Art for art's sake
Someone mentioned Tracy Emin on the same day
when I had also been discussing, with another colleague, about what
makes successful advertising.
The two seemingly unrelated discussions suddenly crystallised and
reinforced my opinions about parallels between art and advertising
- it can be clearly be argued that the two are the same and they
spark off each other.
It goes something like this (and this is pretty standard textbook
stuff): to be effective, advertising has to be relevant to its
target market and memorable. This is the most basic and simplistic
objective.
So why memorable and how is this achieved?
Well, of course, you want to be memorable because when your
potential customers are about to go through the purchasing decision
process, you want to be there, niggling away in their psyche.
It's quite simply really - it's advertising which creates a
dialogue. You know the kind of thing - the "Did you see that
ad on TV last night?" debate that goes on in work around the
photocopier.
And if you take a closer look, in most cases, it's the
advertising which is unexpected and seemingly out of context that
stimulates the discussion. Who would have thought up the idea to
have a big orange bloke going around slapping people to advertise a
carbonated
drink? Totally unexpected and seemingly unrelated, but created
loads of discussion and media coverage.
And what about a beeping phone on wheels to advertise an insurance company? Perhaps not as
shocking as fat orange blokes, but slightly surreal and once again,
memorable.
What does this have to do with art?
Well, the same principles can apply and I might as well admit here
that I am a big fan of all types of art because it fascinates me
and provides mental and emotional stimulation. Which is what it is
supposed to do.
Just look at the work of Tracy Emin and her contemporaries. Many
would argue that their work is not art at all. But the fact that
this debate can rage on is proof positive that the work has done
what it sets out to do - create a healthy debate with a range of
diverse and equally valid arguments.
There are loads of great examples of controversial conceptual art
exhibits which create debate including Damien Hirst's assorted
animals in formaldehyde and Simon
Starlings 'shedboatshed' which won the 2005 Turner
prize.
The point about these pieces of work is that they are all
memorable. I believe that 9 out of 10 people would have seen and
remembered some of Damien Hirst's work, purely because of the
debate it creates in the media.
So back to advertising.
I said earlier that advertising that succeeds can sometimes be
unexpected out of context. Exactly the same as some art
installations. Damien Hirst once said that he "uses shock
almost as a formal element" and "I want to make people
think". An entirely reasonable objective, in my view, for both
art and advertising.
Oh, and by the way, if you want to see some evidence of the merging
of art and advertising, just check out William Hesketh Lever, the
first Lord
Leverhulme, and the origins of
Pear's Soap advertising.
COMMENTS
No comments added for this entry.
POST A COMMENT
