Post-Election: Update That Marketing Plan

Political, legal, and regulatory forces are major influences in the marketing environment. Just ask U.K. marketers, who have been rethinking their strategies after the Brexit vote, which is expected to result in a split with the European Union. For some brands, the updated plan is to emphasize their British roots. For others, the updated plan is to carefully research and respond to customers' demand for more control. For all brands, Brexit's uncertainty will mean continually tweaking their marketing until the timetable for E.U. exit (if it happens) is more definite.

Major U.S. marketers probably had a contingency plan for determining how to tweak their activities, regardless of who won the U.S. election. Given how wrong most polls were about the presidency, the top priority for every marketer targeting U.S. consumers is to dig deeper and really understand what customers want, especially their unstated needs and desires. This goes for U.S.-based and internationally-based marketers alike.

Just as important, the election outcome will surely have an effect on U.S. laws and regulations, as well as on the Supreme Court (not to mention individual states and municipalities). Therefore, it's time to develop detailed scenarios for operating under this new normal.

What about products? The White House Gift Shop will undoubtedly be stocking new presidential mugs within weeks. Does your product mix need updating now that the election results are in?