Melbourne industry enjoys Kieran Antill’s thought provoking insights at MADC event, held last week

Last week saw yet another great event in the successful series of ‘MADC Presents’ speakers at the Local Taphouse, St.Kilda.

Kieran Antill, ECD of J. Walter Thompson Melbourne, shared his thought provoking insights into the role of art in advertising. And it got quite philosophical.

From questioning whether a lone Prada store in the middle of the desert or a single girl masturbating in a New York apartment (for an audience) can indeed be classified as art?! To the eternal question: How do we get more art into our advertising and sell it to our clients?

Looking at what current day artists and influencers like Aaron Koblin, JR, Joachim Sauter and Brendon Stanton are doing, Antill’s summation was that best work blurs the lines between art and advertising. He said advertising propositions are now so commoditised, it’s the love of the brand that makes the real difference. We need people to want to own our ads, just as they want to own artwork. Because when they feel ownership, they’ll share and talk about that work. So if we can make work that feels more like art and less like traditional advertising, the chances of our brand being successful rise dramatically.

As for whether the girl masturbating in the NY apartment is art?  The jury’s still out.

For more details on the MADC Presents series, follow MADC here.