Tag: generative AI
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AI in Advertising: Consumer Reactions and Emotional Engagement
System1’s deep dive into generative AI advertising reveals something pundits love to debate but consumers don’t appear to care about: whether or not AI made the ad. In testing 18 AI-generated spots across three countries and 2,700 viewers, ads created with machine help actually outperformed traditional ones on emotional engagement, scoring 3.4 Stars against a…
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CMOs Find Their AI Groove—And Use It Weekly
According to a new report from Dentsu Creative, over 80% of senior marketing leaders are now using AI tools on a weekly basis to bang out copy, surface trends, test ideas, and even summarize insights they’d rather not read themselves. Based on responses from 1,950 global CMOs and senior marketers, the findings signal that AI…
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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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Kroger Launches AI-Powered Agent Monday for CPG Brands
Kroger’s media and data science division, powered by 84.51°, is giving CPG brand partners a little extra time back in their Mondays by launching Agent Monday—an AI-generated email digest tailored specifically for category managers. The weekly report taps into Kroger’s Stratum platform to deliver automatically curated performance insights covering everything from last week’s household trends…
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Stagwell Taps Gradial to Unclog the Marketing Bottleneck
Stagwell is doubling down on AI-fueled marketing efficiency by teaming up with Gradial, a relatively young but fast-scaling player in the agentic AI space. The idea is to connect the dots between creative, design, and automated execution through AI agents that cut down on redundant workflows and crank out personalized content across channels. It’s all…
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How AI Helped Corona Cero Find Its Olympic Chill
Corona Cero had just three weeks to craft a global Olympic campaign—and decided that traditional tear-jerkers about sacrifice and national pride weren’t going to cut it. As the first-ever worldwide beer sponsor of the Games, the nonalcoholic brand leaned into its laid-back DNA, using AI to uncover emotional insights that felt distinctly more beach than…
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Kind Is Letting AI Taste-Test Its Message Before You Do
Kind snack bars is going all-in on generative AI to cut costs and move faster—because apparently, granola bars aren’t the only thing they want to streamline. Facing pressure to break through with Gen Z and outmaneuver private label competitors, Kind’s marketing team has shortened its creative testing window from months to mere days, using tools…
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How Reckitt Harnesses AI for Brand Performance
Reckitt isn’t immune to the hype around generative AI—but unlike many marketers jumping on the bandwagon, they’re running a tight ship focused on practical wins. With 95% of AI pilots reportedly failing (per MIT), the consumer goods brand structured its approach around one question: which repetitive tasks can actually benefit from AI without diving headfirst…
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GSD&M Turns AI Learning into a Staff Showdown
At GSD&M, AI upskilling isn’t just another item on the to-do list—it’s a leaderboard-worthy competition. The agency took a DIY approach to integrating AI across all departments, driven by a small trio of internal evangelists who audited workflows and mapped AI solutions right into teams’ day-to-day tasks. This wasn’t just a tech initiative from the…
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Walmart Tests AI Audio Reviews for Beauty Shoppers
Walmart is adding digital chatter to its beauty aisles, testing AI-generated audio summaries on over 1,000 premium beauty products in its mobile app. Much like Amazon’s similar feature rolled out earlier this year, these short soundbites give shoppers a voice-assisted rundown of key product details and customer reviews. Especially useful on the go, the feature…
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WPP Launches Open Pro: Self-Serve AI Marketing
WPP has launched Open Pro, a self-serve spin-off of its existing AI-driven marketing platform, designed to help marketers at smaller brands or in secondary markets build and launch campaigns without going through an agency. The idea isn’t to cut agencies out of the loop but to give clients more tactical tools for lower-touch projects. Access…
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How Walmart Leverages AI to Enhance Online Shopping
Walmart’s next move in AI e-commerce is a partnership with OpenAI that lets customers shop directly through ChatGPT, using its new “Instant Checkout” feature. Instead of typing into a search bar and scrolling endlessly, shoppers can simply ask for meal ideas or restock the pantry with a few lines of chat—and ChatGPT does the rest.…
