Hasta La Creative!

Political forecasters are predicting a lot of soul searching and possible realignment in the Republican Party after the “demographic shellacking” it took in the election. Might the results spark a similar reaction in the advertising industry? Several Big Tent contributors give their views, and we invite you to add yours.

David Morse, president-CEO of New American Dimensions, Los Angeles

The GOP succeeded in alienating blacks, Latinos, Asians, gays and women, in part because of its irrelevant messaging, in part because it ignored these groups. The little outreach it did often backfired, and was perceived by many as tokenism. The advertising industry could learn a lot from these blunders. Like the Republican Party, agencies tend to be dominated by whites. Multicultural advertising is often an afterthought. And ads, when they do attempt to reach minorities, are frequently perceived as awkward or lacking cultural relevance. The election serves as a wake-up call that multicultural consumers will no longer tolerate “business as usual”.

Continue reading at AdAge.com