This week marks Donald Trump’s return to The White House, with the now 47th President of the United States sworn in at the Capitol building on Monday. The new commander-in-chief re-enters the oval office in a strong position, holding slim but solid Republican majorities in both chambers of congress, making him well set to implement the agenda he was elected on back in November. As one would expect there have already been plenty of articles penned on what the President’s return will mean for a variety of industries, but in this blog we examine what Trump 2.0 might spell for our sector - communications. 

Pretty immediately after Kamala Harris conceded the race last year, we began to see an evident cultural shift among the business class in America. As we know, Trump already has one tech billionaire (and the richest one at that) Elon Musk on-side, but we have subsequently seen both Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos cozy up to the President, with the latter announcing that his Meta platforms will reduce content moderation and drop their ‘fact-checkers’, instead adopting an X-style community notes feature. Additionally, we have also observed Trump-style cultural shifts in household names like McDonald’s and Ford Motors, who have both announced they will be moving away from their previous commitments to bolstering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at their companies. 

If these changes are anything to go by, the next four years will see social media spaces becoming increasingly like the Wild West, with plenty of users regaining their voices and influence on the major platforms who had previously lost that privilege in the era of strict moderation. It might also see further fragmentation, with certain audiences becoming increasingly isolated. [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/), for example, is one such platform that has benefitted from Musk's policy changes over at X, a place where jaded ex-twitter users have gathered to exchange information free from the billionaire’s tinkering. Additionally, It would not be surprising if we continue to see American firms drop or water down their ESG and DEI communications, as corporate America increasingly tries to court favour with the incoming administration.

Reassuringly for brands who value these initiatives, there is compelling evidence to say that these trends will endure. Our [2025 Signals report](https://www.teamspirit.co.uk/news-insights/2025-signals-report) points to the ‘quiet acceleration’ in ESG progress, with businesses on both sides of the Atlantic preferring to put their heads down and work on delivering their commitments, even if not broadcasting their work in fear of the backlash due to the politicisation of the issue. In the UK, efforts are being made by both the FCA and the new Labour government to increase DE&I, including new revisions to the Corporate Governance Code that will pressure boards into greater action on this front, with 2025 likely to see ethnicity pay gap reporting becoming mandatory for large firms. 

So how can we as marketers, PR practitioners and brand-builders stand out in the era of Trump 2.0? 

This first step may seem simple but businesses can stand out by being themselves and sticking to their principles. If a company is genuinely committed to reducing its carbon footprint or increasing the diversity of its workforce, that needn’t be undermined by a change of administration that might be less friendly to these objectives. If anything, there’s an opportunity to lean further into what makes it unique. In a crowded and noisy landscape, notable characteristics and clear values stand out and will be appreciated that much more by customers and clients. 

Equally important is making sure that brands are taking a razor sharp position in each of the channels in which they operate, even if these might cut against the current narrative in their industry. In the era of misinformation and generative AI, ensuring 
 communications are genuinely insightful, targeted, and well-backed with data, is an invaluable advantage. 

Only time will tell exactly what the next Trump term, and indeed the 2020s as a whole, will spell for communications. But by ensuring that a brand remains committed to its positioning, taking self-assured and consistent positions to stand out from the crowd, it will likely be doing better than most. 

What does Trump 2.0 mean for communications?

Jaguar has caused quite the fuss with its recent rebrand. It also appears to be treading a very thin line between a marketing disaster and marketing genius.

It would be fair to say the rebrand has caused a lot of outrage. But here’s the thing - a lot of the outrage has come from the exact demographic that Jaguar can no longer afford to focus its brand on. I’ve seen it covered across major national news outlets, furiously debated on every social platform I use, and Elon Musk is asking them questions on X, formerly Twitter. Someone has even gone as far as setting up a petition to get Jaguar to revert to its original branding (yes, really). At the time of writing this, the video Jaguar posted has over 23 million views on X alone, which is quite incredible in little over 24 hours. But it does beg the question - is it good marketing?

