Karen Ferry is an award-winning creative who has worked at some of Australia’s biggest advertising agencies and on campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands. She’s also a panellist on Gruen, where she will be bringing her own distinctive viewpoint to the upcoming season.

When you were first asked to be on Gruen, what do you think it was about you that attracted the producers?
It was a funny one; they do pre-calls throughout the industry, and I thought it was hilarious that they wanted me on, because I didn’t think I was the type of person to be on the show. But I think what they liked about me was that I come from the creative side of the industry, I had experience doing the production side, which I think viewers find really interesting. But also, everyone on the show has a different specialty, and mine is more emerging media, influencers, social media, more niche target audience stuff with Gen Z and stuff like that. I don’t want to say the word “youth”, but I do a bit more stuff targeted at the younger generation. Advertising is changing so much, and I probably bring that to the table.

You must have heard many criticisms of your industry from people with a low opinion of what you do. What is great about advertising, to you?
Hmmm. The criticism is fair. I agree with a lot of the criticism. But I think advertising is very powerful, and people try to dismiss it and say it doesn’t work. And sure, it doesn’t work if you don’t have good creative, but when it’s done well it is like witchcraft. It can make people want to do something, within 30 seconds, without even realising that they were prompted to make those decisions by an ad. And what’s great is that sometimes you can use that to advertise really good things, or change people’s opinions about something really important. Media is everywhere, and advertising is a form of media, and it can make people feel happy about their day, or it can make them have a laugh, or it can make them feel like they’re included or seen within society. So when you go in with the right kind of attitude and treat it as an empowering platform that can make people’s lives, and the world, better, that’s when advertising is great.

Is it an art form?
It’s commercial art. So same as graphic design, it has a commercial output; it’s not there to make you think or to be beautiful or to go deep on anything. Ultimately it’s driven by what we call “the objective”, which is to make you think or act a certain way as a consumer. So I wouldn’t say it’s art, but there is an art to it.

I guess it puts certain art forms to work – there’s writing, there could be acting, directing, editing. All those different art forms coming together to make something.
Yes, definitely. We would call that the craft of something. Whether it is well-crafted or not can really make an ad work or completely fail. We have thousands of people who work in the advertising industry and they bring so many skills and talents that can make stuff that is beautiful. Most people have a favourite ad – like “Great Wall was built to stop the rabbits”, by Bigpond. That’s craft – amazing acting, amazing directing, the editing of the beats in that, the scriptwriting. Even the costuming and the styling. It’s a little story in 30 seconds. It’s pretty brilliant working on those sets and having the team come together and creating that. It’s not just one person making it, you all band together and you make something that’s bigger than what you can do as an individual. That’s what, when the opportunity comes, I like to talk about on Gruen, because it is pretty amazing to make something creative with someone else. We can be creative as individuals, but when you work with someone else to do that it’s an amazing experience.

Your passion for the work is really evident. On Gruen, do you see your role – or the role of everyone on the show – as being to open people’s eyes to the side of advertising that brings out that passion in you?

I think, yes. There’s ultimately lots of different facets that we can show people in the show: that’s one of the really good ones. We can also talk about why do ads exist, what are marketers and businesses trying to do, which I think everyone should be aware of, it just makes people much more educated viewers. So they know what they’re getting sold on, and they can make better decisions in their lives. We also talk about the bad side of things as well, which is important. There’s lots of different things to talk about, which I guess is why the show is so successful and loved.

Do you enjoy getting the chance to clash with your fellow panellists, from time to time?