After months of careful consideration and a not-insignificant amount of reader polling, we've finally arrived at our It List for 2006. It contains the people who've made waves in recent months; the ones who, whether by way of their work, their words or their business decisions, have continually found themselves at the center of discussion. But our list is not just limited to people; this year, we decided to open up the floor to various technologies, products, clients and trends that are, for better or for worse, impacting the business. So, without further ado, here's a list of the people, places and things that are, in their own way, helping to lead and redefine the advertising world in 2006. We hope you have as much fun reading it as we had putting it together.

Adidas
Client of the year, hands down
With significant, credible work across nearly every medium and every major territory over the last 12 months, Adidas further asserted its creative dominance over the athletic field and, for that matter, every other category in the world. From the bleeding-edge animation of 1st Avenue Machine's "Modular Man" and Pleix's "Adistar" to Internet viral campaigns for Climacool and Adicolor to FX-heavy US broadcast work like Noam Murro's "What Inside" and 180 Amsterdam's exceptionally well-orchestrated cross-platform World Cup campaign 10+, the Adidas brand now ranks at the very top for originality, execution and quality control. They're the brand everybody wants to work for, and judging from the sharpness of this year's work, they aren't likely to give up that title without a fight. Hear that, Nike? It's the sound of a gauntlet being thrown down. MP

Argentina
No need to shed a tear
You're probably tired of hearing how awesome Argentina is as a shooting locale. That's probably because one in every three people you know has recently been in production in the South American country. It's no surprise, given the breadth of the production infrastructure, the variety of landscapes and the unbeatable value for your dollar (1USD:3 pesos), euro (1:4) or pound (1:57). Just ask Frank Budgen or Traktor or Anthony Atanasio or Mathias Hoene or Frederic Planchon or... the list goes on. But beyond pure logistics, the inviting and culturally rich country is enough to send anyone on an extended vacation. The region's biggest challenge in coming months will be to capture, bottle and maintain the current production zeitgeist. RF

Axe
Boldly going where every man wants to
In swiping the global deodorant market share lead from Proctor & Gamble's Old Spice in just four years, Unilever's Axe (also known as Lynx in the UK) has asserted itself as a major force in the ad world. Led by BBH, the aggressive brand has done so with creative that, love it or hate it, has found an entirely new way to present advertising's oldest truth. Mix in the virals "Ravenstoke" and "Webcam", the beautifully-realized US campaign The Gamekillers and a widespread integrated initiative that has even seen Axe ads showing up in popular Xbox and PS2 titles, and it's hard to deny Axe has raised the benchmark for ladmag advertising everywhere. MP

The Barbarian Group
Making the Internet wickeder, awesomer
While they're best known for Subservient Chicken, a quick browse through The Barbarian Group's web portfolio reveals a strand of vibrancy and cleverness running through all their work. From sharp, breezy Flash games to ambitious, immersive web campaigns, the Boston-based integrated company not only knows what note to hit, but how to hit it - something that most traditional broadcast producers miss when producing for the Internet. Add to that a collective creative streak that keeps them entangled in the art world and a youthful feistiness that isn't afraid to go against the grain, and why wouldn't you want them doing your next web project? MP

William Bartlett
And on the eighth day, He said 'And now we shall render'
Tasked to come up with a visualization for nothing less significant than the entire history of mankind for Guinness' "noitulovE", Framestore CFC, London FX supervisor William Bartlett went above and beyond the call of duty, even rolling judicious kitchen experimentation (some of the spot's geological rock formations were a Bartlett-created cocktail of dough, Special K and Grape Nuts) into his exhaustive three-and-a-half month schedule. Not only that, but by replacing a football pitch with a precarious grid of razors for Adidas ("Impossible Field") and fashioning dolphins out of clouds for British Airways ("Clouds"), Bartlett's proved that no brief is too much for his mad Inferno skills. MP

Carlos and Gabriela Bayala
Brought the Madre cadre to Buenos Aires
After a global tour of creative duty that included stops at Mother, London and Wieden + Kennedy in both Portland and Amsterdam, and with a resume that includes iconic and award-winning Nike ads such as "Angry Chicken", "Musical Chairs" and "The Other Game", creative directors Carlos and Gabriela Bayala have returned to Carlos' native Buenos Aires to install Mother's ideals in Argentina. Dubbed Madre, the nascent shop is making waves as a part of the country's burgeoning boutique boom. Not content to quietly slip onto the scene, the first work from the agency is a three-minute, motivational-speech epic for Banco Hipotecario encouraging renewed public trust in the national banking system. RF

Alex Bogusky
Wake up, he's the king
When CP+B famously nabbed the Volkswagen and Sprite accounts within days of one another last September, naysayers wondered if the Miami darling wasn't in over its head. While the polarizing Unpimp My Auto campaign that resulted might have been a bit lacking creatively, it's produced the desired Crispin effect by thrusting the carmaker right back into pop culture's ongoing conversation, in turn setting the table for the far superior followup, Safe Happens. As for that other account win, Crispin's latest Happy-directed campaign for Sprite ranks among some of the weirdest and most inspired work we've seen so far this year, and should make for a brash rejoinder to all the skeptics who said Bogusky should stick to burgers. MP