🔥 Marketing's Biggest Surprises of 2024

The Speed Read

• Meta blindsided health brands with tracking restrictions

• Google pulled a 180° on cookie deprecation

• AI content creation moved faster than anyone saw coming

• M&A activity is about to reshape the agency landscape

2024's Biggest "Wait, What?" Moments

Remember when we thought we had 2024 all figured out? Yeah, about that...

Our founders and leadership team break down the moments that made us all do a double-take, and what's coming next.

Meta's Health & Wellness Bombshell

"Meta's decision to restrict health and wellness brands from using key event tracking like 'Purchase' or 'Add to Cart' for ads... This is the first time they've restricted tracking and measurement to such a degree for a vertical. This could benefit other platforms such as Google (capturing bottom of funnel intent), Amazon, iHerb and even TikTok Shop in the US."

• Uzair Chutani, Co-founder

Google's Cookie Plot Twist

"After years of telling everyone cookies were on the way out, they're now letting users choose to keep them. This U-turn has thrown a wrench into the plans of brands who were already preparing for a cookieless future."

• Spencer Brennan, Head of Sales

AI's Zero-to-Sixty Moment

"While AI content generation has been around for a while, 2024 saw a significant surge in its adoption and sophistication. The surprise was the speed at which marketers embraced AI tools for tasks like writing social media posts, crafting email copy, and even generating basic video scripts."

• Niket Shah, Co-founder

What's Coming in 2025?

Here's what our team sees on the horizon:

The Great Agency Shakeup

"With digital ad spend crossing $1 trillion, everyone's making moves—whether it's agencies like Omnicom and Interpublic merging or new tech players snapping up AI and retail media tools. Expect talent agencies to dive deeper into influencer marketing, too."

• Spencer Brennan

Community Over Everything

"With increased competition in market both on prices and options, consumers will gravitate towards brands where they feel the most connection and trust. Brands will need to think about how they build and curate a community that delivers value."

• Niket Shah

TikTok's Next Chapter

"TikTok ban will be overturned. Trump will use it as a bargaining chip and/or it'll be sold to an American entity but the platform continues its US operations."

• Uzair Chutani

Quick Takes: Platform Updates You Need to Know

Meta's Health Guidelines

• What happened: Health/wellness tracking restricted

• Impact: Major measurement overhaul needed

• Next move: Watch for spend shifting to Google/Amazon

Google's Privacy Flip-Flop

• What changed: Users now choose cookie settings

• Reality check: Don't ditch privacy-first yet

• Why it matters: More time to adapt strategies

Last Word

Remember when marketing was simple? Yeah, neither do we. But that's what makes it fun.

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