Welcome to the day you’ve been waiting for—the final day of 2020. At Adweek, we’re currently steeped in reporting about the future as we prepare for Outlook 2021: The Year Ahead in Marketing and Media, our first virtual event of the new year. You can already find a plethora of stories on our site with strategies and predictions to help you navigate a changed world.

But since New Year’s Eve is a time to reflect, I asked our editors to look back and share the most consequential stories their teams reported this year. They sifted through over 10,000 stories to pick 10 that every marketer and media pro should read.

Convergent TV
We’ve heard this in multiple conversations with analysts this month: the pandemic didn’t create consumer trends, it just lit a fire under them. Preferences that were already emerging—ecommerce, athleisure, self-care—hit warp speed during quarantine. Streaming TV is one of those trends, and our team’s reporting showed just how serious media companies are about leveraging the moment.

Read Streaming Editor Kelsey Sutton’s piece about Hollywood’s great overhaul. She tells me that “all of the executive changes we saw this year are an industry signal of just how crucial streaming is to the longevity of entertainment companies. It also illustrates how dramatically the continued consolidation of media is affecting the business.”

While you are down the Netflix-and-chill-at-warp-speed rabbit hole, check out TV Editor Jason Lynch’s pick for story of the year: How to Build the Perfect Streaming Service. “Perhaps if Quibi had read Kelsey's story, it would still be around?” he offers via Slack, in what I can only imagine to be a perfect deadpan delivery because I have not seen him in person since March.

Media and Programmatic Advertising
Speaking of media, we cannot forget the saga of the cookie. Adweek was first to break the news that Google planned to phase out cookies, which set the stage for a dramatic year in tech. Media Editor Lucinda Southern wants you to read this latest chapter and keep your eye on four themes: “regulation, privacy, platforms as gatekeepers and how publishers need to adapt.” Those aren’t going away. 

If you appreciate scoops, Programmatic Editor Ronan Shields recommends this exclusive look at The Trade Desk overhauling its ID solution. “It’s the culmination of consistent storytelling Adweek has been doing since the establishment of the programmatic vertical in 2018,” he shares. 

Retail
Did you buy bleach online for the first time this year? How about a live Christmas tree? Senior Writer Lisa Lacy hopes you enjoy this entertaining piece about the rapid adoption of ecommerce in 2020 and some unexpected products that found their way online.

Brand Marketing
We often write about the tricky line brands walk around social and political issues. When a brand fully and authentically commits, it can be game changing (think Nike's work with Colin Kaepernick), but too many avoid the line altogether for fear of the consequences. Then came 2020, when social and political issues were unavoidable and the need for help—real help—was great. “To me that’s one of the biggest themes of the brand world this year,” says Brand Editor Diana Pearl, “how, as the government failed us in regards to the pandemic and racial justice, brands picked up the mantle.” This reported essay sums up the mountain brands climbed this year.

Inside the Brand
If you’re pondering the changing role of marketers right about now, so is Adweek’s Chief Community Officer Nadine Dietz. In partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association, she surveyed the world’s top CMOs this summer. Sixty-eight percent said the role of marketing was elevated after the first three months of the pandemic, and that wasn’t the only surprising finding.

Creativity and Agencies
I became fascinated by logistics this year—the how of an industry in quarantine. Creativity and Innovation Editor David Griner satisfies that curiosity by taking us behind the scenes to reveal how 2020's No. 1 ad was made. (Hint: it's not "Moldy Whopper.")

And if you believe in the power of role modeling, it's worth studying how our Agency of the Year winners retained staff and clients with the odds stacked against them. As Agencies Editor Doug Zanger notes, it was a challenging year for DEI, the crumbling agency model and consolidation, "but each winner managed to power through, and it also made us as a team dig even deeper to recognize achievement."

Voice
My biggest fear is that in our haste to lock the door on 2020, we’ll throw away the lessons. Hundreds of thought leaders contributed words of wisdom to Adweek this year, and one stood out for Community Editor Ko Im: 600 & Rising co-founder Bennett D. Bennett. In a special digital collaboration with Adweek, he posed the question, “What could advertising look like when Black talent matters as much as our lives and culture do?” The goal was “to illuminate the way forward, showcasing some of the ideas and visionaries driving tomorrow today.” The result remains vital reading.

Thank you for being a part of Adweek’s First Things First community and supporting and sharing our journalism this year. It means more than you know. Light a firework, bang a kitchen pot (my family’s cathartic tradition) or pour a glass of bubbly with some pride and relief for seeing 2020 through. I wish you happy reading and reflecting. May we keep driving for tomorrow today.

All my best,
Stephanie Paterik
Editor in Chief

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