Art… eye-catching, emotional, controversial. Sometimes, it conveys a message. Sometimes, the artist is trying to share a vision. Interesting how it sounds a lot like marketing, wouldn’t you say?

This blog post is a birthday gift to my dad – he turned 65 this week. My dad and I have always shared insights and laughs. One such humouristic exchange is my daily dose of “dad art”… Every day (seriously. every. single. day.), I receive an e-mail from my father sharing insight from his “self-study” of the arts. (To put this into context: my father is a forever student of art and loves to share it with me. Folks – I’m not just talking about sending me a picture of his favourite piece of art; I’m saying he is sending me the image, the full history, his interpretation of the history and how it may or may not affect the world we all live in today!)

Now, as much as I like to poke fun at this daily ritual, what my father may (or may not) know is that I do take insight from this. (Dad, if you are reading this, it doesn’t mean that we need to increase the dosage!)

This article from BNET, demonstrates an important link between marketing and art. It speaks to the emotional link that people have when fine art, and usually recognizable pieces, is depicted in marketing. What’s also interesting in this article is that, sometimes, it is hard to delineate whether it is the art that validates the brand or the brand that defines the artist… Either way – the emotional reaction to art is one that marketers try to achieve, every day, in communicating their brand(s) to their audience(s). I suggest that the value of the link between art and brand is an important one to not be forgotten when creating the next great campaign.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Andy Warhol's Soup Cans

Andy Warhol's Absolut Vodka

Catherine Howard & MasterCard

Needless to say, there are many recognizable pieces of art that have graced advertising campaigns. And, in some cases, even if the creative was original – it was inspired by the artists who have (genuinely) shaped the world we live in: Michaelangelo, Monet, Picasso among others. (For more, check out: Ads of the World) And, whether or not you like the artist or the art – you have an opinion, and conversations abound. Isn’t that what we try to achieve in marketing too?

What’s your favourite showcase of “the art of marketing”?

(PS – Happy Birthday, Dad… It’s the 21^st Century’s way of letting me draw a picture and put it on your “virtual” fridge, aka computer.)