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How AI is Shaping Ecommerce for the Holidays
Holiday e-commerce in the U.S. is expected to climb 5.3% this year, and for the first time, retailers are writing AI into their seasonal strategies. Instead of relying solely on Google, consumers are increasingly using ChatGPT and similar platforms to research and compare products. ChatGPT’s own shopping integration, backed by Walmart, Shopify, and Etsy, signals…
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ChatGPT Sends Shoppers, But They’re Leaving Their Carts Behind
A new study from German researchers is poking a few holes in the hype around AI-powered shopping. Analyzing more than 50k ChatGPT referrals vs. 164 million traditional transactions across nearly 1,000 e-commerce sites, they found that while ChatGPT may be driving fresh traffic, it’s not delivering at checkout. Conversion rates from ChatGPT referrals lagged behind…
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Why Your SEO Strategy Needs to Embrace AI and GEO
WPP’s chief AI officer Daniel Hulme makes a compelling case: SEO may not be dead, but it’s no longer the sun around which brand visibility orbits. As chatbots and personal AIs take charge of shopping behaviors, traditional keyword-centric strategies are losing relevance. Instead, we’re stepping into the era of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), where a…
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How Visa Wove AI into Its Core Operations
Visa didn’t just dabble in AI—they rebuilt their house around it. With over 2,500 engineers focused solely on AI and more than 100 internal AI apps in production, the company’s approach spans everything from software development to customer dispute resolution. AI is part of the operating system at Visa—literally. Even before large language models became…
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AI-Generated Imagery: Brands’ Balancing Act with Authenticity
Tighter budgets and tighter timelines are pushing brands toward AI-generated imagery—but that cost-saving shortcut comes with a side of public scrutiny. Recent campaigns from J.Crew, Guess, and Skechers stirred online backlash for visuals that consumers suspect were AI-made. The cycle has become familiar: a campaign drops, the internet sleuths start sleuthing, criticism follows, and the…
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Cuomo’s Deepfake Day Job: AI Hits the Campaign Trail
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is back in the political arena—this time with a digital twist. In a new 30-second campaign ad promoting his run for NYC mayor, Cuomo appears performing a series of wildly improbable day jobs: swinging from a skyscraper as a window washer, navigating subway tunnels as a conductor, and even…
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Inside Honeywell’s Six-Chapter AI Strategy for Growth
Honeywell’s approach to generative AI isn’t just structured—it’s scripted. With a six-chapter AI framework rolled out across all business units, the company has turned AI from a tech experiment into standard operating procedure for all 100,000 employees, from HR to engineering. Tools like “Honeywell GPT” and a virtual assistant named Red are already boosting productivity…
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Assessing GPT-5’s Performance: AI vs Human Capabilities
OpenAI has put its latest models through a new workplace stress test called GDPval, designed to see how they stack up against real human professionals across 44 job types in nine heavyweight industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. In short: GPT-5-high, the premium version of the upcoming model, tied or beat human-generated work 40.6% of…
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AI Gets a Side-Eye: Most Americans Want Tools, Not Takeover
A new Pew survey of over 5,000 U.S. adults reveals that Americans are cautiously circling the AI buffet—happy to try the data salad, but skipping the emotional entrees. Nearly three-quarters are open to AI helping with daily tasks, but two-thirds want more say in how it shows up in their lives. And when it comes…
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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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AI Gives Advertising Week’s VIPs the Star Treatment
Advertising Week New York is putting its money where its AI is this year. Ahead of next month’s conference, organizers have launched “Tomorrow Needs You,” a personalization-heavy promo push featuring over 100 tailored AI-generated videos for top-tier attendees. Crafted by Mekanism’s new AI Superstudio and powered by Google’s Veo 3 tech, the campaign trades industry…
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How Kellanova Leverages AI to Boost Snack Brands’ Creative Performance
