What a Biden Future Looks Like; Are Psychedelics the New Cannabis?: Fridays First Things First – Adweek

Welcome to First Things First, Adweeks daily resource for marketers. Well be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here.

Were still awaiting final results from battleground states in the 2020 election, but Joe Bidens position is strengtheningwhich means its time for industries to start considering the implications of a Biden administration if they havent already. To lend a hand, Adweek developed a primer on what to expect from the most intensely debated tech policy issues of the moment. For instance, a Biden presidency likely wouldnt significantly change the trajectory of the Department of Justices antitrust lawsuit against Googleand antitrust efforts against the major players in Big Tech may continue to ramp up. On the social media front, legislative action around Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act may continue to be a factor under Biden.

Whats next? Learn how the potential Biden administration would approach net neutrality, privacy laws and Chinese tech.

The presidential campaigns are over, but the fundraising emails keep on comingwith new language asking people to donate in light of potentially long legal battles and vote recounts. The Trump campaign has maintained its high-frequency, high-aggression strategy with shock-value subject lines, while Biden was requesting donations to the Biden Fight Fund, which seeks to ensure that every vote is counted.

Will it work? We asked the experts about the strategiesand whether they think the new messaging will spur more donations.

Also in election updates for marketers:

Despite the massive impact the election is having on many facets of American life, it may not change brand strategy that much. After all, the marketing world has grown used to uncertainty amid the pandemic.

Get the insights and intelligence you need to succeed with an Adweek Pro Subscription, providing access to insider reporting, exclusive events and more.

Now that Oregon has become the first U.S. state to legalize psychedelics, many are considering whether hallucinogens could follow the same trajectory as cannabis has over the past few years. Shrooms are unlikely to be sold in dispensaries in the foreseeable future, but cannabis has forged a path for legal recreational drug use, and its certainly a cultural shift: Americans are more and more open to decriminalization and legalization across the board.

How brands and pop culture are leaning in: Dr. Bronners has famously supported drug legalization and decriminalization efforts.

An exclusive survey of 70 brand marketers conducted by Adweek Intelligence sought to get a reading on what brands think of their agencies performance during the pandemic and discover how that could impact 2021 budgets. Although agencies made extraordinary pivots to help clients overcome their challenges, the survey found that almost 40% of brands may be looking for a new agency in 2021. Of course, it may not be entirely due to agency performancein fact, brands described agencies in positive termsbut rather due to other factors in the relationship or the broader environment, which was exacerbated by the crisis.

More findings: These charts show how brands believe agencies have been performing, what brands want from agencies and more.

Continue Reading

Originally posted here:

What a Biden Future Looks Like; Are Psychedelics the New Cannabis?: Fridays First Things First - Adweek