You seem to be missing something big. It's mostly a product discussion not a marketing one.
This was nothing to do with sexism, racism, fascism, it was about the border, the economy and above all else not being listened to.
One side has entirely ignored almost all of the American people for a decade. It's patronized them, called them stupid, failed to take on board ANYTHING they care about. It dismisses them as being ignorant or malicious.
A lot of people "smart people" think the economy can't be bad because the Dow is soaring, are they this out of touch?
A lot of "normal" people may be wrong to worry about the border, or gas prices .
They may be wrong to think one side will fix inflation or house prices or job security.
Whether what people care about is wrong, stupid, or their supported solution is in fact terrible isn't the issue.
One side seamed to listen a bit, care a bit, acknowledging it, validate it and propose something about it. They had these things called policies. They stood for something.
The other side insisted on dismissing these people, laughing at them and then called them names.
People want to be heard , respected, understood, and IDEALLY have policies to take care of them, or pretend to..... is that too much to ask for?
Yeah I agree with all this and think everyone mocking and laughing at the other side is deeply unhelpful. Better communications would help alleviate this. And look it's coming from the top in a lot of cases too -- 2 different candidates (that people actually chose) and things would certainly be better.
I want to address the young men comment, and how they're struggling.
I am not a young man, but I can empathize.
I understand that young men need to find their place in a world where women no longer depend on them, after having been socialized to think they're inherently needed. They need to re-evaluate their sense of self-worth. Ok.
Therapy.
Yes, society has changed, but this isn't a problem society can solve, nor is it a legal one. This is a parental problem. A schooling problem. A mental problem. There's no law that can be passed to force men into therapy. How do we solve this issue? What are young women to do while young men figure themselves out?
Young women can be raped and be denied abortion because that is a law (mostly) men have passed not too long ago. That is a very problem with a very implementable legal solution.
It seems to me that no matter how we roll the dice, women always end up getting the short stick. Even when we win, we lose.
1. I read the McKinsely & Company Women In The Workplace report about a month or two ago. It states, "It will take 48 years for the representation of white women and women of color in senior leadership to reflect their share of the U.S. population.” - As such, my hypothesis was that America was not ready for a woman president and independent of who the woman candidate was it was unlikely she would be elected.
2. A lot of GenX independents find themselves in the upper middle class nearing the tax policy changes aimed at high-income individuals and couples. Without a clear answer to this question, and living through the highest inflation in recent memory, left one with too much of an open question on their own finances. As such, this growing group of voters may have considered the choice based on solely what it meant most to them personally, starting at home in their bank accounts.
My two cents. Love your desire to simply have a conversation on this subject, not a controversy.
May sound reductive and most people will finger wag and say I'm playing the gender card, but strictly based on the fact that abortion was banned in the 21st century in one of the richest countries on Earth, tells you everything you need to know about the average American's view on the role of a woman.
People hated Biden, and they still voted for him. A business man with 34 convictions won against a woman that's clearly highly experienced and knowledgeable on law (attributes one should want in a president)
Well done Adam, especially your point about Dems running a "deeply inauthentic campaign" enjoyed the marketer's take. May I suggest an improved title to encapsulate all your points: "A referendum on woke".
Thx - yeah I tried not to do something like this so people would actually read it (if I used the provocative title only people who don't need to read it would read)
Love the Scott Galloway talk (and just watched it again there). Hit's hard. He's great... maybe he should run for government?
I'm a complete outsider here in the UK — and I'm pretty news adverse — but it struck me that Kamala's campaign was just dull? Too safe? Trying to hard to find middle ground that didn't upset anyone? It resulted in her not really saying or doing anything?
Trump knows he can't reach certain demographics, and so doesn't bother.
Instead he just calls things out. Promises action. Says what he thinks. That has appeal. He's a wrench in the system, and that's what huge numbers of people who are sick of the same old governments and elected leaders doing and changing nothing want.
The fact that you have friends from both political sides reflects well on you, Adam. Too many people I know don’t even want to talk to someone from the other party. You are trying to find the truth and that requires considering different viewpoints. Keep it up!
I think it has much more to do with inflation raising prices, incumbent parties always being unpopular and xenophobia. All of the factors you mention were true in 2020 when Trump lost, those are the things different now when he won.
Yeah - I mention at the bottom there's probably nothing media people can learn from that. My blog is for marketing/ media people we don't control interest rates etc.
I know a lot of independents were swayed by some of the things in this post. Perhaps better campaigning overall (and planning) would have helped. That was clearly not a normal campaign and only had a small window to share their platform. We don't know and can't run the experiment...
You seem to be missing something big. It's mostly a product discussion not a marketing one.
This was nothing to do with sexism, racism, fascism, it was about the border, the economy and above all else not being listened to.
One side has entirely ignored almost all of the American people for a decade. It's patronized them, called them stupid, failed to take on board ANYTHING they care about. It dismisses them as being ignorant or malicious.
A lot of people "smart people" think the economy can't be bad because the Dow is soaring, are they this out of touch?
A lot of "normal" people may be wrong to worry about the border, or gas prices .
They may be wrong to think one side will fix inflation or house prices or job security.
Whether what people care about is wrong, stupid, or their supported solution is in fact terrible isn't the issue.
