What a year it's been for marketing. Some variation of this sentiment gets shared every year, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a stretch in recent memory where all players — brands, agencies and platforms — have had to reflect so vigorously on their fundamental values, whether it's Facebook's reckoning with data privacy or marketers becoming energized by the potential to be braver and "Just Do It" like Nike.
Below, we've assembled the 10 most significant stories Marketing Dive covered over the past 12 months. They encapsulate some of the biggest developments, from executive departures to creative innovation, that shaped the year in marketing and will continue to influence high-level decisions in 2019 and beyond.
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What true brand bravery looks like, according to marketers who took the leap
A bolder voice for leadership, a willingness to do things off the cuff and an ear toward cultural conversations were among the strategies dispensed at Advertising Week this year. Read More »
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How Amazon's NYC HQ might hurt the city's already-struggling ad industry
The tech giant is establishing a sizable new hub near the heart of the marketing and advertising industries at a time when its own ad business is blowing up. History shows it can be both a powerful partner and a considerable disruptor. Read More »
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Martin Sorrell steps down as WPP's CEO after 33 years
Speculation is rampant that the ad holding group could be broken up in the wake of Sorrell's departure. Read More »
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Goodbye, Marlboro Man: How marketers are breaking with traditional notions of masculinity
From Bonobos to Axe, brands both new and old are broadening the net of how they market to men to stay involved in a quickly evolving — and important — cultural conversation. Read More »
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Nike dishes on Kaepernick campaign risks, results
CEO Mark Parker talked up the effort's positive impact on the brand while a report suggests the controversial ad almost didn't happen. Read More »
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Burger King's 5-step plan for hacking pop culture
At Cannes Lions, the brand's CMO and agency discussed their successful deployment of "hackvertising," which borrows from hacker culture. Read More »
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Comic Dive: Whack-A-Mark
Can Facebook find and clobber all the privacy lapses on its platform, or will new ones keep popping up? Read More »
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Unilever CMO Keith Weed to retire next year
Weed has helped the CPG giant to grow brand purpose while also delivering on performance during his 35 years at the company, earning high industry praise for his leadership along the way. Read More »
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Time is ripe for Congress to act on data protection legislation, say privacy advocates
The onus now likely falls on federal legislators to spearhead consumer protection laws following Facebook's Cambridge Analytica mishap, experts said during a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. Read More »
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The final score: Meet the advertising winners and losers from Super Bowl LII
Advertising's big night included some surprises, celebrity hijinks and, yes, another big ad blackout. Read More »