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.
It’s fascinating to consider the parallels during this recent election. Perhaps Hollywood’s overstep reared its head again.
Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, and Lady Gaga all backed Harris, and each endorsement became a cultural high point. When we look at how this played out, a key question is the real impact of this left-leaning star power. Did this support make Harris seem unrelatable and out-of-touch, or are we just tired of listening to what celebrities think?
Taylor Swift
Positioned as the scrappy insurgent against the powerful elitist establishment, Donald Trump’s team saw this shift in the cultural landscape coming a mile off and navigated it like a marketing pro.
It was platforms like YouTube and Discord, content creators, podcasters, and the alt-right media networks where actual influence took hold – pinpointing the subcultures, communities, and cultural cues that were shifting the zeitgeist to enact huge pockets of America. All this was happening under ‘traditional’ media’s nose.
Without a network of culturally relevant creators posting and distributing their messages, the Democratic Party lost its credibility with younger, primarily male audiences who have become emboldened voices within the conservative content ecosystem.
And if you’re sitting there bemused, wondering how the cultural right-wing fringes full of conspiracy theories and testosterone fueled anger moved a nation, then you’re not looking hard enough.
There is a new media hierarchy in tow, one that epitomises bro dominance, and it’s going mainstream.
From Joe Rogan and Elon Musk to Dana White and Andrew Schulz – the manosphere is taking hold and it’s infiltrating the cultural values and ideologies of young men around the globe.
The Guardian just revealed that here in Australia, Sky News has successfully built a Fox News-like online operation that dwarfs its terrestrial audience numbers. On YouTube, their videos have been viewed more than 500 million times, more than any other Australian media organisation.
This shift isn’t happening behind closed doors, it’s happening at the pub, around the dinner table, and in the school yard. We all have parasocial relationships with our devices. Australians spend on average, over an hour and a half on TikTok a day. Monoculture no longer exists, as we all choose our own adventure, consuming our individual media diet. As Elon so ominously said to all of us after Trump’s win: “You are the media now”.
Joe Rogan
So, what’s next, what can we expect from this profound shift, who wins and who loses?
Three Predictions:
Entertainment will hit its “mass with class” era
TV, Film, and the arts will shift towards stories of escapism, nostalgia, and navel-gazing to move away from perceived elitist, prestige content. Netflix uses the term “Gourmet Cheeseburger” for its ideal type of program. A delicacy you crave that provides the taste of something familiar, it’s deliciously satisfying, maybe the best you’ve had – premium and commercial at the same time.
Podcasts will win the attention wars
A lesson from the Trump campaign was their clear strategy to prioritise podcasts. This growing form of communication and storytelling is a new powerhouse media conglomerate. Leveraging the highly intimate and immersive format for enacting real impact and sway. As Professor Galloway recently mused: “The political power of podcasting is only beginning to be felt.”
Sky News will dominate the Australian zeitgeist.
Sky News has fast become known for pushing conservative talking points and rallying against major issues like “wokeness”. The question is, when are they going to move from appeasing boomers with well-worn media hacks, to instead fuel the younger Gen Z zeitgeist. Don’t be surprised if they find their Australian equivalent to Fox News’s Tomi Lahren or Ben Shapiro in the very near future.
Rhian Mason is the head of cultural design at Clemenger BBDO.
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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 !
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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
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Trump wasn’t responsible for how COVID lockdown protocols were rolled out across individual states. The Governor’s of each state were.
So, yeah.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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