility but also the chance to stay relevant to a huge part of our audience and workforce.
Gabrielle Shirdan, founder and chief creative officer, Kitchen Table
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”—Malcolm X.
Democracy needs a rebrand. The culture needs more safe spaces. Our industry thrives off of communities that are so undervalued, underestimated and unprotected. Now is not the time to cut budgets, cut talent, cut departments or cut hope. Now is the time to “protest” through our work. To use our creative to control the things we can. To tell the stories that haven’t been told. To measure the merit of these mission statements and to prove to 67 million plus that they do matter. Prove to this generation and the next that hate might take office, but it doesn’t win. And hate sure as hell doesn’t sell. We are advertisers, sure. But we are humans first. Always put humans first.
Asha Shivaji, CEO and co-founder, SeeMe Index
Brands will lean into the values that hit the mark with consumers, whether that’s health equity, climate action or inclusivity. This will not only be seen as positive, but it will also be good for the bottom line.
Take inclusivity as an example. The recent macroanalysis by UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance showed that more inclusive advertising drives +3.5% in short-term sales uplift and +16.3% long-term sales uplift, while SeeMe Index and Circana’s recent study of Inclusive Beauty Drives Sales showed that more inclusive brands are growing 1.5x faster than their less inclusive counterparts. Inclusive marketing will be the path forward for brands in the next four years.
Dawn Wade, managing partner and chief strategy officer, Nimbus
The election’s outcome has confirmed the fears of many creative and media-buying agencies that the intentionality of carving out creative tactics and specific media audience targeting will be at risk for significant cutbacks or elimination. Our contracts, strategies and tactics are now, more than ever, at the mercy of leadership to understand that equitable inclusion requires tactics that serve minorities and those that DEI initiatives were supposed to safeguard.
We anticipate that brands will pull back and use the recent outcomes as an excuse not to do the work, or they will find clever ways to work around the implicit and explicit biases the incoming administration has been pushing.
Culturally, we will do what we have always done and make it work. This strengthens our resolve not to get comfortable but to stay alert and look for opportunities to do good despite those who feel that division is best. The reality is that although some tactics and budget reductions will impede progress, the numbers don’t lie. Our country is becoming more diverse each year, and brands that ignore it are only hurting themselves and will lose customers if they embrace division instead of unity.
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