My grains of thought: Advertising vs. AI
More links beyond the podcast
Check out THE GRAIN Podcast for my dialogue with Ian Mackenzie of McCann Worldgroup, who’s the new chief creative officer for its Canadian office—and also the global AI creative lead, tasked to bring massive brands into a new world. How does it compare to the dawn of digital advertising? Ian joined me in the studio to discuss. AI vs. Advertising: Ian Mackenzie of McCann Worldgroup
I personally entered the media industry during the era when editorial teams paid little attention to the sponsors on opposite print pages, beyond appreciating that they made it possible for us to get paid. Obviously, everything about that ecosystem has changed, and our AI vs. Advertising conversation is essential listening for all creatives.
Toys 'R' Us calls AI-made video 'successful' despite online criticism [NBC News]
Why would this recently downsized retailer create the first TV commercial entirely generated by artificial intelligence—and yet also make it so sloppy? OpenAI’s Sora was used in a seemingly desperate move to bring vitality to an old giraffe mascot. Shirking criticism about how the spot employed few if any animators, the chain tried to bolster its brand storytelling by likening itself to the novelty and wonder of AI, with the hope that a little of that sparkle would rub off on a brand with a diminishing profile.
Google has pulled its Olympics-themed AI ad that gave viewers the ick [Quartz]
Kicked off the podium this summer was a commercial for the Gemini chatbot, which depicted a father using these new tools to help his daughter write a fan letter to U.S. track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The cringe factor of using AI to write a fan letter was too much for audiences to bear, and it was soon yanked from circulation.
Puma wants to improve its brand. AI might help [Wall Street Journal]
Most of the German company’s merchandise is sold through third-party outlets, rather than directly to customers. As a result, it has little insights into who their end users are. In an effort to change that, Puma partnered with Google to employ Imagen 2 software to radically individualize their ads. Searching for sneakers can generate scenic backgrounds based on location data, providing a familiarity and a sense of bespoke curatorship. “We are triggered very quickly by very small things,” says Forrester Research vice-president Brendan Witcher, who believes an individualized visual eyewink will build a fanbase who can see how Puma slides into their lifestyle.
Viewers don't trust candidates who use generative AI in political ads, study finds [Engadget]
New York University’s Center on Technology Policy found that when people watch negative attack ads generated by artificial intelligence, they lose trust in the candidate who approved that message due to it being false and misleading—even when there’s a disclaimer, which they rarely notice. (The cavalry is coming to regulate this activity.)
WWF-Canada and MRM use retail marketing science to fight biodiversity loss and climate change [Little Black Book]
World Wildlife Fund is taking a page from retail marketing lingo to inspire a sense of urgency to biodiversity loss and climate change. By co-opting slogans like “SAVE BIG!” the campaign hopes to trigger immediate action—akin to buyers flocking to a sale on Black Friday. The launch films use Runway AI to combine a mix of stock and generative imagery in a subtle and utilitarian way that isn’t self-referential, but functions within the main messaging. It’s a unique approach that blends the consumer’s urge to buy with the immediacy of addressing dire environmental issues. (THE GRAIN Podcast guest Ian Mackenzie is involved with this new campaign.)
Experts at Advertising Week rebuff notion that AI will supplant human creativity [The Drum]
Consensus among experts at the annual Madison Avenue conference is that the anxiety is somewhat misplaced—because creatives need not despair that artificial intelligence will take their jobs. Rather, the sentiment was it will “free up people’s time to be more creative, do more critical thinking, to come up with new ideas, and maybe to invest in themselves, in their career or in their work-life balance,” according to Qualcomm chief marketing officer Don McGuire. “What I believe is that AI as a tool is going to amplify us and amplify our powers,” added Andrew Klein, the senior vice-president of creative technology at Publicis Media, who believes it will get rid of mundane parts of the work, and help the industry visualize the big pictures quicker.
You can read my recent grains of thought about photography in this newsletter.
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