Advertising Week APAC: Putting Value on Creativity and Why Content Matters

Advertising week APAC 2023 ended with a bang on Tuesday afternoon. To close out the event, the Debate Club invited attendees to challenge one of the hottest takes of the year: ‘AI Will Be the Cause of Human Mistrust in Advertising’.

While the opposition won on account of the adjudicators, the affirmative won 53% of the audience vote. The passion in which both teams spoke was outstanding, and left the audience with something valuable to think about. 

Wednesday morning continued the theme of keeping attendees on their toes when a hologram of William Shatner answered questions about innovation and the environment with Meta APAC, client council & industry trade lead Catherine Bowe leading the charge. 

The ‘Coalface of Marketing Innovation: Aussie Brands Taking on the World’ talk saw industry leaders from Canva and TikTok, talk about how they’ve managed to have success not only locally but globally. 

Rebekah Cooke, global brand media lead and Elliot Struck, creative director at Canva spoke with Danielle Rigg-Smith, industry lead for TikTok AUNZ on the importance of having a global look while allowing the flexibility to change their strategies to accommodate for the local market they are targeting. 

Why Content Has Never Been More Important, hosted by Kirsten Galliott, head of content at Medium Rare Content Agency was talking about the new ways that brands could be able to cut through with their audiences. From strategies that kept audiences engaged while in the midst of covid from Petra Perry, CMO of Qantas Group to understanding how content effects people from the Chelsea Wymer, CMO of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.

Further talks continued to explore the likes of AI and how brands, agencies, and media can use the burgeoning technology to their advantage. Many talks surrounding AI encouraged people who haven’t jumped on the boat to do so as soon as possible. 

Data and the importance of understanding your audiences were also big hitters for Wednesday, with a talk from James Holloman, CMO of David Jones. James talked about the pressure that can be felt when working with an iconic brand, and how to navigate those challenges. 

The day concluded with LBB’s APAC MD, Toby Hemming leading a panel asking the question, How Do We Put a Value on Creativity? Toby lead the charge with an abundant amount of passion while panelists, Katie Rigg-Smith, CSO WPP, Laura Aldington co-founder Supermassive and Hamish Stewart, national ECD - experience, CHEP Network spoke eloquently about the questions proposed to them. 

The notions of how agencies are able to put a value on creativity spanned across the three panelists' experience within the industry, and a hope for greater importance on creativity from the very beginning of the process was evident for all three. 

Ultimately, Advertising Week APAC 2023 was a journey of networking, industry debate, holograms of famous actors, free water bottles, food for thought, inspiration and encouragement for everyone that attended. It’ll be fascinating to see what effect it will have on the industry.