Editor's Picks for ANA Magazine

Marketers and agencies are struggling with how to tackle the issues that have taken on newfound urgency in the past 18 months, ranging from spurring diversity to protecting consumer privacy to cultivating talent. The various challenges are perhaps most vividly represented by the striking number of agency reviews, consolidations, and overall account changes in the past few months.

A growing number of states are moving toward legalizing recreational use of marijuana and publishers are getting more accepting of cannabis-themed advertising. Nevertheless, achieving scale will likely be a long slog for brands that want to join the fray. For clues as to how cannabis might eventually emerge as an everyday product, marketers should take a closer look at the CBD space.

Brands for humans (B4H), or the humanization of brand persona, is starting to circulate throughout the marketing field. However companies choose to operationalize B4H, there’s a growing onus on marketers to provide clarity to the public about a corporation’s values and beliefs and how it is meaningfully acting on those convictions.

While diversity has been moving to the forefront in recent years, the reality is that the marketing industry remains mostly white, particularly within the C-suite. To stay viable, a growing number of agencies and brands are taking concrete steps to build more diverse teams and respond to a rapidly changing country demographically.

When lockdowns began in March 2020, they accelerated a change in consumer behavior that gyms and other fitness studios had seen coming at a gradual pace for years. Wearables, health tracking apps, and digital media fitness experiences moved to the forefront, and brands had to adapt digital technology like apps and livestreams quickly to meet customers in a new setting — their living rooms.

The pandemic has had a devastating effect on the country’s health, economy, and psychological well-being. It’s also contributed to a severe lack of trust in major institutions, according to Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer. As the U.S. starts to recover from the virus, people are looking to companies to fix problems the government can’t.

Brands may need to assuage any hard feelings among consumers who believe they got stiffed during last year’s holiday buying season amid a wave of deliveries. Being transparent with customers about return policies is a good place to start — and an opportunity to strengthen relationships that many marketers may be missing.

More than 300 brands are participating in the Ad Council's COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative, rolling out various advertising campaigns that urge people to get vaccinated and address those who are reluctant to get the shot.

Unlike the campaign-to-campaign mode of traditional brand advertising, content marketing requires brands to constantly refine their storytelling efforts and strategize for the long haul.

The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines will spur additional opportunities in DOOH, as consumers return in droves to shopping in brick-and-mortar stores and eating inside restaurants after being stuck in their homes because of the pandemic.

Brands ranging from P&G to PepsiCo are rolling out various initiatives to tackle issues such as climate change and environmental waste across several touchpoints, including product development, packaging, and raw material sourcing.

The demise of third-party cookies provides marketers with an opportunity to be more transparent with consumers and recalibrate their methods of measurement.

Mailchimp's latest ad campaign draws on classic animation to help its small business customers build big ideas. Michael Mitchell, director of brand marketing at Mailchimp, calls the campaign a "love letter" to entrepreneurs making their way through the pandemic.

Creative, wide-ranging internships from brands like IBM and Verizon must become the rule rather than the exception if marketing is going to win an increasingly fierce battle for entry-level talent.

The recent decline in podcast advertising is merely a pandemic-induced blip on the radar. The longer-term outlook remains quite attractive, with spending projected to reach more than $1 billion in 2021. Marketers are whetting their appetite.

The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, among others, reignited a national conversation around racial injustice and systemic inequalities. With consumers increasingly expecting brands to take a stand against racial injustice, keeping silent is not an option for many companies. But to help effect real change, companies need to resolve the problematic practices that exist within their own houses first. Here’s how they can get started.

The pandemic will require marketers to master a new set of media buying skills, adopt KPIs that transcend return-on-advertising spending, and move e-commerce toward the center of their marketing strategy.

As the internet has matured from a novelty to a mainstream source for news and entertainment, digital content creators have carved out massive audiences who are enormously loyal. Many fans consider this content essential to their lives, and they are willing to support the brands that make it possible.

A number of inspiring brand stories have emerged over the past several months, with companies providing ample resources to both combat the pandemic and make things easier for first responders. Here’s how Budweiser, Crocs, Publix, and Hyundai, among others, have seized on opportunities to help in the fight against COVID-19.

The advertising, marketing, and media industries are coalescing to fight the coronavirus. PSAs and content designed to educate the public about the disease lead the charge.