What happens when art and advertising collide? On 9th July, Pitchfest Open House took over the Heal's Building to find out. Three floors of talks, panels, exhibits and live creativity, with our clients in every room. We'd promised part creative escapism, part hard industry truth. The day delivered both, sometimes in the same sentence.
The question that kept coming back
Can marketing still be original in 2026? Our CEO Amy McCulloch put it to the Main Stage, and our panellists Sabrina Cendral (Sandals Resorts), Sian Finnis (King), Alex Hoyle (AXA Health) and Joe Friend (Pepper Studio) didn't let anyone off with an easy answer. What they landed on, is that originality isn't dead, it's just harder won. The brands that feel something make people feel something.
That thread ran through the whole day, nowhere more than in Annie Harte's talk, built around the question every marketer should be sitting with: have I made you feel something? Alongside it, talks from Emily Mulhall, Sarah Heavens, Geoff Chang and Harriet Gray took the theme apart from every angle, from what AI can learn from art to a genuinely persuasive case for PowerPoint.
Ideas, meet reality
Then the Main Stage got hands-on. Creator Lab Live put the day's thinking to the test, as Henry Scriven handed the room a live brief and turned our clients into the creative department, proving that artistic expression and commercial execution aren't opposites, they're better together. Shaun Spark followed with a live improv session that had a room full of marketers letting go of the script to make way for new ideas.
And then, the party
The best conversations of the day happened after the talks finished, out in Alfred Mews with pizza and Thai street food, ice cream, a spritz bar that never stood a chance of keeping up with demand, and a DJ who kept the whole street dancing well into the evening. Which felt fitting. A day about the collision of art and advertising ending as one big shared experience.
Thank you
To everyone who came, spoke, asked questions, voted, improvised, danced and stayed until the end: thank you. Pitchfest only works because the room gets involved, and this room really got involved.
Next up: Pitchfest Rising Stars
Pitchfest isn't done for the year. We've just announced Pitchfest Rising Stars, where our junior teams take the stage to deliver sessions of their own. Their stage, their sessions, their take on the theme. More details soon.
Missed it? We'll come to you
These talks are now on the road. If a session caught your eye, our speakers can bring it to your office. Email steph.smith@eightandfour.com and we'll set it up.
If you can't wait, the film below is the next best thing. And keep an eye on our events page.
