The advertising industry this year experienced continuing shockwaves from the pandemic including inflation, layoffs and returning to the office. Meanwhile, movements continued to gain ground, including the rise of retail media networks and the addition of streaming ad tiers for Netflix and Disney.

On the flip side, some marketing darlings such as crypto and NFTs lost luster—although Reddit still seems to be seeing success with the latter. Brands were pressed to respond to news including the start of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Supreme Court’s repeal of abortion rights. Twitter's acquisition by Elon Musk has also forced brands to reconsider their presence on the platform.

Below, a list compiled by Ad Age of the 10 biggest stories that impacted the marketing industry this year.

Twitter meltdown

Musk’s acquisition of Twitter set off concerns around hate speech on the platform due to his loosening of moderation standards. Then came a rash of brand impersonators distributing misinformation about companies on the platform within the first few weeks of Musk’s takeover.

Many brands have since paused their paid advertising on Twitter, including one of the platform’s biggest advertisers, Mondelēz. Pfizer and General Mills announced an ad freeze, while IPG's Mediabrands and Omnicom Media Group were among major ad agencies advising clients to take caution, and even pull back, on ad spending on the site until Musk presents a comfortable path forward for brands. Some brands took advantage of the Doomsday atmosphere, tweeting their “last Tweets.”

As part of damage control, Musk had a one-on-one with Tim Cook, CEO of key Twitter advertiser Apple, which has the potential to ban the platform from its app store.

Web3 and gaming brand deals

While the crypto market has tanked, most recently exemplified by crypto exchange FTX’s unexpected blowup in November, brands remain interested in Web3 and headed to Art Basel Miami Beach to show off their projects. 

Brands also continue to expand ways to reach consumers through gaming. In August, IAB updated its gaming advertising guidelines to account for ads that consumers see in games, highlighting the rise of in-game advertising. On a similar note, Roblox rolled out two new ad formats in September that facilitate in-game advertising with rules that include preventing the player from being taken out of a game by an ad and a minimum age requirement.

Rise of retail media networks 

The retail media industry—where retailers become ad sellers as well as buyers—ballooned this year. Retail media spending is predicted to reach $101 billion globally by the end of this year, an increase of 15% from 2021, according to a report from WPP’s GroupM.

The rise of retail media networks also allows retailers such as Target, Amazon, Walmart and Kroger to use their consumer data to help other brands target potential customers.

The trend has extended past traditional stores into delivery companies such as DoorDash and hotels such as Marriott. Rising brands in the space also include Macy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Lowes and Home Depot, among others.

Brands under pressure to take a stand on geopolitics

Companies faced increasing pressure to make international political statements this year with two controversial events: the Beijing Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

In February, Beijing Olympic sponsors such as Visa, Airbnb and Intel were called upon by activists to take a stand on the reported genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Other brands that have been active during past Olympics were notably silent or scaled down their efforts, including Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble.

This November, brands were again been asked to take a stand on FIFA World Cup host country Qatar’s human rights record, with reports that thousands of migrant workers died from poor working countries while building World Cup venues, as well as its laws against same-sex relations. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations are running a “#PayUpFIFA” campaign, asking FIFA to create a fund of at least $440 million to compensate migrant workers.

Streaming ad tiers

This year, streaming giants Netflix and Disney dived into ad-supported tiers, joining rivals such as Paramount and HBO and creating a new opportunity for the industry to advertise on some of the most sought-after shows.

Netflix's move to include ads marks a departure from Co-CEO Reed Hasting's years-long resolve to keep the platform ad-free. The decision was announced after the streamer reported a drop of 200,000 subscribers in its first-quarter report this year, marking the first time it has lost subscribers in a decade. The brand hired former Snapchat ad executives Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor in August to develop its ad and sales strategies.

Netflix revealed prices for its ad plan and struck a deal with Nielsen for measurement of its new ad-supported tier in October. The streamer began offering a “Basic with ads” subscription plan for $6.99 on Nov. 3, which is $3 cheaper than its previous lowest tier. Disney followed a month later, as Disney+ launched its ad-supported tier on Dec. 8.

Read more: The year in ad-supported streaming

Return to the office

The return to the office has been difficult for agencies to manage, with many struggling to get employees to swap WFH life for the in-office workweek. Agency executives have instead opted for a hybrid model, with two or three days in person and Wednesday identified as the most popular day for some. 

There have also been new difficulties to consider when returning to the office, such as how to account for an increase in employees hired during the pandemic, which was the case of agency Joan.

Agency shakeups

This year has seen moves, closures and new appointments in the agency world. Top leaders were shuffled at Grey, Observatory, Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup, CPB, and elsewhere. Creatives at Deutsch, Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5, BBH and more agencies found new homes.

At the same time, agencies of record assignments were fast changing—for example Bud Light hired Anomaly and Burger King switched its business to Chicago indie OKRP. Pabst Brewing hired DNA as the AOR for all of its accounts in March. Grubhub hired UM as its media agency in February, a role that was vacated by Havas and Dentsu.

When it comes to restructuring and shutting down, IPG agency R/GA revealed at the end of November that it was closing its New York and San Francisco offices as part of its restructuring plans. The industry also said goodbye to L.A. agency Imprint Projects in November, which shut down due to a pandemic-related slowdown.

Economic downturn and layoffs

As a result of high inflation and supply chain issues prompted by the pandemic, the job market is seeing layoffs at companies ranging from CNN to Peloton. The tech industry has been particularly hard hit, with Meta cutting over 11,000 jobs in November. 

The ad industry was labeled the “least compassionate” for handling layoffs in a September study from employer review site JobSage. In the survey, 83% of marketing employees reported being badly treated when they were laid off. 

When it comes to advertising, companies have put out ads to appeal to cost-conscious consumers during inflationary times, with Ryan Reynolds pouring the still 99-cent AriZona iced tea on a phone in an ad to make the point that prices at his Mint Mobile brand haven't gone up.

Russia-Ukraine war

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, agencies and marketers began making statement denouncing the invasion. Others ceased business in Russia, including big pharma companies Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, along with agencies such as WPP. Epic and Microsoft gave two weeks of Fortnite proceeds to help Ukraine through organizations including Direct Relief, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Food Programme. 

Ukraine agencies such as Banda Agency, Grape, and Bickerstaff.734 also ceased client work and dedicated efforts to helping the Ukrainian government with communications.

Roe v. Wade

When the Supreme Court repealed the right to an abortion in June, many brands and agencies spoke up against the decision such as Fig, The Martin Agency and McCann Worldgroup, announcing company policy changes to help facilitate employee abortions if needed. Companies such as Publicis, WPP and IPG announced updates to healthcare policies, including covering travel expenses for out-of-state abortions.

After putting millions of dollars into an abortion education campaign after the court’s decision was made public, Planned Parenthood was named one of Gen Z’s top brands in an October Ad Age-Harris Poll survey.