33 ad execs predict how Trump’s election will impact marketing

After Donald Trump was elected president on Wednesday, Ad Age polled 33 advertising, marketing, media and tech executives on what changes the industry might see under the new administration and how they might respond. Their responses touched on a wide range of topics, including the impact of proposed import tariffs on retail and pricing, shifts in brand messaging toward national pride over inclusivity, concerns about greater backlash against DE&I efforts, reduced advertising regulations and potential changes in ad spending. Below are the responses, edited lightly for brevity and clarity, listed alphabetically. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today 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. Jason DeLand, partner, Anomaly [The industry must] wake up. Brands must pay attention. Get to work on creating better products, experiences and services. Get to know your consumers and be more in tune with their actual lives, wants and needs. Stop chasing Gen Z around the block and talk more about values. Messaging around unity and positivity is essential. And take some risks. The pundits, including me, are probably full of shit. Steve Denekas, chief creative officer, Crispin The Trump re-election reveals the truth about so many aspects of America. For brands, it’s a clear call to action. Rally around your values and bring forward empathy into every aspect of your organization. From the culture within the company to every message you deliver from the bottom of the funnel to the top. Lead with purpose always. Richard Edelman, CEO, Edelman This election could cause a boom for the economy that will free up ad spend. If you’re a brand, it’s important to be optimistic and forward-looking. In an environment where everything has become overly politicized, it’s important for brands to act in a way that’s not deemed political. Consumers are eager to move on from the strife of the past months and feel good again. 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. Andre Grey, chief creative officer, Havas Lynx Brands are the entities that have the combination of power and flexibility to start the change that the world needs. We saw this activated with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. If you are a marketer with a budget, find agency partners that see the world the way your core consumers do, and make work that recognizes, respects and empowers that community. Change that is brand-first is change that is from the ground up. The opportunity is now more than ever. 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. Nathan Jun Poekert, chief marketing officer, brand and creative agency General Idea First off, will Trump actually follow through with his promise to save TikTok? Because even though he was the one who proposed the ban in the first place, he ran on a platform to save it. This, in itself, has huge implications not just for media in the U.S., but also for advertisers in the paid, organic and influencer space on the platform. Secondly, I’m pondering the overall impact if his tariff proposal passes and how much it could increase the cost of goods in the U.S.—which will have an overall impact on all business operations, not just marketing. … Predictions are really hard in this scenario because he hasn’t run on any platform around ad regulations. The only thing I can see as an extreme possibility is if Musk is given a substantial cabinet seat and he seeks to further disband and deregulate all marketing channels that currently provide fact-checking regulations for both organic and paid content. Jason Kahner, global chief client officer, Grey As we head into what’s sure to be a roller coaster of a season, we need to be ready to help our clients ride the waves of market ups and downs, keep an eye on any regulatory shifts (especially for our friends in tech, finance and health care), and stay on top of changing consumer sentiment. Over the next few weeks and months, I’m expecting brands to really lean into their core values, show off their positive impact and champion inclusivity. And let’s not forget when the world feels charged with energy like this, creativity is bound to soar. 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. Become an All Access subscriber Get access to exclusive resources including Leading National Advertisers, World’s Largest Advertisers, Agency Report, Agency Review Tracker and TV Pricing Report. Click here Lauren Kay-Lambert, co-managing director, social impact comms agency Shape History A second Trump presidency poses serious risks to businesses, with potential for increased inflation from a proposed 10% tariff on imported goods, a likely global trade war and increased costs for American families. Continued women’s reproductive health care risk will sideline women from the workforce, straining family finances and adding pressure to the already complex health care system—all of which could inevitably erode economic stability and workplace equality. The projected additional 4 billion tons of U.S. emissions by 2030 would also set back environmental progress, placing long-term business sustainability and global climate goals at severe risk. 