Cathay Pacific Campaign Uses AI Art Platform Built to Pay Artists
Publicis London and Cathay Pacific have launched a campaign using Artfair by Bria, a new platform that generates AI artwork from licensed artist styles while ensuring creators retain control and receive payment each time their work is used.
The platform addresses a core tension in creative industries: as generative art has expanded, questions about authorship, ownership, and fair compensation have intensified. Artfair by Bria trains its models only on artist-approved content, with consent and compensation built into the system.
How the Platform Works
Brands can create product personalisations, user-generated content campaigns, and branded experiences using an artist's distinctive style. The AI generates work that feels tied to a specific creator, not templated.
For artists, the platform offers authorship credit, control over how their style is used, and automatic payment when brands license their work.
The Cathay Pacific Activation
The campaign, titled "Asia just got closer," centers on an 8-by-44-meter mural at the Great Eastern Art Wall in East London. The installation depicts Asian and Australian skylines in the style of award-winning illustrator Oliver Barrett, created using AI trained exclusively on his approved work before being hand-painted.
A QR code on the mural directs people to a digital platform where they can generate their own artwork in Barrett's style. Selected pieces will be exhibited at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with the winning entry receiving two return flights to Hong Kong.
The activation spans social media, influencer partnerships, and CRM activity. Publicis Production led production, with St Marks Studio handling the mural installation.
What Creatives Should Know
The platform represents one approach to addressing artist concerns about AI. Rather than training on unlicensed work, Artfair by Bria requires explicit consent and compensation.
For creatives working with AI tools, the model shows how licensing agreements and fair payment structures can be embedded into the technology itself, not bolted on afterward.
Noël Bunting, chief creative officer at Publicis London, said the platform allows "creative ideas to travel further around the world" without losing sight of the artists behind the work.
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