Ten years have flown by since we last donned our party hats. Never would I have imagined I’d witness a second milestone birthday for the strategy brand during my tenure. The first was in 2014. We marked it by digging into the archives for an aptly titled (for the times) series called Throwback Thursday. Our biggest takeaway/realization from the exercise back then? The more things change, the more they stay the same. The environment, data, tech, globalization, a neglected senior population, and agency mergers claimed the newsprint headlines in 1989. Even some of the same brands (hint: beer) topped the much-less busy Creative Report Card.

The industry did however grow a little more imaginative when it came to word-scrambling. Portmanteaus like infotainment, edutainment, infomercial and advertorial in the ‘80s and ‘90s set the stage for more memorable trends like shockvertising, reactvertising and giftvertising of the ‘10s. I don’t think I’ll ever unsee the image of St. Nick in a blue suit, on a tropical island, doing good deeds on behalf of an airline that, thanks to the strategic sorcery of its marketers, found a connection to gifting. We called it the “WestJet Christmas Miracle Effect” once we weren’t able to count the number of brands doing similar acts of kindness on one hand.

It was about the same time branded content, UGC, experiential stunts, real-time marketing, gamification, transmedia, purpose-driven brands, augmented reality… *takes breath* … six-second ads, CSR, and crowdsourcing came onto the scene.

Reflecting on these trends brings a larger picture into focus. While far more complicated today than 35 years ago, the industry has always been, and always will be, about creating connections. Take a look at the posters on our back page – crafted by the 2024 Design Agency of the Year contenders – and you’ll see this shift from one-way communications to a complex web of connections come to life.

You’ll also see this focus on connectivity in our Brand and Agency of the Year features, where we dive into the consumer insights-driven work from five marketing organizations and 14 advertising firms. It’s a hefty issue and fitting for a commemorative year.

At 25, we celebrated with cake at the AOY gala. This year we skipped it and let Rethink do the honours. (They did pull a six-year-Gold-streak, after all.) As for everyone else on the shortlists and podium, congrats! This wasn’t an easy year. But it never really is. Here’s to the next 35.

Jennifer Horn
Content Director, Editor, strategy