Brian Wieser, GroupM’s Global President of Business Intelligence, has been at the center of advertising forecasting and media trend watching for a very long time.
 
As he tracks global advertising expenditures in key media categories— TV, Audio, Cinema, Out of Home, Print, and Digital, Brian Wieser believes that total ad revenue will exceed $1 trillion by 2025, or up significantly from its current $766 billion.  He says, “The pandemic has been an extraordinary catalyst for growth.”   While his 2021 global ad revenue forecasts reflect a 22.5% increase over the year prior when COVID-19 first began, he anticipates continued growth in 2022— as much as 9.7%.  And that figure doesn’t even include U.S. political advertising!

CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers, Stephan Loerke, believes that we may look back on 2021 as a turning point for the marketing industry on several critical issues.  A self-proclaimed optimist, he thinks the past year has laid the foundation for making the ad industry better, fairer, more open, and resilient.  He adds, “And that’s a good starting point to embrace with confidence the challenges that 2022 will throw at us.”
 
For Loerke, 2021 was the year that the industry got serious about climate change and the fact that marketing has a key role to play in the solution. His organization launched the WFA Planet Pledge in April as a framework and commitment to help marketers embrace environmental challenges.

“As 2022 – the Year of the Tiger – comes roaring in, it’s that time to speculate once again on what lies ahead for marketers,” says Doug Wood.  “So, here’s the top ten trends and challenges I see (in no particular order) that if unheeded may make brands the next endangered species (assuming they are not already).”
 
Doug Wood has practiced law for 45 years with a concentration in advertising and marketing. He is a Senior Counsel at Reed Smith and serves as General Counsel to the ANA, the Mobile Marketing Association, and the Ad Council, while advising major brands throughout the world.

The Zebra was started in 2012 with a single goal: to simplify insurance. And in doing so, they’ve become the leading insurance comparison site in the United States. Earlier this year, the Austin, Texas-based company raised $150 Million after doubling its revenue in 2020 to reach “unicorn” status.
 
Stephanie Junge-Filipek is Senior Director of Brand Marketing at The Zebra and builds her role around performance brand marketing and measurement. Named one of The Internationalist’s NEXT 50 in 2019, she has spent a decade in international media planning, buying and optimization for key digital brands, including travel leaders like Trip Advisor, Expedia and Trivago.

Taking a legacy brand in a new direction is never easy.  Doing so during a pandemic is certainly not for the faint of heart.
 
David McKillips accepted the role of CEO for CEC Entertainment in January 2020; CEC is named for its flagship Chuck E. Cheese brand and incorporates the Peter Piper Pizza and Pasqually's Pizza & Wings brands.

Rahul Malhotra, Head of Brand Strategy and Stewardship at Shell, sincerely believes that corporations can transform the world around us profitably, better, and faster than governments. For the last five and half years, he has been responsible for global brand strategy and architecture for Shell’s brand identity, as well as the company’s brand stewardship and employee ambassadorship. Plus, he has led an extraordinarily successful program to embed Shell’s Purpose into the DNA of employees and into the value propositions for all stakeholders.

President & CEO of Belvedere Vodka, Rodney Williams, has set an ambitious company agenda with bold commitments to both new product innovations and operating practices.

JP Kuehlwein has worked throughout the world in a variety of brand, marketing and innovation roles that range from leading the P&L for Pampers in much of Asia to providing premium brand strategy for Procter & Gamble in 16 country and category combinations to becoming the CEO of Frédéric Fekkai and turning around the hair care brand.  Five years ago, JP created the Ueber Brands Consultancy and is also now an author and marketing professor.  His latest book, Brand Elevation: Lessons in Ueber-Branding, is winning great industry praise as it explains the success drivers behind those brands he considers “peerless and priceless.”

"Ambush marketing" is a controversial marketing practice that pits non-sponsors against rights holders. It is as prevalent as ever, as non-sponsors seek to associate their brands, rightly or wrongly, with significant sporting or entertainment events without needing to pay sponsorship fees.

Thirteen years ago, Simon Dermer started eSSENTIAL Accessibility, a platform that enables purpose-driven organizations to enhance their digital customer experience for people with disabilities.  Since then, he has seen an evolution in accessibility, as well as key shifts in industry response. When he founded eSSENTIAL Accessibility, he spent a lot of time ensuring that marketers understood the size and spending power of the disability market. Now his mission is more about inclusivity, digital usability, and new standards for software and compliance.