Tag: automotive
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Agency Leaders Predict Growth in Outcomes-Based Pricing, but Face Challenges.
Eighty-five percent of agency leaders expect to do more outcomes-based pricing. The consultancy that studied it says pure versions are “exceedingly rare” — what agencies more frequently agree to is an output fee with a performance measure bolted on. Sixty-nine percent name attribution as a barrier, and the same share name procurement.
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Marketers Keep Buying AI. The Skills Part Is Still Loading.
Digiday+ Research’s latest report, based on a survey of 142 brand and agency professionals plus interviews, shows AI investment moving from “nice-to-have” to “budget line item someone now has to explain.” Marketers reporting company investment in AI rose from 44% in 2022 to 57% in 2023, 71% in 2024, and 86% in 2025. The org…
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Volkswagen’s New Art Director: An AI That Checks the Headlights (and the License Plate)
Volkswagen Group (10 brands, 6.6M vehicles delivered in the first nine months of 2025) partnered with the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center to tackle a very grown-up marketing problem: making thousands of brand-correct images without paying six figures for every photo shoot or waiting weeks for post-production and approvals. The output is an end-to-end system…
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Behind Lexus’ Whimsical AI Holiday Ad Campaign
Lexus is taking its holiday ad game into dreamier terrain—literally—by using AI to power a surreal winter drive that feels like it came straight out of a snow globe. The spot, created by AKQA, blends generative visuals with traditional art direction to tell a story that winds through frosted lakes, alpine trails, and twinkly forests—all…
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Flo Who? Progressive Lets AI Animals Take the Wheel
Progressive has momentarily nudged its iconic mascot Flo to the backseat—literally—in a new national TV spot that leans fully into AI-generated imagery. The 30-second ad, titled “Drive Like an Animal,” swaps Flo’s on-screen antics for a parade of digitally conjured creatures, each embodying a particular driving stereotype. A lion and hyenas rage behind the wheel, a sloth…
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Nissan Puts AI in the Driver’s Seat with Matador
Nissan USA has officially hitched its digital wagon to Matador AI, naming the company its first-ever preferred AI partner. This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision—the two have been quietly working together since 2020, driving some real results in dealership engagement. Matador’s tech helps Nissan dealers not just answer leads faster, but actually turn inquiries into appointments…
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Inside GM’s AI Content Engine Metropolis
General Motors is taking a torque wrench to traditional marketing, putting AI squarely under the hood of its creative operations. After pulling marketing strategy, data, and insights in-house last year, the automaker developed Metropolis—a proprietary AI content engine trained solely on GM’s brand guidelines and vehicle specs. Built in collaboration with Monks and powered by…
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Dynamic AI-Powered DOOH Advertising: Lessons from NYC and Kia
Storage company PODS turned New York City into a test lab for dynamic digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising using a roving AI-powered billboard. Working with agency Tombras and Google’s Gemini AI, a PODS truck drove through 299 NYC neighborhoods in just 29 hours, generating over 6,000 hyper-local headlines that pulled in real-time data like traffic, temperature, and…
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How Shaquille O’Neal is Transforming Car Sales with AI
What started as Shaquille O’Neal eyeing a car vending machine in Nashville has become one of the strangest-yet-smartest uses of AI in retail. Years after that first sighting, Shaq teamed up with Carvana not just to endorse the brand, but to lend his voice, banter, and brainwaves to it. The result? Shaqbot—an AI assistant trained…
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Mercedes Test-Drives Conversational AI Ads
Microsoft just pulled back the curtain on its three-month pilot with Mercedes-Benz for Showroom Ads—an online experience designed to feel more like stepping into a dealership than clicking a banner ad. Anchored in Microsoft’s Copilot AI, the ads let users ask specific questions (“What’s different from my current model?”) and get dynamic, tailored responses mid-conversation.…
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A Voice from the Past, Powered by AI, Drives Stellantis’ Patriotic Push
Stellantis is reaching deep into its archives—and beyond the grave—for its latest ad campaign tied to America’s 250th birthday. The carmaker resurrected the voice of Kevin Yon, best known for narrating Chrysler’s 2011 “Imported from Detroit” Super Bowl spot, using AI-generated audio built from past recordings. Yon passed away in 2018, but thanks to machine…
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Driving the Future: Mercedes-Benz’s AI Revolution
Through Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform and generative AI tools, Mercedes-Benz is reshaping its operations across e-commerce, customer service, marketing, and vehicle intelligence. Key initiatives include AI-powered e-commerce solutions such as a smart sales assistant that helps customers choose cars, schedule test drives, and even complete purchases. Google’s Dialogflow is also being deployed in U.S.…
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AI and Live Action Unite in Tool’s Latest Spec Spot
Tool of North America’s latest project, “Who Says Cars Can’t Dream?” for Land Rover, is a striking demonstration of how artificial intelligence (AI) can seamlessly blend with live-action footage in advertising. Co-directed by Erich Joiner and Ben Tricklebank, the ad portrays a Land Rover Defender dreaming of adventure after being parked overnight. The hybrid approach…
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AdAge Top 5 Metaverse Moments – Oct 2024
Check out the latest roundup from AdAge on the Metaverse, featuring: Roblox’s branded virtual world Nike ditches NFTs Hyundai ditches NFTs in a fun way Meta showcases new AR products Roblox takes heat from new report Full story here.
