Eric Mower Speaker Series: Adrian Barrow of JWT (Extra Credit)

Last night, I attended another event as part of the Eric Mower Advertising Forum. Adrian Barrow, head of strategic planning at JWT, a major global advertising agency, spoke about the significance of art in advertising and strategic communication. I enjoyed hearing his thoughts and seeing real world examples of how powerful an impact art can make on consumers. Although I am not looking to go into advertising, I hope to pursue a career that involves strategic communications, so the idea of art as a medium to unite and persuade an audience was both interesting and relevant to me.

Barrow spoke of advertising’s dissemination of “information as persuasion” that ultimately leads to a positive change in consumer behavior. He stressed the need for not only cognitive or conscious persuasion, but also emotional persuasion – the subconscious kind that resonates with our personal thoughts, memories and feelings. By using art, advertisers can successfully “puncture the membrane of rationality and reason,” communicating a message in a way that touches the hearts and souls of those receiving it. Barrow explained the need to listen to one’s own intuition as a creator, because if you are not moved by something, chances are nobody else will be either. Just because a campaign “makes sense” doesn’t mean it will resonate with a target audience – there needs to be that “click” of inspiration that goes beyond rationality.

We saw examples of profound artwork that made a political or social impact, from Picasso’s “Guernica” painting to the popularized photo of Che Guevara. What struck me, though, was the power of even the simplest ideas. For example, this video on the origin of Britain’s infamous “Keep Calm, Carry On” poster shows how one concise message, laid out in a particular way as art, can be more profound than the most complex painting or photograph. This is important to remember in the practice of public relations, too. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones.

What I really took away from Barrow’s discussion was the power of creativity in communications. He explained that art sneaks under our defenses, affecting us before we even realize it. Our brains process artwork as stories, so using art to get past the consumer barrier is an effective way to not only influence behavior, but also mindset (especially when it comes to branding!). I learned the importance of graphic design last semester in my graphics class, but now I see that art itself is truly an impactful way of getting a message across in the real world.