The fly-over state consumer is not an idiot; she is your target market.

In the days immediately following the election, there were more than a few think pieces written by pundits trying to make sense of the results. The handwringing and soul searching mostly fell along the same themes.
One theme was based on the premise that there really are two Americas, a statement that is both ignorant and arrogant. There is one America. It is made up of hundreds of millions of people who don't all share the same political ideology of those in your zip code. Even those in your zip code don't all believe the same.
Another theme was that perhaps the media was one-sided in its coverage of the election and that they owe it as so-called truth-seekers to report facts objectively, rather than with bias. Moreover, giving one-sided praise to a candidate and their supporters while simultaneously painting an opposing candidate in the most extreme colors may have backfired. Most surprising to said editors and journalists was that highly intelligent people don't like confirmation bias. It's no fun to sit in an echo chamber. And despite the safe space crowd who shut down opinions they don't agree with, diverse viewpoints are actually a good thing. It should be noted these articles were few and far between, and that it is a safe bet to assume no solutions (if any were even proposed) will happen.
The third type of think piece simply asked "how could we get the data so very, very wrong." Out of the three think piece directions, this was the most insincere. It removed culpability of being biased by focusing on the data rather than those interpreting it. It seemed to say Don't blame us for being one-sided, and ignoring the different viewpoints and motivations in America, because numbers.
So now there is a renewed interest in the heartland or the flyover states, so-called because no one would dare land there, let alone live there, except as it turns out, they do, and they vote, and they vote differently than you expected.
Advertising, too, is trying to wrap its Snapchat Spectacled head around the results of the election. Or at least advertising agencies in those four or five cities in America who aren't part of the flyover states. Out of respect for former (and current) shops I won't share the all-agency emails that friends have sent me, but if you read the CEO of GrubHub's email, they aren't too dissimilar, in that they run the gamut of emotions. Livid. Whiny. Wistful. Hopeful. Declaring they are open and tolerant and celebrating diversity, while demonstrating intolerance for anyone who wasn't #WithHer for whatever reason. So it is no surprise today The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled Trump’s Win Has Ad Agencies Rethink How They Collect Data, Recruit staff. Again, with the data. The opening of the article sounds very similar to articles written about what went wrong in media coverage.

Advertisers are grappling with a stark realization: After spending years courting U.S. consumers with aspirational images of upscale urban living, they may have misjudged the yearnings of much of their audience.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president with a wave of support from middle American voters, advertisers are reflecting on whether they are out of touch with the same people—rural, economically frustrated, elite-distrusting, anti-globalization voters—who propelled the businessman into the White House. Mr. Trump’s rise has them rethinking the way they collect data about consumers, recruit staff and pitch products.

But while agencies in New York and L.A. and San Francisco try to figure out how to lure creatives from the flyover states to their agencies, the agencies in flyover states should use this moment to their advantage. It may be hard for someone in New York to believe but great culture lives outside of Manhattan, be it art, music, literature, and advertising. Now's the time to push the boundaries in your own zip code and show the coasts what kind of advertising you can create. The Young and Larimore's,Deeplocal'sBarkley's Richards and Martins and Carmichael Lynch's are already doing great advertising. There is absolutely no reason every state can't have at least one or two killer shops. And creatives, especially students--don't believe the hype that only the best advertising comes from agencies owned by holding companies in cities with expensive rent. They are full of it. The ads are no less mediocre, only more expensive.
Either way, take heart. "Rural," is back in style.