The 5 Most Important Ad Industry Stories of 2018

From #MeToo to M&A, the agency community picks the top trends

Experience ADWEEK House at Cannes, June 16-19. We’re celebrating 45 years of reporting with Now and Next—a creative opportunity for brands to define who they are and their future in the industry. Register .

Ad industry employees with fatalistic tendencies had a collective freakout in 2018, and who can blame them? Everywhere one looked, houses were on fire as legacies collapsed. Some of the business’s biggest names—both people and organizations—exited stage left in most unspectacular fashion.

Don’t worry. Advertising will be here, in some form, as long as we humans remain driven by that undying urge to consume. A few brilliant souls will learn how to make it, and fewer still will make themselves rich from it.

Here are the most important industry stories of 2018, as chosen by Adweek’s Editor at Large with feedback from members of the agency community.

Time’s Up, #MeToo and Diet Madison Avenue

Misogyny and advertising have an unfortunate and well-documented history.

As RPA vp, creative director Sarah May Bates put it in an all-too-familiar refrain, “I know many women who have experienced physical and verbal harassment at work, but said nothing for...

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Spring Special

Save 30% Off an ADWEEK Subscription Today!

View Your Options

Already a member? Sign in