What a Biden Future Looks Like

We’re still awaiting final results from battleground states in the 2020 election, but Joe Biden’s position is strengthening—which means it’s time for industries to start considering the implications of a Biden administration if they haven’t 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 wouldn't significantly change the trajectory of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google—and 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.

What’s 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 coming—with 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 strategies—and 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.

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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 it’s 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. Bronner’s 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 performance—in fact, brands described agencies in positive terms—but 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.

BBDO Bangkok's Suthisak Sucharittanonta is stepping away from agency life to be a director and photographer.

Join Adweek as we kick off Commerce Week on Monday for four days of exploration into the rapid transformation of the commerce landscape with the leaders building the ecommerce marketplace of tomorrow.

In four themes: The New Shopper Journey, The Platforms, The Media and The Messaging, you'll gain insights on recent trends and predictions for the future of commerce from industry leaders such as Sephora's Carolyn Bojanowski, Shipt's Harley Butler, Walmart's Sarah Henry, Away's Selena Kalvaria, Van's April Vitkus and so many more.

Register for free today and join us Nov. 9-12.

The threat of broken shop windows is just par for the course for retailers in the age of Covid-19

Some have whittled down their offerings, while others explore the value of bundles

The DSP is also planning a major platform revamp next year

CEO David Zaslav says it will have originals, sports and global appeal

The tool, from website builder Zyro, uses creative machine learning to produce infinite graphics

I don't consider myself an outsider. But the ad industry does