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. Frank Mazzola, chief creative officer, healthcare agency Real Chemistry The honest answer is we don’t know the full impact [of this new Trump presidency]. The most significant hurdle, not just for marketing but the industry as a whole, is the level of rhetoric that continues to drive the mistrust of an industry tasked with the innovation of medicine, and all that revolves around it. The politicization of the COVID-19 vaccine was a match to that fire. But beyond Trump himself, the administration (particularly RFK Jr. in a potential “Health Czar” role) has a somewhat radical view, erring toward conspiracy. Since people don’t care about medicine until they need it, it is one of the few industries where skepticism is often focused on, but the positive is rarely discussed. You can think medicine is evil until someone you love has cancer. If you don’t trust it, you don’t engage. And that is ultimately our job. 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. Duncan Meisel, executive director, Clean Creatives The ad industry will be tested by this moment. The industry has made countless pledges to protect the planet, protect employees and do better for society, and we will find out if the leaders that made those commitments made them in good faith. The climate will not stop changing, extreme weather will not stop disrupting consumer’s lives and the need for an energy shift will only grow. The ad industry needs to lead, not be led into obsolescence. 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. Dave Morgan, CEO, Simulmedia I don’t expect the election of Trump to have much impact on the world of advertising beyond a much friendlier environment for media and telco companies buying each other—think Paramount, Comcast/NBCU, WBD, Sinclair, Nexstar, etc.—less-aggressive Department of Justice moves against Google on ad tech and search, and probably less FTC oversight on issues like consumer privacy protection by the big tech companies. Overall, federal regulatory policy will likely be more pro-business and less pro-consumer. Jay Pattisall, VP and principal analyst, Forrester Marketing budgets will be cut in the second half of 2025. Assuming the new administration is successful in establishing its tariff policy, we should anticipate tariffs to counteract corporate growth and drive up inflation, which will curb consumer spending. The combination will likely result in modest to significant budget cuts to advertising and marketing, which are often the first to be cut and the last to come back during economic instability. If a trade war ensues as a result of aggressive tariffs, domestic U.S. companies will feel the brunt of budget cuts, while multinationals may elect to redirect advertising and marketing dollars to other markets. Agency insourcing will decelerate due to the rise in AI content and production capabilities. We anticipate the new administration’s appointees to take a favorable approach to the tech industry and possibly reverse elements of the current administration’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. AI innovation will thrive and especially inside agency providers, as 61% are already using AI in marketing execution, compared to just 25% of in-house agencies. In their pursuit of efficiency, marketers will shift projects from their in-house teams to low-cost AI content development and production with their external agency partners. Brand safety approaches will change significantly. Assuming technology executives have influence with the new administration, we should conclude the consortium-style approach to brand safety will not re-emerge. What will take its place is a more bespoke or customized approach to brand safety, based upon the company's individual policies and risk tolerance. Keyword and URL exclusion lists will disappear and be replaced by inclusion lists based on vetted publishers that are appropriate for the specific brand in question. Alison Pepper, executive VP, government relations and sustainability, 4A’s Agencies and advertisers engaged in federal government contracting are likely to find that the new administration has different priorities in where they spend (i.e. more defense under Republicans, more health care under Democrats, etc.). During the negotiation of the Trump Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017, the advertising industry found itself in the crosshairs of a proposal to reduce the deductibility of advertising by 50% in the year of spend, with the remaining 50% amortized over several years. Given that many provisions of the TCJA automatically expire next year, this issue will likely be on the table again. Given that the twinned issues of misinformation and disinformation have been a source of contention by Republicans (and to be fair Democrats), it’s likely that this issue will receive heightened focus in 2025. The Trump campaign ran on a strong anti-regulation agenda across the board in all sectors of the economy. With Commissioner Lina Khan now departing the Federal Trade Commission, it’s reasonable to assume the new head of the FTC will embrace the Trump Administration’s anti-regulation agenda. This would be very likely to impact the current rulemaking the FTC has been working on regarding privacy. It’s worth noting that this is the state of play on the federal level—it’s likely many states will continue to introduce legislation and regulation covering advertising. Tiffany Rolfe, global chair and chief creative officer, R/GA We’ll need more disruptive approaches to our creative campaigns—best practices won’t win. The winning political campaign was considered disruptive: they went against best practices, the rules were broken—the rule book was tossed aside! And it worked. As for brands, I still believe negativity isn’t the way. Brands must still play a bit more of a long game to build trust and relationships over time. Disruption though, for the record, doesn’t have to be negative, it simply needs to evoke change. 