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WPP Automates 3D asset development with NVIDIA AI: Coca-Cola and Ford lead early adoption
WPP is leveraging NVIDIA’s AI technology to generate 3D environments for diverse market campaigns. Announced at the SIGGRAPH computing conference, WPP will utilize NVIDIA’s microservices to search visual archives and code objects into virtual settings. These tools, accessible via NIM, streamline AI model use in production, making WPP the first to employ these for Universal…
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Tips for AI video from the creator behind the Volvo spec ad
This unauthorized ad for Volvo – created in less than 24 hours using Runway’s Gen-3 model – may not be perfect, but it showcases the power and potential of AI-generated video. A mock video ad for Volvo generated buzz this week for appearing authentic, despite being entirely generated by AI and having no connection to…
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Auto Dealer Simpsons Skoda sees sales uplift using AI marketing tech
Simpsons Skoda has reported a significant 24% year-on-year sales increase thanks to adopting Phyron’s AI-driven video advertising technology. This innovation allows for dynamic marketing of vehicle inventory on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, enhancing engagement through auto-generated video content from existing images and specifications. Whether the tech is truly AI or smart use of…
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Toyota promotes Grand Highlander with AI-powered ads
Toyota’s latest campaign for its Grand Highlander features virtual product placement, virtual signage and video within video, all powered by AI. The goal was to make the integration feel natural and contextually relevant, not forced or seem out of place. The campaign targeted adults planning to buy or lease a car in the next six…
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Volvo deploys chatbot inside WhatsApp
Interesting piece in AdAge about the story behind the chatbot built into one of Meta’s flagship properties. As part of a larger push to bring AI into opportunities for advertisers, Meta is helping brands create chatbots that combine developments in virtual assistant technology with the reach offered through its popular messaging apps. One such brand…
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Mini’s in-car digital assistant takes over the Sphere
Spike, the in-car virtual assistant that BMW’s Mini introduced in April, is featured in a cute and playful new spot running on the Last Vegas Sphere. AdAge has gone behind the scenes in conversation with Rob Lambrechts, chief creative officer at Pereira O’Dell – the agency behind the activation. Lambrechts highlights some of the challenges…
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Honda’s Dreams Take Flight In Outdoor AR Activation
From MediaPost… In a new outdoor activation, shoppers at two Los Angeles-area malls can view a Honda aircraft descend from the sky, rotate and then take off again. That experience begins the automaker’s previously announced augmented reality (AR) mural, which started its two-week run Black Friday at The Grove shopping mall in Hollywood, to be…
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Dodge launches virtual test drive game on Instagram
This IG virtual test drive enables users to steer a new Dodge Hornet through a fun game using head motions. Not sure we’d call it AR, but an interesting activation nonetheless…. To promote its new Dodge Hornet models, auto manufacturer Stellantis North America worked with mixed reality company Areyes and creative consultancy Huge to launch…
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Ducati launches NFT collection
The iconic Italian motorcycle brand is launching a new collection of 11 digital collectable bikes that will – at some point in the future – unlock additional benefits for holders. From Digiday: In spite of rising skepticism around blockchain technology, Ducati remains confident in the marketing power of Web3. Today, the Italian motorcycle brand is…
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New Snapchat lens reimagines cities with fewer cars
Bolt, a micro-mobility (IE e-scooter and e-bike sharing) company, has launched a new Snapchat lens that uses AR to transform parked cars into bike lanes, micro-parks and more – helping users visualize what their city could look like with fewer cars. Snapchat’s selfie-focused lenses tend to draw more brand attention, so it’s interesting to see…
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VW used AI to reunite singer Elis Regina, who died in 1982, with her Grammy-winning daughter
This is a beautiful example of human + machine collaboration, laced with a bit of controversy. The automotive brand virtually resurrected a beloved singer for an AI-powered duet with her daughter. It clearly resonated with many in the target audience, but has raised ethical questions – specifically around talent consent in the age of AI.…
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Volvo Group launches world’s first electric truck safety app with AR technology for first responders
Building on its long heritage of safety innovations, Volvo Group is the first truck manufacturer to launch an Augmented Reality (AR) safety app for electric trucks, designed specifically to support first responders in an emergency. The app is developed to deliver instant, valuable information from the electric truck to the emergency services team arriving on…
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Mercedes-Benz using Microsoft HoloLens 2 for faster, safer vehicle service
Microsoft made a smart pivot a while back to focus on enterprise / B2B use cases for its awesome HoloLens Augmented Reality hardware, and this is a great use case that AR advocates have been talking about for years. A remote expert in a specialized field guiding a local technician through repairs. Impressive that Mercedes-Benz…
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Lexus creates AR app for vehicle launch
Marketers’ use of augmented reality continues to become more and more sophisticated – and may well be finally starting to emerge from the world of the gimmick. Many auto OEMs have lately been turning to both AR and VR to launch or unveil vehicles – using the experiences as a bridge between product announcement and…
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What does 5G mean to business leaders?
5G is ushering in a new era of high-speed wireless connectivity, super low latency and a massive increase in simultaneous device support. But, what do all of these advancements mean to business and technology leaders?
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BMW and Daimler partner (!!!) to develop automated driving technology
Some 1,200 developers at BMW and Daimler will team up to develop automated driving technology, the companies said on Thursday, the latest carmakers forced to pool their development resources at a time of shrinking margins. The strategic partnership will focus on developing technologies for assisted driving systems, automated driving on highways and automated parking, BMW…
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Fiat Chrysler to let drivers order and pay for fuel, food and parking from their vehicles
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicle owners will be able to use a new Fiat Chrysler mobile wallet to order and pay for a range of services from their vehicles “in the second half of 2019”. Launch partners include Shell, Domino’s, ParkWhiz and Yelp Reservations The car maker’s Uconnect Market Commerce Platform will deploy “via…
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Live Nation brings concerts to life via AR
Live Nation announced some new AR capabilities – and sponsorship opportunities – at the Cannes Lions festival. It could be an interesting way to extend the live experience – and a new way for brands to either enhance sponsorships at the actual event, or attach themselves to virtual experiences away from the actual venue. Hyundai…