INTRODUCTION

At least this year hasn’t been as mental as 2020. In their round-up of the year (page 38), Spotify said, “If 2020 was the year that flipped the world on its head, 2021 was the year we got used to seeing things upside down.” That puts it well. Last year everything changed, and this year we have been getting used to it.

We’ve added a few lists to our traditional Top-10s this year, including The Year in Social Media and The Year in Ad Tech. Both of these reflect how important all things digital and social are to the entire industry. Look at the WARC adspend forecasts on page 48 and you will see that an astounding 19 per cent of all global ad spend now goes to Google. Meta isn’t far behind, and other platforms are also moving up the priority list for media spend both globally and in the region.

We’ve also reached out to our friends at various platforms and streaming services and they have been kind enough to share their highlights of the year with us. As well as providing a good pop quiz for your colleagues (who was the most streamed artist in the UAE on Spotify in 2021? Take a guess, ask the person next to you, then turn to page 38 to see if either of you were right), these also give a handy insight into what the region is doing online. What videos are they watching? What podcasts are they listening to? What are they searching for, and what music are they streaming? There are cultural insights galore (by which I mean when I read them I feel out of touch and old; bah humbug).

And of course there’s the work. We’ve listed 50 campaigns that caught our eye across film, integrated and experiential, and digital and social. Take a look and see what we liked. Are you in there? If you’re not, you were number 51, I swear. The lists are wholly subjective, but one main criteria is that we had to have seen the work. So if you want a chance to be featured, make sure you keep sending us what you are proud of.

And if you want to win an actual trophy, make sure you enter the Campaign Agency of the Year – Global competition. Look at the ads in this issue; one of them tells you how to enter. When I write this note next year I want to be bragging that one of you reading this now has claimed the title of Best Agency in the World.

So read on. See what caught our eye as we cast our mind back over 2021. And see what we missed. How do Campaign’s memories compare with yours?

We might be getting used to doing things upside down, but in general things are looking up from a year ago. Let’s get used to running and jumping while we are inverted. And see what we can do in 2022.

See you next year!