In a year marked by seemingly endless employee turnover at all levels, it became hard to keep up with who was heading where, and why. Driven by factors such as COVID-related fatigue, or simply a willingness to try new things, plenty of marketing execs headed for the exits in 2021. Below, a look at some of the biggest marketing executive moves.

See Ad Age's 2021 Year in Review here.

Carolyn Everson: The high-profile exec pulled off a double exit in 2021, first in June leaving Facebook, where she had served as head of the global business group and a liaison to the ad industry.  A couple of months later, Instacart snared her for the president's role, giving the e-commerce brand known for grocery delivery a jolt as it stepped up competition with Amazon and Walmart. But Everson made a surprising departure from Instacart just three months into the job, with the company in December announcing there was a "clear mismatch between our priorities and the role she wanted at this point in her career."

Read more: Why Carolyn Everson left Facebook and what it means for advertisers

Read more: The ad industry reacts to Carolyn Everson's exit from Facebook

Lou Paskalis: The outspoken media maven left Bank of America in June, where he served as senior VP of customer engagement and media planning. In the following months, his social media followers were treated to pictures of him hop-scotching the globe, often enjoying fine wine. In October he joined the MMA as global president and chief operating officer. The trade group was formerly known as the Mobile Marketing Association.

Read more: Why the death of the cookie is threatening multi-touch attribution

Andrea Zahumensky: Her April exit as KFC U.S. chief marketing officer is among several big changes this year at the chicken chain, including a search for a new ad agency.

Read more: Will Colonel Sanders survive KFC's marketing overhaul?

Tariq Hassan: Petco lost a high-profile marketer when Hassan left the pet chain in August to become McDonald’s U.S chief marketing and digital customer experience officer.

Carla Hassan: It was a big year for the Hassan family. Carla Hassan, who is married to Tariq Hassan, also made a move, joining JPMorgan Chase in July as its chief marketing officer. That followed a nearly-one year stint as CMO at Citi, one of Chase’s top financial rivals. 

Meredith Verdone: Another bank marketing shake-up came in September when Meredith Verdone announced her retirement as chief marketing officer at Bank of America.

Fernando Machado: “Fer,” the nickname by which he is universally known inside marketing circles, left Burger King parent Restaurant Brands International in April to become chief marketing officer at Activision Blizzard. He later brought one of his agency partners with him, hiring Gut (which has done work for Restaurant Brands) for a new “Call of Duty” campaign.

Read more: Fernando Machado on why he took the Activision Blizzard CMO job

Marcel Marcondes: Anheuser-Busch InBev shuffled its U.S. marketing leadership when Marcondes left the CMO role in September. Benoit Garbe, who had been U.S. chief strategy officer, took over U.S. marketing.

Adrian Parker: “Time is limited, and time is valuable,” Parker said in June after leaving his job as global VP of marketing for Patrón to launch an advisory consultancy.

Read more: Why Patron Patrón marketer Adrian Parker left the tequila brand—and what's next

Ivan Pollard: General Mills did away with the global CMO role after Pollard left the job in June. The former Coke marketer told Ad Age that “I’m going to have a Coke and enjoy a bowl of Cheerios and rewatch ‘Star Wars Episode 1’ and then get back on my bike and into the future.” He moved into the nonprofit sector in October, taking a job as the marketing leader for business think tank The Conference Board. 

Read more: Outgoing General Mills global CMO Ivan Pollard on why he left, what's next for him and the food giant.

George Felix: After helping Pizza Hut regain some buzz in its marketing, Felix left the chain in April for the CMO job at dating app Tinder.

See Ad Age's 2021 Year in Review here.