The Direct Jury President on working with AI and creative integrity

With over 300 awards under his belt, Gaëtan du Peloux is one of the most awarded French creatives of his generation. Born and raised in Paris, he started his career as a copywriter at BBDO in 2004. Now the Chief Creative Officer and co-Chief Executive Officer at Marcel, he’s produced award-winning Direct campaigns including the Black-Pencil winning “Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables” (2015) for Intermarché which urged consumers to embrace imperfect vegetables to combat food waste, and 2022’s “Hack Market” for Back Market, which hijacked Apple’s airdrop feature to promote  refurbished tech over new, right at the point of sale in the Apple store. Here, D&AD’s Direct Jury President for 2024 tells us why valuing creativity equates to valuing audiences, and how AI is helping the Art Directors on his team.

Direct is my favourite category because, to me, it’s the most idea-driven category. I think that’s all we want to achieve as creatives: to create a direct response from the consumer and for people to experience an idea. Even when you make a film, you want people to have a tear (in their eye), have a laugh, or have something you know? It has to be a great idea that evokes a direct response.

Life is full of opportunities. The big opportunity that is coming is AI; it’s for sure going to change our job. Our job is always evolving, because we are just a mirror of our time. Our job is just to feel the time we're living in and find a good way to relay that message. 

I can give an example of what I’m seeing every day – to me, AI is a fantastic tool for our Art Directors. What was the job of an Art Director before Photoshop existed? It was to have an artistic vision for a brand or campaign. It wasn’t about technique, it was about vision. Right now (the AI programme) Midjourney is great for that, because it's all about vision. Now, technique is less important, and vision, culture and references are more important. Art Directors using the exact same tool are creating different levels of work based on the angle they’re talking, their casting and the references they’ve found. Chat GPT is another good example (of the use of AI). It’s a very good jumping off point for strategic planning, just to have some data and have a starting point. I love human beings and that’s why I’m really excited about AI, it’s a tool to serve us and not to replace us.

I think the danger we're facing is creativity losing its value. We are doing a fantastic job, but we’re not valuing our work as much as we should. We need creativity, and we have never needed it as much because there are so many channels and media and ways to communicate right now. If you don't communicate creatively, that's not efficient at all. Our job is to communicate and land a message. People don't want to see advertising. So in a way, it's like we are at a party we haven’t been invited to. When you aren’t a guest and nobody wants you at the party, what do you do? I think the best thing is to always keep that in mind, and ask yourself, ‘Okay, now I'm at this party, what can I do? Do I grab some beer from the bar? Or do I bring some champagne?’ And I think our job is to bring some champagne. It’s key to deliver something good and value your audience’s time. If you don’t value people, then give them shit, but that’s not my point of view and I don’t think it's the point of view of people who love advertising.

Great ideas, because I really believe in the power of creativity. I think that it is the most important value we give to brands. So first, for me, it has to be a great idea. Of course consumer response is important too, because there are some fantastic ideas on paper, but sometimes when you make it, it’s not as good as it was on paper. That’s an important thing to remember. We’re not here (just to) make people happy or laugh with great ideas. We’re here to find great answers to real problems.

There have been so many amazing Direct campaigns in the past. I would advise people to look at the D&AD Direct category archives and watch all the Black and Yellow Pencil winning work. Campaigns that I worked on that I loved are the Black Pencil-winning Inglorious Vegetables, which is something I worked on when I was a copywriter, and Hack Market, which was exciting to make because it felt almost like a heist when we pulled it off. I also really liked Diesel’s DEISEL - Go With The Fake, which highlighted the trend of buying fake luxury items, and Fearless Girl was also a great one. To me, if someone reacts (to your campaign) or feels something, that’s a win.

The work that you do for your clients on a daily basis is how you’re advertising yourself, so you should focus on making work that you’re proud of. I've seen too many people trying to create new business by putting their energy in the wrong place or not making work that they love. If you do campaigns for the money that you don't really like – and clients then call you saying they want more of the same – you’ll start to lose your agency’s DNA. That would be my best advice, do something that you’re proud of, and the right type of clients for you, and others will come. 

D&AD Awards 2024 is now open for entries. D&AD’s Direct category includes marketing communications delivered straight to the consumer that are designed to elicit a direct response from a target audience. Learn more about and enter the Direct category here.