A lot of people on social media will very aggressively tell you that it isn’t, but I disagree. I’ve always disliked phrases such as “all publicity is good publicity” and “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Anyone that’s ever worked on some form of crisis will very swiftly tell you those phrases are untrue. However, in some cases such as this one, a not-too-dissimilar approach can be effective. I say this because everyone is talking about the brand before they’ve even seen a glimpse of the product. If you are selling a product, then of course you don’t want to alienate or thoroughly wind up your audience. But as of now, we are yet to see an actual car - so this advert is about brand positioning as opposed to selling, and has massively increased anticipation for when it’s launched.

Millions of people are going to be paying attention to the new product. 

Personally, I don’t love the video; it’s full of buzzwords, uncharacteristic visuals and new branding that isn’t ‘very Jag.’ But it’s not meant to be, that’s the point. Jaguar has tried to reinvent itself before, and has always played on its heritage, whilst trying to be the British answer to the BMW. 

Sales figures will tell you this just hasn’t worked with only 67,000 vehicles sold last year and sales of new cars now coming to a halt. This begs the question of why would you continue down the same, unsuccessful path? After all, stupidity can be defined by doing the same things over and over again but expecting different results. 

Jaguar has found itself in need to make a bold move and if you are going to reinvent your brand, why not go all out? Especially when you have the financial backing of a group such as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) behind you. 

I don’t like marketing strategies or campaigns that cause controversy solely for the sake of controversy, or purely to gain cheap engagement. But I don’t believe this is what Jaguar has done. It has done something completely new for the brand, attracted a lot of attention, and ensured many more pairs of eyes will be on its new products when they are revealed.  

It’s brave, it’s ambitious and it’s a little bit insane. To be clear - it could also be a catastrophic failure. But I have full admiration for utilising this strategy and getting so many people talking about it. 

It’s been really interesting to see the differing views of others in the marketing and PR industry. It’s easy to get caught up in marketing tropes and cliches, and it's always going to irk people when, after being told to “push the boundaries,” you actually do. But to kick up such a stir before a product has even been revealed, it’s safe to say that if I was behind it I’d be heading to the pub to celebrate a job well done.

Jaguar’s recent rebrand has caused quite the stir in the office this week. The PR team’s Joe Hirst shares his take on the heritage brand making bold moves

Jaguar - marketing disaster, or stroke of genius?

For those of us London commuters the phrase ‘Mind the Gap’ is ubiquitous in our lives, a reminder to observe the gap between train and platform. Nobody can argue that this isn’t good advice. But does this advice still apply to other areas of our working lives? 

The Fawcett Society has been tracking the gender pay gap since 2013, and Equal Pay Day marks the day each year where women will effectively stop being paid for the work they do compared to men. This year’s Equal Pay day is two days earlier - 20th November -  than in 2023, and is disappointingly the first time that the pay gap has widened since the Fawcett Society began tracking. This calls into question the impact that efforts to reduce the gap are having in reality. 

Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has been in effect for large companies since 2017. Each company is required to make public their gender pay gap and while many companies have been transparent, there are large gaps to overcome. It's clear and understandable that efforts to close the gap, like growing and developing senior women, require time to bear fruit, but there is simply no excuse for the gap to be widening in 2024.

With the knock-on-impact that the gender pay gap has on women’s ability to save, invest and put money away into their pensions (Scottish Widows found that women retire with £100K less than men), this is an issue that we should all care about, no matter our gender. 

At Teamspirit, we’re lucky to work at a business that not only chooses to report on its gender pay gap, but also one that doesn’t have a gender pay gap at all. 

With a new female Chancellor in position, and the last general election seeing the most women elected as MPs ever, there are encouraging signs that progress is being made. As we head into the new Year, we do so with a fresh challenge to reduce the gender pay gap once again. So back to my Mind the Gap metaphor; is it enough to simply ask companies to track their gender pay gap? Should we still be standing back and just minding the gap, or does more action need to be taken?