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. Laura Rowan, chief strategy officer, Wieden+Kennedy New York The future of creativity will be centered around optimism and universal ideas that unite us. As an industry, we can’t play into political culture wars. I don’t need my potato chips to have a divisive point of view. It’s our responsibility, particularly as strategists, to deeply understand people and what drives them, not boil them down to reductive archetypes. There’s nuance to humanity and it’s beholden on us to create ideas and brand stories that unite us. Hope and optimism are what we aim for, and that means we need to give people something to connect around. It’s the power of Grimace. It’s the provocations by brands like Nike. You’re giving people something to come together around, and I hope you’ll see more brands doing that. Through the lens of optimism and change, we can still have impact without further alienating each other. Ruben Schreurs, chief strategy officer, Ebiquity Following the decisive Republican win, which looks to be a trifecta with the House and Senate also under control (Republicans have already won the Senate while the House is still up for grabs as of writing) and a strong Republican Supreme Court, we have to prepare for critical agenda items and institutions in the media industry to face unprecedented headwinds. First and foremost the highly respected World Federation of Advertisers is facing litigations from the House Judiciary Committee and powerful Trump ally Elon Musk. The critical Global Alliance of Responsible Media has been (shut down) as a result already, and it is now critical that brand advertisers stick together and back the organization that enables effective industry progress through well-managed and compliant collaboration. It must not be allowed to be damaged further through weaponized litigation, and the industry needs to rally behind them in unity to prevent this. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today Katie Secret, executive VP, global head of marketing, adtech firm Outbrain This election cycle has rightly sparked significant caution from brands. But as we look to the future, we know that the need for trusted, professional news content will only become more critical. Audiences will continue to turn to these environments in moments of deep analysis, evaluation and engagement. We know from Stagwell’s research earlier this year that ads placed adjacent to news topics perform as effectively as those placed next to business, entertainment and sports stories. That creates an opportunity for us as an industry to support democracy and journalistic content, while delivering the quality moments and outcomes brands need. 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. Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman, S4 Capital It's good for the U.S. economy. U.S. businesses don’t like to admit it, but they prefer Trump as he stands for low tax and low regulation (maybe with some qualification in tech). He has already indicated lower personal and corporate taxes. It looks like it could be a clean sweep, including the Senate and House too, which potentially gives the new Trump administration considerable power. So businesses with significant U.S. exposure, both home and abroad, will benefit. The market is already reacting that way. Maybe the tariffs will be inflationary too, if enacted. The position for Europe and companies exporting into the U.S. is probably less rosy, given the likelihood of U.S. tariffs and pressure to pay our way on defense and NATO. I think the new administration will be good for South America too, contiguous for supply chains, but maybe a little less good for Asia. Nick Valenta, CEO and head of strategy, Mādin As an agency that works hand-in-hand with our clients on determining campaign and marketing budgets, we have seen a decent amount of patience in waiting simply for a result of the election. Now that the election is behind us, we will begin to see budgets solidify and hopefully grow a bit. Our prediction is consumer spending will be strong through the holidays and into 2025, as long as the market holds steady. Meredith Vaughan, CEO, Vladimir Jones I do think that how language is used will become even more critical after this election. I do think that this puts the onus on agencies to be more mindful and courageous in their client collaborations to fully consider the impact that language can have on people, on culture and on communities as we move through the next several months when emotions will run high. We should all lead with greater empathy. 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. Ari Weiss, founder and creative chairman, Quality Experience Michael Jordan said it best when he jested, “Republicans buy shoes, too.” Our job as marketers is to serve our public. To share our brand’s true values with the largest addressable audience possible. Sometimes I think we kid ourselves and get lost in the belief that everyone thinks like we do. I believe elections like this serve as a glaring reminder of how divided the groups we are supposed to address can be. There’s nothing more valuable in this industry than perspective. And last night served up a huge dose of perspective for our industry. Become an All Access subscriber Get access to exclusive resources including Leading National Advertisers, World’s Largest Advertisers, Agency Report, Agency Review Tracker and TV Pricing Report. Click here

33 ad execs predict how Trump’s election will impact marketing

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