May 1, 2025  |  SIGN UP

Kristina Monllos
SENIOR MARKETING EDITOR

Throughout President Trump's first 100 days, marketers, agency execs and C-Suite executives have been looking for ways to manage the current chaos. While they've been planning, replanning and building in the necessary flexibility to manage the moment, the ripple effects of the president's policies on the advertising industry are clear.

Marketers are looking for where they can make cuts and trying to batten down the hatches should there be more unexpected difficulties to manage. For example, as Sam Bradley reports, British and European marketers are trimming ad spend given the tariffs. Major marketers' earnings calls, as I covered in the Marketing Briefing earlier this week, make clear that a nervous consumer has led to a nervous C-Suite. We'll have to see if the next 100 days will be as rocky. 

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NAVIGATING ECONOMIC INSTABILITY

British and European marketers trim ad spend in the face of Trump’s tariffs

After just over 100 days in office, Donald Trump’s presidency has left U.S. advertisers’ heads spinning. The impact of his tariff policies, however, are being felt far beyond the 50 states.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Marketing Briefing: Major marketers like Colgate-Palmolive, P&G note ‘pensive and anxious’ consumers during earnings

Earnings season can be windows into what major marketers’ are thinking — especially amid the ongoing economic uncertainty caused by President Trump’s tariffs. In recent weeks, marketers have experienced decision paralysis; been expecting chaos (and regularly using the replanning muscle they formed early on in the pandemic); pushed for more flexibility in deals; and focused on operational challenges ahead of marketing cuts.

SPONSORED BY EXPERIAN

Solving the disconnected booking journey for travel and hospitality brands

Windstar Cruises could see online interactions, but couldn’t link them directly to bookings. Determining which media placements drove revenue was difficult, as was refining who to target and where to allocate spend. A data-driven solution offered the cruise line a way to bridge the gap between marketing investments and real-world results.

DIGIDAY @ POSSIBLE

Economic uncertainty bubbles up in conversations on first day of Possible

The only thing clear at the moment in forecasting economic conditions across the marketing ecosystem is that you pretty much can’t.

SPONSORED BY LIVERAMP

How data collaborations are uncovering new growth opportunities

Data-driven partnerships can fuel a new wave of business growth, but success requires more than data access. Successful data collaborations demand a foundation of interoperability, unified identity frameworks and a phased collaboration strategy that transforms first-party data into measurable outcomes and scalable opportunities.

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DIGIDAY @ POSSIBLE

With 600 million monthly active users, X’s Linda Yaccarino doubles down on dismissing journalism

Linda Yaccarino continues to cast X as the anti-media media company — a disruptive alternative to what she and Elon Musk believe is the dusty, broken fourth estate.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

Creators pivot as brands’ spending goes into ‘freeze mode’

Starting in March, parenting creator Tina Cartwright heard from three brand partners that they would be halting or pulling upcoming campaign spending (around Mother’s Day, for example), citing “budget freezes” and “tightening budgets” in the face of tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration.

SPONSORED BY PATHLABS

Why scaling digital media services is key to long-term success for agencies

Agencies that don’t scale their digital operations will be outpaced by those that do. While building an in-house digital team can strain resources, outsourcing may reduce margins and limit control. So, some agencies are turning to a flexible partner model, enabling them to scale digital media services efficiently while maintaining their independence.