One side seamed to listen a bit, care a bit, acknowledging it, validate it and propose something about it. They had these things called policies. They stood for something.
The other side insisted on dismissing these people, laughing at them and then called them names.
People want to be heard , respected, understood, and IDEALLY have policies to take care of them, or pretend to..... is that too much to ask for?
Yeah I agree with all this and think everyone mocking and laughing at the other side is deeply unhelpful. Better communications would help alleviate this. And look it's coming from the top in a lot of cases too -- 2 different candidates (that people actually chose) and things would certainly be better.
I want to address the young men comment, and how they're struggling.
I am not a young man, but I can empathize.
I understand that young men need to find their place in a world where women no longer depend on them, after having been socialized to think they're inherently needed. They need to re-evaluate their sense of self-worth. Ok.
Therapy.
Yes, society has changed, but this isn't a problem society can solve, nor is it a legal one. This is a parental problem. A schooling problem. A mental problem. There's no law that can be passed to force men into therapy. How do we solve this issue? What are young women to do while young men figure themselves out?
Young women can be raped and be denied abortion because that is a law (mostly) men have passed not too long ago. That is a very problem with a very implementable legal solution.
It seems to me that no matter how we roll the dice, women always end up getting the short stick. Even when we win, we lose.
This is my perspective.
1. I read the McKinsely & Company Women In The Workplace report about a month or two ago. It states, "It will take 48 years for the representation of white women and women of color in senior leadership to reflect their share of the U.S. population.” - As such, my hypothesis was that America was not ready for a woman president and independent of who the woman candidate was it was unlikely she would be elected.
2. A lot of GenX independents find themselves in the upper middle class nearing the tax policy changes aimed at high-income individuals and couples. Without a clear answer to this question, and living through the highest inflation in recent memory, left one with too much of an open question on their own finances. As such, this growing group of voters may have considered the choice based on solely what it meant most to them personally, starting at home in their bank accounts.
My two cents. Love your desire to simply have a conversation on this subject, not a controversy.
-Jeremy
🙏
I'm completly in agreement on both counts.
May sound reductive and most people will finger wag and say I'm playing the gender card, but strictly based on the fact that abortion was banned in the 21st century in one of the richest countries on Earth, tells you everything you need to know about the average American's view on the role of a woman.
People hated Biden, and they still voted for him. A business man with 34 convictions won against a woman that's clearly highly experienced and knowledgeable on law (attributes one should want in a president)
Well done Adam, especially your point about Dems running a "deeply inauthentic campaign" enjoyed the marketer's take. May I suggest an improved title to encapsulate all your points: "A referendum on woke".
Thx - yeah I tried not to do something like this so people would actually read it (if I used the provocative title only people who don't need to read it would read)
Good piece.
As a PR professional, I'm in a Slack channel with other PR pros.
The moderator posted the usual overreacting post about how could this happen, raging, grieving, etc. And most commenters agree.
It's bad that media is 95% left wing, and that PR pros are therefore 95% left wing.
It means they simply don't understand half the country. And that cannot make anyone a better communicator. Just the opposite.
Bingo.
Love the Scott Galloway talk (and just watched it again there). Hit's hard. He's great... maybe he should run for government?
I'm a complete outsider here in the UK — and I'm pretty news adverse — but it struck me that Kamala's campaign was just dull? Too safe? Trying to hard to find middle ground that didn't upset anyone? It resulted in her not really saying or doing anything?
Trump knows he can't reach certain demographics, and so doesn't bother.
Instead he just calls things out. Promises action. Says what he thinks. That has appeal. He's a wrench in the system, and that's what huge numbers of people who are sick of the same old governments and elected leaders doing and changing nothing want.
Galloway is also on the left btw, one of the few on that side that is lucid on this topic (and others)
Yeah I’ve been a fan for a long while — his newsletter kinda inspired me to start writing on business and just kinda be a little snarky.
Well said. I posted about many of the same points, although less dispassionately lol
Will read, I think people talking about this stuff is good honestly in whatever form they wish
Yeah there needs to be an open and honest GOOD FAITH discussion. We’ll get there someday I hope.
https://open.substack.com/pub/authenticintelligencepublication/p/this-will-be-hard-for-democrats-to?r=4btmnx&utm_medium=ios
The fact that you have friends from both political sides reflects well on you, Adam. Too many people I know don’t even want to talk to someone from the other party. You are trying to find the truth and that requires considering different viewpoints. Keep it up!
I think it has much more to do with inflation raising prices, incumbent parties always being unpopular and xenophobia. All of the factors you mention were true in 2020 when Trump lost, those are the things different now when he won.
Yeah - I mention at the bottom there's probably nothing media people can learn from that. My blog is for marketing/ media people we don't control interest rates etc.
Agreed, but we don't want to super impose lessons on top of something that has a simpler explanation.
No amount of marketing was going to lowe the cost of groceries.
I know a lot of independents were swayed by some of the things in this post. Perhaps better campaigning overall (and planning) would have helped. That was clearly not a normal campaign and only had a small window to share their platform. We don't know and can't run the experiment...
“Honest communication”
Sounds so easy doesn’t it?
Very informative post and thank you for putting your time and effort into it.