Three Reasons for Marketers to Vote Blue

It’s election day. You’ve probably already made up your mind. Perhaps you’ve already voted early, or voted by mail, already donned your vote sticker. But if you haven’t, and if you’re in marketing or in ad agencies, here’s a little food for though for the long-term growth of our industry, our companies, and our economy.

ChatGPT’s version of an I Voted sticker

I have many personal reasons for my support of Kamala Harris, but for the business-minded among us, I also have business reasons.Here are three.

1. Talent +Workforce: Over the past decade, companies have broadened their approach to hiring talent. Agencies have been looking beyond traditional ad schools to diverse educational backgrounds. However, recent political shifts could affect this trend. Trump has proposed dismantling the Department of Education, giving states full control over educational policy. But even according to Trump, “states like Iowa and Idaho” won’t do great.” This means long-term a less educated public and a less competitive marketplace for talent. In the nearer term, restrictive abortion laws have influenced where families choose to live and work; limiting access to abortion care could also restrict talent mobility. And Trump's stance on immigration could further limit access to global talent, disrupting the diverse and global workforce companies strive to build.
   
   I don’t even have to begin to outline Harris’s alternative on the abortion front. But on education, Harris supports early education, boosting teacher pay, and creating a more equitable educational environment. And she has a much more middle of the road approach to immigration; I don’t agree with all of it, but it’s definitely light years more fair and nuanced than Trump’s anti-immigrant stance.
   

2. Money: Ultimately, budgets drive agency decisions. Trump’s tariff policies could raise the cost of imported goods and materials, whether sourced internationally or domestically. This would not only drive up prices for consumers but also strain marketing budgets, as companies shift funds to cover higher operational costs. Trump’s policies are projected to worsen inflation and increase national debt, adding financial pressures to an already challenging economic climate.

   
   Harris’s policies focus on easing consumer burdens, such as reducing housing costs and balancing international trade, which could provide agencies with a more stable economic environment, and consumers with more money in their pockets.
   

3. Creativity and Diversity: Advertising thrives on diverse perspectives and untold stories, but a Trump-led administration could shift the cultural landscape toward a monoculture. Trump has advocated for a “Christian nation” and has taken a strong stance on immigration, proposing mass deportations. His record on LGBTQ+ rights, including trans rights, aligns with a regressive stance on gender issues. The backlash against Bud Light's partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney reflects a political climate that may discourage brands from embracing inclusivity. The Trump administration’s approach to journalism, media, and content moderation, not to mention the MAGA penchant for banning books, suggests that limitations on free expression could increase, constraining creative freedom.
   
   Harris is not running on exclusionary policies and practices. The Biden administration put great effort into curbing the monopolistic tendencies of the big tech firms, including social media sites, while Kamala recognizes the need to maintain global competitiveness. However, threats to journalists and media companies, book banning, and other limits to free expression aren’t her MO.

There are a lot of difficult decisions this year. I know many people on the left will be staring down their ballot, trying to decide whether to do a protest vote because of the war in Palestine. And people who are feeling it in their pocket books are doing a simple comparison between affordability 5 years ago and today. But I’m choosing the world we want to live in for the next few years, both as a person in the workforce, and as a strategist who’s had a front seat to observing many business environments through my clients, and as a human.