How AI is Altering the Marketing Landscape
AI art composite from Ogilvy Paris, Dentsu Creative Portugal, Wunderman Thompson, Omneky, Rethink, and TBWA/Melbourne via AdAge.
AI is truly taking the world by storm. There’s ChatGPT (the OG and most commonly used), Claude (new and many believe a better Chat), Suno (a free music generating platform that is so fun 🤩), Copilot (an image designer through Microsoft), and so many more. AI is affecting everyone’s jobs, for better or for worse. As tasks become automated, less people are needed in organizations to perform positions that are easily replaced by these platforms. On the flip side, AI has become an incredible tool to enhance one’s job, or student life, to generate ideas and visual worlds that generally require hours of research/work 🧐.
I’ll admit, I was a skeptic at first and anti-AI. When I went back to school, I couldn’t believe how many students were using ChatGPT in class. “But he cheated!” I wanted to shout anytime I saw someone respond to the professor’s prompt from something they input into AI. While some may call that cheating, or simply not using your own brain, I was rightly turned off from using these platforms. Until, I realized they could be used to my advantage. I don’t need AI to write a paper for me, but I can use AI to generate ideas💡on how to structure my paper, come up with creative titles, and write resources in MLA format (the biggest time-saver).
I realize I am entering the marketing industry at a somewhat tumultuous and unique time. In some ways, this addition of artificial intelligence is exciting as we look to what the future can hold. In others, it can affect my potential for work in the industry alongside many others. While mundane tasks will be happily replaced by technology, there are projects that AI is not capable of replicating yet—or perhaps ever. So how far is too far? In this week’s post I will be exploring companies that have used AI to market themselves and explore whether or not it was a success.
Toys R US
Last week, the previously defunct toy company, Toys R Us, came out with an AI generated ad using OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool, Sora, which is not currently offering widespread usage. The company claims that they are the first to use AI for a full commercial. Advertising their upcoming Macy’s partnership, the commercial follows Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys R Us, and how he dreamed up the idea.
While innovative, the commercial has received mixed reviews. There is a certain aesthetic that AI currently has that makes it instantly recognizable—not necessarily in a good way. It looks computer generated with this sort of robotic 🤖, yet dreamlike portrayal that feels disconnected to reality. The story itself, in my opinion, felt disjointed with no real beginning, middle, and end that would allow viewers to feel an emotional connection. For a partnership announcement with Macy’s, it almost ignored that fact entirely until the ending logos appeared.
For a beloved company that went bankrupt, their comeback felt like a massive disappointment. I have fond memories of going to their flagship location in Times Square with my mom, being transported to a world where Barbie’s Dreamhouse 💖 is life size, Dinosaurs 🦖 made out of LEGOs loom overhead, and a massive Ferris Wheel 🎡 rotates on the bottom floor with the undeniable squeal of children having the time of their lives. Emulating this magical space would’ve evoked a more emotional response than whatever this commercial was. It’s clear Toys R Us utilized AI purely to decrease time and cost spent on creating a commercial.
As many marketers know, AI is still in its early stages of development and one cannot use it as a replacement tool entirely. The team openly mentioned their challenge in explaining to Sora what the character’s intentions were in order to generate the correct facial expressions. (Reviewers commented on how younger Charles looked like a different boy in every shot.) Paragraphs of inputted text were often completely re-done.
I think this quote by Chris Beresford-Hill, global chief creative officer at BBDO, perfectly sums it up: “This ad would never be discussed by anyone were it not for the AI.” And there you have it.
Toys R Us AI generated founder Charles Lazarus via WSJ.
Nutella
In 2017, well before the AI boom, Nutella was ahead of the game. Using AI design, the brand capitalized on their existent personalized packaging, allowing customers to create their own labels with words of their choosing. Taking it a step further, Nutella 🍫 decided to create individual designs, seven million to be exact. Using the brand’s graphic identity, the algorithm generated dozens of patterns and colors, which resulted in individual art pieces. These jars, under the name ‘Nutella Unica,’ were almost like NFTs, but instead of being computer generated and sold online, they are able to be purchased in real life.
The innovative campaign was launched in Italy and every jar was sold within one month! Talk about successful. Although this ad was created seven years ago, it uses AI in a more memorable and functional way that plays to the brand’s emotional benefit. It’s clear that the team dreamt up this campaign and were only able to execute it with the assistance of AI—humans were not replaced entirely. Without video or imagery, the campaign does not have that ‘computer-generated’ affect that people love or hate. Colors and patterns is still AI’s strong suit and can be used to designers benefits to avoid hours of tedious work.
AI generated Nutella Packaging via ADWEEK.
Coca-Cola
In 2023, Coca-Cola launched an AI-generated contest. The platform, “Create Real Magic,” was exclusively built for Coca-Cola by OpenAI and Bain & Company. The partnership showcases Coca-Cola’s support of AI, but rather than creating their own ads, they launched a contest for user-generated content. 30 artists were then selected to participate in a three-day workshop in Coca-Cola’s headquarters titled, ‘Real Magic Creative Academy.’ Winners had their creations on digital billboards in Times Square and Piccadilly Circus (shout out to London 🇬🇧)! Through the platform, fans had access to dozens of branding elements that were distinct to Coca-Cola to provide them with inspiration to imagine a unique image. And after this campaign, the brand launched a Christmas campaign, allowing customers to create their own cards using generative AI.
Coke’s iconic polar bears created by AI via Coca-Cola.
Last year, Coca-Cola launched an incredible AI generated ad in a museum. The ad, ‘Masterpiece,’ brings the audience through famous paintings 🖼️ and sculptures in one museum as they come to life, tossing a Coca-Cola bottle back and forth, ending next to a tired student there to draw for art class. With the ad only partially using AI, it’s a brilliant example of how AI can compliment storytelling to literally bring it to life. Each time the bottle is passed, its image transforms to represent the world of the painting. As the company had previously launched their “Create Real Magic” AI platform, developing an ad that represents notable artists is the perfect pairing.
Nike
For their 50th anniversary, Nike developed an eight-minute ad, “Never Done Evolving,” featuring Serena Williams playing against… Serena Williams 🎾. Using AI to generate a match between her and her younger self, the video broke boundaries into the possibilities of what AI is capable of. The video was viewed 1.7 million times when first launched, and compared to other Nike content, it was an increase of 1082% in organic views. The ad was released just two days after Serena announced her retirement, a perfectly timed moment to commemorate her career as an athlete with a year-long study of her incredible legacy.
Conclusion
While AI can offer brands an exciting and fresh image, it is also terrifying to imagine what the marketing space will look like in a decade. Will everything creative be replaced by AI? Will real people even be hired for commercials anymore? This thought brings to mind the famous Hollywood strike of last year against AI being able to replace writers. For the multitude of post-apocalyptic movies about robots taking over our world that are out there, our current society fights for humans to remain in control as AI begins to creep in on our day-to-day.
Whether or not one considers the ads to be good or bad, they are achieving word of mouth marketing simply by utilizing a unique tool. While replacing real-life actors for a completely AI generated commercial may not be the best usage of the technology, looking at you Toys R Us, there are clearly plenty of other innovative methods to implement AI that pushes boundaries while still creating an emotional connection with the audience. Storytelling is never going to go away, so it’s our job as marketers as the AI landscape continues to grow, to ensure we are still representing the human experience.
There’s a ton more to explore in this space including how AI is helping marketers on the backend, but that will have to wait for another post.
What are your thoughts? Do you think AI has its place in the world of marketing? Comment below!
Liana ✨ 🦋 🪩
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt