The business world’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has been building towards a fever pitch in the past few years, but those feelings could get a bit more complicated in 2020. Click here to read more. Despite investment, research publications and job demand in the field continuing to grow through 2019, technologists are starting to come…
Gen Zers–who count the Parkland kids, Greta Thunberg and Zendaya–are intriguing to the rest of us. Throughout the year, Adweek dedicated coverage to understanding the next cohort of consumers: from an infographic to visualize their phone habits, a podcast dedicated to their entrepreneurial rise and a video series featuring 18 Gen Zers addressing our most…
Several beloved, long-running shows took their final bows last year, including Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory and Veep. But 2020 looks to be just as packed with high-profile series finales. Here are the shows that have already announced their exits for this year: Arrow Arrow (The CW) The show that launched The CW’s…
For the past decade, brands have been capitalizing on the pervasiveness of social media in consumers’ daily lives and shopping habits. And this past year was no different. Social media analytics company Unmetric found that brands that promoted messaging with edge, savvy, conviction–and occasionally dogs–won the marketing game. Of that messaging, video–particularly those with memorable…
We’d all like to be able to predict the future, but some long-range forecasts are a matter of life and death. Imagine your doctor could predict that you’re going to have a fatal heart attack five years before it strikes. Or suppose they could, in just 30 seconds, spot that you’re at risk of irreversible…
It was a headline-grabbing year for technology, from massive IPO failures, congressional testimony on data privacy and ad practices to the much-anticipated streaming wars. Many of these issues as well as unrealistic business practices set the stage for 2020 and the wave of disruption that’s likely to shakeup technology, media and advertising. Here are my…
Just when you think we’ve hit peak brand, something new comes along. This year, some brands went public, like Beyond Meat–and some almost did, like WeWork. A few rolled out buzzy new products, some of which were so popular they sold out of them, such as Popeyes and its famed chicken sandwich. Consumers said goodbye…
Click here to read more. This year was a great one for some. At Adweek, we celebrated our 40th anniversary. And 2020 will be a good year for independent agencies, and some of the best tv will return. On this year’s final episode of Yeah, That’s Probably an Ad, co-hosts David Griner and Nicole Ortiz…
Amazon has certainly had a lot of hits in its 25-year history, from its $14-billion acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods to its growing advertising business and award-winning TV and film distribution arm Amazon Studios. Click here to read more. In addition to Amazon’s willingness to take big swings, what truly sets it apart from…
It’s easy to hate on brands. Today’s mega corporations probably send their labor offshore, while likely paying seven-figure salaries to top executives and booking untold millions in profits. And when those corporations make a mistake, lambasting them becomes a kind of sport for the rest of us. Frankly, why shouldn’t it? Nowadays, companies employ entire…
Before the chicken sandwich-fueled stampede of the late summer and fall, there was the meatless movement of 2019, where alternative proteins were all the rage. The products, made from plants yet designed to mimic the texture and experience of meat (right down to “bleeding” burgers) grabbed national headlines. Players like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat…
What even is conversational commerce? If you feel like you’ve been hearing this term thrown around for years now, that’s probably because you have. Its origins can be traced to January 2015, when Chris Messina (who you may also know as the inventor of the hashtag) coined it in a post on Medium, describing the…
Given all the TV industry upheaval this year, it’s not surprising there was considerable turnover among top execs in 2019. More than a dozen left their jobs this year, due to mega-mergers, consolidation, #MeToo and opportunities elsewhere. Here are the year’s biggest exec departures: Click here to read more. Donna Speciale, WarnerMedia The ad sales…
When the concept of programmatic advertising was emerging in 2007, there were high hopes for its transformative power in advertising. Now, after years of development, the industry has major concerns about what the next decade holds for this technology. If programmatic falls short of its promise of precision, automation, effectiveness and data enrichment, the advertising…
Click here to read more. Sure, you read Adweek (and maybe a few of those other business pubs), but do you really pay attention? How many of 2019’s top branding and marketing stories can you remember? Well, it’s time to find out by taking our year-end quiz. All of the questions come from Adweek’s coverage…
Several retailers and consumer brands unveiled new taglines throughout the year, from slight tweaks to full-on revamps. Brands made these switches for a number of reasons, whether it was to acknowledge a change in culture, make an emotional appeal or attempt to differentiate themselves from competitors. Jasmine Tanasy, executive director of naming and verbal identity…
As we approach the end of 2019, we asked agency professionals to weigh in on what were the most important stories. Among the issues that were top of mind were one blockbuster acquisition, two agency closings and how data, privacy concerns and platform changes are shaping advertising. Here’s what we heard. Click here for more…
With store closures, one-day shipping wars between Amazon and Walmart, the ongoing tariff debacle with the U.S. and China and multiple CEO shakeups, 2019 was yet another volatile year for the retail industry. Click here to read more. The industry saw some gains as well, with numerous acquisitions of digitally native brands and more store…
Pity the poor cannabis marketer. There’s been real progress on the legislative front: 33 states allow medical sales, 11 states have also approved recreational sales and CBD-infused goods are on the end-aisle display at your neighborhood Walgreens. Click here to read more. Yet brands still run a confusing regulatory gauntlet when it comes to advertising…
It’s fitting that in a year that closes out a decade, marketers were more creative, ambitious and outlandish than ever with strategies to build brand buzz beyond the traditional ad. While we already ranked our 25 best ads of the year, we’d be remiss not to highlight some of the most culturally impactful stunts and…
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