## Sources:

[https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/equal-pay-day-2024-will-be-20th-november](https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/equal-pay-day-2024-will-be-20th-november)
[https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/about-us/media-centre/reports/women-retirement-report.html](https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/about-us/media-centre/reports/women-retirement-report.html)


The Gender Pay Gap has widened for the first time in since 2013 calling into question whether efforts to reach pay parity are working. With knock-on-effects to women’s ability to save, invest and prepare for retirement, does more action need to be taken?

Let’s not JUST Mind the Gap anymore 

For those of us that work in the financial services world, government budgets are arguably the biggest annual event in the calendar and yesterday was certainly no different. The first budget delivered by a Labour Chancellor after 14-years of Conservative-rule was always going to garner a huge amount of media speculation, and the decision by the government to delay the first fiscal statement for nearly four months left ample time for rumours to run wild. 

This decision, coupled with Reeves’ announcement ahead of time that there was a £22bn sized hole in the nation’s pockets only added to the media speculation, with articles galore on what taxes were set to be increased and who was set to bear the brunt of the hole plugging. 

All of this meant lots of work for us, journalists were especially hungry for stories, analysis and opinions ahead of this year's budget and considerable work was done by the team in the lead up, ensuring our clients were featured prominently in these discussions and those covering the budget were lined up to receive commentary on the day. 

Our morning started like any other, with the whole PR team huddled around the high table absorbing the last of the headlines. Come 12:30, Reeves was standing at the dispatch box and poised to put months of speculation to bed. She spoke for just over an hour, and in doing so became the first female Chancellor to ever deliver a budget statement. A historic moment that should be celebrated by all regardless of broader political persuasions.  

In the end, we got pretty much what was anticipated, a variety of tax rises worth a whopping £40bn, aimed primarily at the nation's businesses, alongside greater levels of investment into public services with the NHS coming out as a main beneficiary.

Consumers were largely spared of the ‘scarier’ rumours being toted such as changes to the tax-free pensions lump sum or the annual ISA allowance. 

Whilst the frenzied activity of PRs and journalists during the statement itself is over, so begins the post-budget era where the media begins to dissect the budget in a surgical fashion, working out what it all means for their readers with insightful views, and number crunching, from across the financial services industry. 

And how did the PR team stack up?  

- In total the PR team __distributed 43 comments__ from our clients during the budget, generating over a thousand pieces of coverage across national, consumer, regional and trade publications.

- For those of you who read our [pre-budget blog](https://www.teamspirit.co.uk/news-insights/marking-the-autumn-budget-bingo-card), I am also pleased to report our own Ellie, went 3 / 5 on budget day bingo. Had the Chancellor spoken for 21 minutes less and opted for a cup of tea over water then the full house would have been secured! An admirable effort, better luck next time, Ellie.

Catch you all for the craziness next time.


- Pieces of coverage: 1,000+
- Number of comments distributed from clients: 43
- Cups of tea: Infinite

Big shout out to our fabulous PR team for working tirelessly on another BUMPER Autumn Budget. Click here to read our reflections from the day

Reflections on a Bumper Autumn Budget

Last night Teamspirit and Janus Henderson Investors won the Best PR Campaign at the Annual Association of Investment Companies Awards.  The PR award, which was secured for the second year running, was in recognition of a campaign revealing the state of the UK IPO market.  The judges remarked this campaign was ‘highly impressive and something industry professionals can spend a lifetime trying to achieve’

‘Highly impressive’ award win

Related News

Mon 20 Jan 2025

What does Trump 2.0 mean for communications?

Thu 21 Nov 2024

Jaguar - marketing disaster, or stroke of genius?

Wed 20 Nov 2024

Let’s not JUST Mind the Gap anymore

Thu 31 Oct 2024

Reflections on a Bumper Autumn Budget