Our 10 best stories of 2018

Take a look back at Marketing Dive's top stories, which captured the biggest developments from executive departures to creative innovation that shaped the industry.

By Marketing Dive team • Dec. 21, 2018

Coke leads $15M investment round in Dirty Lemon parent Iris Nova

The company focuses on cashierless, text-to-pay consumer goods and has grown the popularity of its brands through platforms like Instagram.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 21, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Marketing Dive

From the evolution of influencer marketing and paid media to the ongoing importance of data and culture, here's a look at key trends driving marketing in 2025.

By Marketing Dive staff

TikTok ties AR content sharing to charitable giving in celebrity-filled campaign

Nick Jonas, Nina Dobrev and others created mobile videos using new holiday-themed AR filters, and the platform wants others to do the same to help it donate $2 million.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 21, 2018

Nike execs see digital as 'the majority' of future business

E-commerce grew by 41% in Q2, and executives said that digitally focused store concepts and initiatives are paying off.

By Cara Salpini • Dec. 21, 2018

Puma, Nike top list of most-mentioned brands on Instagram

Celebrities like Selena Gomez and Cristiano Ronaldo help to drive brand interactions on the image-sharing app.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 21, 2018

Campaign Trail: Burger King's royal gift; Krispy Kreme takes a stand; nutty holiday sweaters

Ahead of the holidays, marketers fight for gingerbread peoples' rights and offer goofy novelty gifts, including a $99 fire screen and snack-laden knitwear.

By Peter Adams , Natalie Black (Koltun) , Chris Kelly • Dec. 21, 2018

The Players' Tribune, Amazon Prime Video line up series focusing on NBA moms

The effort promotes Amazon Originals' "Jack Ryan" and will premiere during the NBA's Christmas Day games on both platforms.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 21, 2018

Rihanna's Fenty Beauty, Amazon lead social media mentions for holiday gift shopping, study says

The singer's beauty brand gift guide received the most engagements on Twitter in the lead-up to Christmas.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 20, 2018

Nissan drives interactivity at college football tailgates with biometric-powered pop-ups

Converted semi-trucks boasted games that used gesture recognition and skeletal tracking tech to place fans into a virtual sporting experience.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 20, 2018

Behr dips into relaxing ASMR videos of painting process

Soothing sounds of popping open a paint can, swirling the mix and peeling tape off wall edges aim to showcase Behr's color selection and appeal to DIY-ers.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 20, 2018

NYT report suggests Facebook overstepped bounds of FTC consent decree

The social giant's freewheeling approach to personal information let apps like Netflix and Spotify read users' private messages, among other practices that could result in massive fines.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 19, 2018

Planters boosts ad awareness, purchase consideration ahead of the holidays, analysis finds

Nearly 40% of consumers said they would consider purchasing the Kraft Heinz brand as of Dec. 15.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 19, 2018

Popeyes' 'Emotional Support Chicken' aims to unruffle holiday travelers' feathers

To inject some humor to the holiday travel chaos, meals come in a chicken-shaped box at the Philadelphia International Airport.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 19, 2018

Twitter will slide UK soccer highlights into overseas fans' inboxes

Fans in 10 markets can get video clips of top English teams by chatbot-powered direct messages.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 19, 2018

Comic Dive: Have It Our Way

Burger King's "Whopper Detour" stunt used geoconquesting to troll McDonald's and drive a million app downloads.

By John Hazard and Lisa Burdige • Dec. 19, 2018

Dinosaurs and delis: How Tool of North America crafts epic experiences for Amazon

Two executives at the agency detail how it created innovative activations around "Jurassic World" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" for the tech giant turned cross-channel marketing platform.

By Chris Kelly • Dec. 18, 2018

TikTok makes first UK marketing push for the holidays

The festive campaign includes a series of hashtags and challenges related to Christmas and New Year's celebrations.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 18, 2018

National brands rein in ad spend growth on Facebook, analysis finds

A desire for brand-safe environments is leading some national marketers to slow their pace with the social giant, according to Standard Media Index.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 18, 2018

Celebs, humor dominate YouTube's top ads of 2018

Amazon's "Alexa Loses Her Voice" topped the 2018 leaderboard with more than 50 million views.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 17, 2018

KFC, Tide, Nike among brands that 'won' Twitter in 2018

U.S. Head of Brand Strategy Ryan Oliver highlights brands that have mastered the social media platform.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 17, 2018

Conscious Minds promotes iTunes movie release with Instagram vending machines

The creative agency stocked machines with fake goods that parody social media features as part of a campaign for its documentary "Social Animals."

By Robert Williams • Dec. 17, 2018

Wendy's shares a syrupy holiday tale on Twitter

Illustrated "'Twas the Night Before Maple Syrup Day" tweets encourage fans to sample the chain's new Maple Bacon Chicken Sandwich.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 17, 2018

Before giving 'the talk' to my tween, I ran it through with some CMOs

A familiar conversation parallels why brands must rethink their social media approach, writes Something Massive founder Rebecca Coleman.

By Rebecca Coleman • Dec. 17, 2018

Esurance unrolls 'Surprisingly Painless Gifting' with Dennis Quaid wrapping paper

A limited-edition line of gift wrap, cards, boxes and tags featuring snarky messages and the actor's mug aims to ease stress around the holidays.

By Erica Sweeney • Dec. 14, 2018

Facebook Watch expands ad sales to 40 countries

As the social network maxes out ad inventory on its core News Feed, Facebook is seeking fresh ways to grow sales after missing analyst expectations for Q3.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 14, 2018