So, I unfolded my copy of the Wall Street Journal this morning (yes, the print version; digital’s great and all but I love my newspapers) and had probably the best laugh I’ve had in weeks.

In a front-page article (“Advertisers search for middle America”) about how Trump’s victory has caused ad agencies to completely reexamine their marketing strategies was this gem of a passage: “A few days after the Nov. 8 election, the chief executive of the ad agency giant McCann Worldgroup summoned top executives to discuss what the company could learn from the surprising outcome. One takeaway for him and his staff was that too much advertising falsely assumes that all U.S. consumers desire to be like coastal elites.”

Are you freaking kidding me? We need an unprecedented, paradigm-shifting election to convince advertisers and marketers that Joe and Jane Six-Pack don’t want to emulate the “coastal elites”?

The kicker is, I feel like I see plenty of good advertising that isn’t focused on fomenting jealousy among Middle America toward their California/New York superiors – making the characterization of the election results as a wake-up call seem not only laughable but also out of touch.

Beyond that bit of unintentional humor, the rest of the article was a satisfying and invigorating confirmation of arguments for the value of marketing research – specifically ethnography and other qualitative forms – that have been made many times in recent years in the various Quirk’s outlets and at our Quirk’s Events.

Two examples:

“Some marketers, concerned that data isn’t telling them everything they need to know, are considering increasing their use of personal interviews in research.”

“… HP, the personal computer and printer arm of the former Hewlett-Packard Co., is re-evaluating its reliance on research techniques like online polls and seeing if it needs to increase its use of personal interviews and ethnography …”

I’m not here to say “We told you so.” And, instead of being floored that the seemingly intelligent coastal elites who work in advertising needed such a momentous slap in the face to be made aware of something that’s pretty obvious – it’s a good idea to talk with, listen to and observe your customers – I’m just glad that more of them finally seem to be getting the message.