Around the World: Trump, Google and break-ups

Antony Young rounds up media news from beyond Aotearoa in a regular column for StopPress. This week we look at Donald Trump’s winning formula, a big fine for Google and the vexing issue of who gets to keep the social media account when a couple breaks up.

Trump’s winning media and marketing campaign

No doubt analysts will dissect the differing presidential election strategies in the coming days and weeks, but love him or not, Donald Trump ran a better and winning campaign with less money than Kamala Harris. 

Adweek provides an excellent breakdown of Trumps marketing tactics.  

Trump’s 2024 campaign was a clever and unconventional marketing strategy that engaged voters.  He leveraged platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Twitch to communicate directly with supporters, bypassing traditional media and energising his base, though often sparking polarisation. Collaborations with influencers like Logan Paul and Adin Ross aimed to connect with younger, politically disengaged audiences, while podcast appearances, including on The Joe Rogan Experience, offered a more personal connection not to mention 14.5 million Spotify followers.

Surprising endorsements, such as from some Muslim groups in Michigan, demonstrated strategic messaging’s ability to bridge divides. Overall, Trump’s campaign embraced modern digital tactics, redefining political marketing but also raising questions about its societal impact.

The best use of election TV advertising yet?

Calm, a meditation app provided some relief to millions of Americans who no doubt would have experienced anxiety on election night by running TV spots on CNN, ABC and Comedy Central bringing silent ad breaks in between the updates and alerts. A spokesperson for the app said: “Calm is committed to supporting people through life’s most stressful moments, including another frenetic election season.” 

Google fined $ 4.3bn for fixing its search results

Google copped a blow with the search engine fined a staggering £2bn fine for abusing its market dominance. Shivaun and Adam Raff founders of UK price comparison website Foundem saw their search rankings on the site plummet which they claimed Google was artificially altering their results. The European Commission determined that Google had unlawfully prioritised its own comparison shopping service in search results while suppressing competitors.  

According to a BBC story, The couple sent numerous requests to Google to look into it, after more than two years, nothing had changed and they said they received no response. “If you’re denied traffic, then you have no business,” Adam said. The Raffs are also pursuing a civil damages claim against Google, set to begin in early 2026. However, even if they achieve a final victory, it may feel hollow, as they were forced to shut down Foundem in 2016.  

Publicis WFH employees lose their jobs 

One hopes Nicola Willis won’t follow in Publicis Media’s footsteps. The global holding co’s media agency has let go of over 100 US employees who did not comply with its return-to-office policy.  The agency reintroduced work in-office – requiring employees to come in three days a week, including mandatory Mondays. The policy, rolled out globally at the start of 2023 and enforced in the US by spring, prohibits consecutive work-from-home days. Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun previously emphasised the importance of face-to-face collaboration, describing it as essential for productivity post-Covid. Publicis Media stated that most staff have met or exceeded the policy’s expectations, but declined to comment on individual employment changes.

Nearly half of consumers want to keep shopping after they die

A global shopping report released by WPP’s VML found that 47% of global consumers are intrigued by the idea of “post-death consumerism”.  Powered by artificial intelligence, this is a service that could manage a person’s digital estate and continue shopping on their behalf after death. This concept would handle tasks like paying for grandchildren’s education or sending gifts to loved ones, effectively maintaining financial and shopping habits beyond the grave.

Interest was highest in Thailand, followed by India – with 74% and 70% respectively expressing interest in the idea. New Zealand actually scored lowest in the survey, however 31% did say they would consider it.

Who gets TikTok in a couple break-up?

Breaking up is hard to do – but for influencer couples, it comes with an unexpected twist: who gets custody of the followers? When Kat and Mike Stickler called it quits, their shared TikTok and YouTube channel, MikeAndKat, became a hot topic. With four million followers invested in their lives, splitting the digital assets wasn’t exactly straightforward. 

“The judge was like, ‘What?’” Kat recalled in a podcast interview, highlighting the uncharted waters of social media divorces. In the end, Kat took the TikTok handle, rebranded as KatStickler, and soared to nearly 10.5 million followers, while Mike inherited the YouTube channel – which unfortunately didn’t survive the split. Turns out, in the world of influencer breakups, followers don’t always follow both sides.

And the Grammys go to… Disney 

Disney announced a 10-year broadcast deal to acquire the Grammy Awards from CBS that has owned the broadcast rights for over 50 years. It’s seen as a further push by the multi-platform media company to target live-event programming that holds up well in linear TV, has strong social media currency and can strengthen its streaming services.  

Disney also airs the Oscars, the CMA Awards and Dick Clark’s New Years Eve show. 

Bucking the trend of falling ratings of award shows, the Grammys have been enjoying an upturn. Last February, the show had a “live” total audience of 16.9 million, up significantly from 12.55 million the year prior.  

The company says it will simulcast the annual awards show on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ and open the door to additional Grammy-branded music specials and programming content.

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