Seismic shifts in marketing budgets dramatically shifted spend during the past year, forcing brands to closely track every marketing dollar and squeeze out every penny to improve their ROI. For Adweek's inaugural Performance Marketing Awards, we honored 24 companies that can teach every marketer how to excel at making every dollar count. Here's a few examples:

• The USPS leaned into email—you know, the antithesis of the mail—to keep people informed about the status of their mail.
• Best Buy's usage of data allowed it to execute a nationwide curbside delivery plan as stores shuttered in just two days.
• Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin launched an influencer campaign known as Cheeselandia. The project helped it move up to the first page of Google results for "cheese."

See all 24 top performers in performance marketing from the past year.

Performance Marketer of the Year

It should come as no surprise that Procter & Gamble saw sales surge during the pandemic, as CPG products were in hot demand. But how P&G got there isn't just a story about strong branding, but one that revolves around “lead constructive disruption.”

Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard explains to Adweek the secret recipe to P&G's domination of the market.

For full access to all of Adweek's coverage of performance marketing, subscribe today.

Adweek surveyed its audience to determine how our readers were interrupting Google's decision to not support alternative identifiers to third-party cookies. As you can see in the graphic above, readers are not optimistic about the impacts of Google's decision on independent ad tech and consumer privacy. Some readers, though, are over the pessimism. Paul Silver, CSO at MiQ, thinks years of innovations will happen in months, leading him to this blunt assessment: "stop moaning and figure sh*t out.”

See the full results of our survey and get input from the industry's brightest minds.

Opinion:

Nathan Woodman, the founder and CEO of Proof, explains why the future of ad tech is now clear. Read his op-ed here.

As mentioned above, our readers are concerned about the future of targeting. A study from ad-tech company Adform and market research firm Dynata shows why: 78% of brands have no plan yet to replace third-party cookies.

This exclusive infographic shows the challenges marketers face.

Before March Madness began, Oregon Duck Sedona Price showed a complete lack of resources for the teams in the women's tournament compared to the men's tournament. The women had a single rack of weights while the men had expansive weight rooms. As a result, Orangetheory stepped up to help them out.

Find out how.

Briefly:

• AMC Networks Pushes Digital Originals in Upfront to Grab Ad Dollars Leaving Linear TV
• Ava DuVernay Hopes Her Array Crew Database Is Obsolete in 10 Years
• Amazon Care Sets Its Sights on More Patients
• Absolut Appoints Ogilvy Global Creative Agency of Record
• Mediaocean is Unifying All of Its Products Under a Single Platform

Swedish promotion from Åkestam Holst comes in two sizes: 7 and 11

Adweek’s Social Media Week NYC is the place to be for social media practitioners and digital marketers on May 4–7. Join our industry’s leading experts there virtually for in-depth conversations, academy classes, networking, and much more. Sign up by April 2 to save 20% on your pass.

Airbnb, Visa, Coca-Cola and Toyota are among top IOC sponsors.

The chip brand's new 'flavor' has already garnered bids of up to $600.

Made with help from Some Spider Studios, the guide breaks down one of the toughest talks for families.

Today, the 103-year-old brand is dressing the likes of Jaden Smith.

The spot debuted during the network's March Madness coverage.

The exhibit began running on walls on February 26.