Kellanova, the marketer behind snack staples like Pringles, Pop-Tarts, and Cheez-It, is using AI not to dream up its next campaign, but to fine-tune creative that actually drives results. Partnering with Vidmob and MMA Global, the company analyzed 443 creative assets that ran on Meta platforms—and sifted through billions of impressions—to pinpoint which creative features…
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The Future of Media Planning Automation
Trading desks may never look the same. Ad tech companies like MIQ and Viant and agencies like Horizon Media are putting AI trading agents to work, using tools built on large language models to collapse hours of media planning into seconds. At MiQ, Sigma has already clawed back 6,000 labor hours and led to a…
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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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The Impact of AI on Consumer Search Behavior
Marketers would do well to pay close attention to shifting consumer search behavior: 87% of U.S. adults now read AI-generated summaries when they search online, and more than 8 in 10 are using AI as part of their shopping decisions. These stats come from the latest Centerfield Gen-AI Consumer Survey, which paints a pretty clear…
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AI Transforms Cowboys Mascot in Blockchain Ad
Blockchain.com is mixing digital currency with digital creativity in its latest ad campaign, currently playing on the ultra-high-definition stadium screen at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. The crypto finance firm tapped into generative AI to produce a unique one-minute spot that stars Rowdy, the team’s mascot, reimagined through an AI lens to pitch…
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AI Fatigue: Insights from Consumer Preferences in Search
Gartner’s latest consumer data puts a damper on generative AI’s hype in search. According to a survey of 377 consumers, 61% said they’d prefer the ability to switch off AI-generated summaries in their search results. Skepticism runs deep—53% don’t trust AI’s ability to provide accurate or unbiased information, and 41% say they find AI-generated overviews…
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How Klarna Boosted Revenue with AI-Powered Marketing
Klarna has embedded AI across nearly every marketing function, cutting spend by 12% while producing six times more content without adding staff. Partnering with Google’s Gemini and Veo 3, the company is also hiring prompt engineers and building an AI-powered shopping assistant that can purchase on behalf of customers. With 30 AI-driven campaigns already live,…
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S4 Capital Bets on Bots, Not Bodies
S4 Capital is shifting its operations to focus on AI-powered agents, automating traditional agency tasks like content production, which reduces timelines significantly. Executive director Wes ter Haar claims that 65% of agency work can already be managed by AI. The company envisions an “AI workforce” that integrates strategy, content, and media into tech-led services while…
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Retailers Embrace AI Despite Trust Issues
Retailers are increasingly adopting AI despite concerns about accuracy, cost, and customer trust, with 60% of industry leaders expressing unease over its reliability. A recent survey indicates over half anticipate AI will dominate customer interactions within five years. Challenges include data privacy, inconsistent quality, and internal resistance. Notably, Under Armour employs AI for operational efficiencies…
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The Challenges of Taco Bell’s AI Orders
Taco Bell’s implementation of AI-powered drive-thrus has faced challenges, particularly with prank orders and customer frustration. After introducing the voice assistant at over 500 locations, issues arose as users tested the system’s limits, causing discontent on social media. Technology lead Dane Mathews acknowledged the system’s theoretical potential but recognized its shortcomings in high-pressure situations, prompting…
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Exploring AI in Ads: Vodafone’s New Experiment with Synthetic Talent
Vodafone is experimenting with generative AI in its latest ad campaign by using a synthetic female presenter for a product spot. Although the AI’s realism faced issues, the brand positions this as an exploration of new advertising styles. Past efforts included an all-AI-generated ad that stirred controversy. As AI technology advances, big brands may consider…
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Ralph Lauren Launches AI Stylist: Ask Ralph
Ralph Lauren has launched “Ask Ralph,” an AI chatbot developed with Microsoft to act as a virtual stylist for mobile app users. This assistant, trained on branded materials and product data, helps users with outfit suggestions and style inquiries, ensuring a tailored experience rooted in Ralph Lauren’s brand identity. Built on Microsoft’s Azure platform, the…