The industry reacts to President Trump

Sarah Homewood
By Sarah Homewood | 10 November 2016
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With the news reverberating around the world that Donald Trump is set to become the next President of the United States, messages of shock, uncertainty and in some cases support have lit up media channels globally.

US-based trade body, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), may have said it best when the organisation penned a blog post saying: “Right now there are more questions than answers as to how the new administration will oversee the advertising world.”

The ANA highlighted that areas including tax reform, vacancies in the US senate and also the issues surrounding data leaks and hacks all have the potential to effect the advertising industry, however the body noted that: “Because this election was largely personality driven, there is no clear policy mandate impacting our area. Nevertheless, it is hoped that President-elect Donald Trump’s broad business experience will lead him to understand the value that advertising plays in our economy.”

Other advertising heavy-hitters to weigh-in on the election included Australian and Droga5 founder David Droga, as well as co-founder of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Jeff Goodby, with both these agencies throwing their support behind Clinton.

Speaking with AdAge the pair gave their thoughts on the surprising outcome of yesterday's election.

Goodby says: "I think there's a basic decency and goodness inherent in the American people that gives us a saving momentum in times like these. It is my hope that Mr. Trump will put aside a lot of the stuff he said during the campaign and be a good president. He's a New Yorker. He's going to say shit. But hopefully, as a New Yorker, he's got a heart. I'm expecting him to be a lot less radical than people think."

Droga added that regardless of how he feels personally, he cannot dismiss the outcome.

"Because that's the thing about true democracy, you can't only believe and support it when it goes your way. We just need to move forward with open minds and mutual respect for one another, as that will define more where we are going, than the election result itself."

It isn't just those in adland who felt strongly about this election. According to Twitter, more than 75 million tweets were sent globally related to #Election2016 through 3am ET when president-elect Trump claimed victory. This is compared to 31m tweets sent during the entire election day in 2012. The top trending hashtags were #NotMyPresident, #President-elect Trump, #StillWithHer, #First Lady, #thedayafter.

The news of a Trump victory also caused the global stock markets to fall dramatically. Yesterday saw some 2.5 trillion wiped of the worlds stock exchanges, however it appears today that most markets have recovered. According to the BBC, after an initial drop-off, The Dow Jones ended the day up by 1.4% at 18,589.69. The S&P 500 was 1.11% higher at 2,163.26 and the Nasdaq was also up by 1.11% at 5,251.07.

In London the FTSE 100 index dropped 2% at the start of trading before recovering to end the day 1% up. France's Cac index and Germany's Dax both closed about 1.5% higher after erasing losses of more than 2%.

Brands have also jumped into the conversation, with Sportsbet, Doughnut Time and Oreo tweeting and releasing products surrounding the election.

Also see below what people closer to home had to say about the shock result.

Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au

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