While some may confuse the two, Advertising Week and Ad Week serve a similar demographic, yet offer a different experience. With marketing, advertising agencies, and brand representatives in town, they can gain a better understanding of the industry, enhance their trend forecasting by attending sessions led by industry leaders, and network.
Advertising Week and Ad Week are both media platforms featuring podcasts and articles that cover all aspects of advertising, including technology, travel, Out-of-Home (OOH), commerce, creator marketing, and more. Advertising Week hosts their massive conferences in New York, Latin America, and Europe annually, featuring brand-sponsored lounges that include panels and happy hour mixers. Ad Week hosts Social Media Week annually, as they acquired Social Media Week in 2021. In October 2024, Ad Week began creating a comfortable oasis known as Ad Week House in New York City at the same time as Advertising Week New York, while offering resources for advertisers in a slightly different way.
Similarities
Panels
The panels were great. From thought leaders who were veterans in the field with 20+ years of experience to creators stating why they would like to be a part of building a brand’s creative brief, which is one step before they’re brought into campaigns. Creators know what resonates most with an audience so Advertising Week invited Loren Lott and Jazmine Robinson to a panel moderated by their management, Viral Nation, to discuss how they can add value to creative briefs. AdWeek brought to the stage celebrities’ favorite doppelganger, Jordan Howlett, which should be no surprise, as he stopped by Ad Week’s Social Media Week during May 2025 and spoke about creators wanting more freedom during brand collaborations.
Differences
Service
Ad Week House is a cozy retreat away from the bustling, jam-packed Penn District that Advertising Week curates. With staff serving breakfast, lunch, and hors d’oeuvres passed around during the mixers, the hospitality doesn’t compare to Advertising Week. Service matters more than anything to me so towards the end of the week, I found myself spending more time at Ad Week because I knew I needed to keep networking, but wanted to relax while doing so. If you’re easily overstimulated, but still need to network or attend an advertising conference for work, Ad Week is probably your best bet! Held at Gary’s Loft, it featured a spacious penthouse with the best service, desserts, snacks, tea, coffee, sparkling and still water, that makes one truly feel like they’re at home.
At Advertising Week, lounges such as The Female Quotient’s Equality Lounge, place service at the forefront of their ethos as hors d’oeuvres are passed around during panel discussions and offered matchas, which encouraged me to try matchas again and again. Some other lounges provided snacks, but none compared to what was offered at Ad Week. Small details truly matter. As someone who loves great service, Ad Week’s wait staff made my time at Gary’s Loft incredible.
Connectivity
At a conference filled with thousands of marketing professionals looking to connect and learn, the most important thing is to have decent wifi to encourage expanding the connnection on social media such as LinkedIn and keep up with pressing deadlines. Advertising Week had 2 lower levels featuring lounges for panel discussions and coworking. My mobile data wasn’t even working in the lower levels and with my LinkedIn refusing to load and slack messages not sending, the wifi was pretty much non-existent. it was surprising and many complained as they expected better for such a huge conference at the Penn District.
Ad Week’s wifi was good. Although it dropped a couple of times, it worked 95% of the time and I was so grateful for that as it gave me peace of mind. I had so much to do and didn’t have the time to worry about whether I would be able to get anything done on my laptop.
Networking
Ofcourse both conferences are great for networking but Ad Week truly felt like a home where you can learn from panelists then everyone can hang out at the rooftop mixers or chit-chat while working at the penthouse, while Advertising Week felt like exactly what it was – a conference. Because I’m a people person, it’s easy for me to talk to people in any setting, but I can understand why some would easily gravitate towards Ad Week House as the calm environment encourages engagement for all personality types.
As for my looks, I kept it comfy with neutral sandals and loafers all week paired with my usual bright attire.
SHOP SIMILAR ITEMS TO MY LOOKS
I had a great time at Advertising Week and Ad Week, but I do wish I spent more time at Ad Week simply because of the service and connectivity. Overall, I enjoyed meeting some incredible people.
Advertising week and Ad week may sound the same but they are a bit different — one is the real advertisement that majority are used to and have been practicing but Ad week is new cultivated out of social media. Advertising budget is bigger than social media budgets are always smaller.
Thank Oyinkansola, I am well informed as if I was there. God bless you. Amen