Big brand budgets and quadrennial events such as the Olympics, European Football Championship and US Presidential Election drove 2016’s global advertising revenue growth to US$532 billion (NZ$746), according to the Global Advertising Trends report from IHS Technology’s Advertising Intelligence Service.

As New Year’s Day 2017 rolled by, there were 3,700,000,000 regular internet users in the world – and just 0.8% were based in NZ/Australia/Oceania, according to a wide-ranging new report out of US-based internet trends tracker vpnMentor.

“I slept like a baby that night. I felt I had finally moved on.”– Hard not to grin at these defiant words from a scorned Hawera wife who swears she has no regrets about postering the town with nude shots she found on the smartphone of her long-time cheating husband with his scarlet woman – one of them taken in his daughter’s bed.

New Zealand is ranked the third most creative country in the world (up from #14 last year) in the latest Directory magazine’s Big Won rankings out of London. Colenso BBDO Auckland is ranked #1 creative agency and Y&R NZ ranked #2.

Kevin Roberts has taken a new direction in the next step in his post-Saatchi career – he’s been appointed chair of Wellington-based global sports tech company CricHQ. Roberts has invested a million NZ dollars, so has bought himself some decent skin in the game.

London: The 3rd D&AD Next Awards has opened for entry. D&AD’s Next series bridges the gap between the D&AD Professional Awards and New Blood programme by identifying the best new talent and promoting them back to industry.

By Bill Binch, MD at ANZ’s Sydney-based global marketing software provider Marketo: As 2017 begins, the marketing industry in NZ and Australia once again has proved – perhaps more so than many others – that it shifts year-to- year, season-to- season, and even minute-to- minute. 2016 brought many changes and new trends to the marketing landscape, ultimately transforming the way marketers operate permanently.

This is the last 2016 edition of M+AD’s daily newsletter. We’re taking a break and will return on Monday 16 January.