Advertising Week APAC: Climate Crisis, AI, and Burning Your Briefs

The region’s top advertising minds and disciples converged on Sydney’s Luna Park yesterday for the first of Advertising Week’s two-day annual event, Advertising Week APAC 2023.

As part of Advertising Week’s global conference schedule, several hundred advertising professionals were treated to four stages of continuous content, discussion, showcases, and debates over the entire day.

Data and generative AI were key points of interest at the 2023 conference, with stages dominated by discussions of the AI ‘marketing revolution’ as well as the overall future of advertising, and the responsibility of advertising to respond to global issues.

The Great Minds Stage opened the day with a robust debate concerning the impact of the advertising industry on the ongoing climate crisis.

Industry leaders and leaders in the climate space debated the prompt, ‘This House Believes That the Advertising Industry Caused the Climate Crisis’.

Arguing in the affirmative were Hearts & Science Australia head of strategy Georgia Leathart, Meta APAC client council and industry trade leader Catherine Bowe, and ReWild Projects founder Dave Murphy.

On the other side, Pollination director Sam Wagstaff, Nine director of brand Michele O’Neill, and dentsu chief strategy and growth officer David Halter. The trio insisted the advertising industry is only one of many contributors to the climate crisis.

As the global advertising industry nears $1 trillion in size, Catherine sees the responsibility of turning the climate corner as lying with advertisers.

“We have the opportunity to go from the climate villain to the climate champion,” she said.

Dave later added, “It isn’t the responsibility of the ball to enter the net. The responsibility of scoring the goal lies with the one who kicked the ball. If that ball is the climate crisis, then our industry is kicking it.”

In response, Sam referred to the children’s book ‘Who Sank the Boat?’, in which a boat full of various animals eventually capsizes after a mouse jumps in.’

“Advertising is the mouse that fits into almost anywhere and follows the larger animals, who’s weight is actually responsible for their situation,” Sam said.

David echoed this perspective, adding, “Each one of us is a cause of global warming, including advertising, but it is not alone in being that cause.”

Before lunch, the Great Minds stage also held talks, ‘From Content to Commerce: Connecting Streams to Sales’ and ‘The Future of Media: How We Got Here and What's to Come’ – with The Trade Desk’s Samantha Jacobson.

In the afternoon, Matty Johns and former homicide detective Gary Jubelin discussed the broader sides of media and communications in a spirited Q&A. 

The afternoon also featured conversations with Susan Coghill, chief marketing officer at Tourism Australia, Unstereotype Alliance, and Genius Steals founders Rosie and Faris Yakob.

Data and social media were also central across the other stages, with the day including speakers dissecting the topics of media evolution and fragmentation, creativity in the data-driven world, the future of the ad-funded web, and the implications of data-driven AI.

The evening wrapped up with another robust debate, this time concerning the prompt, ‘AI Will Be the Cause of Human Mistrust in Advertising’.

Advertising Week APAC continues today, kicking off with an exciting interview with a holographic William Shatner, on technology, innovation, and our planet.

You can also catch LBB’s panel, ‘How Do We Put a Value on Creativity?’, with CHEP Network national ECD Hamish Stewart, WPP chief strategy officer Katie Rigg-Smith, Supermassive co-founder Laura Aldington, and LBB’s MD Toby Hemming.