Tag: generative AI
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The Future of Agencies: AI as a Smart Colleague
Agencies like Dentsu’s Carat and indie firm Apollo Partners are integrating generative AI into their operations to enhance collaboration rather than eliminate jobs. Carat is utilizing tools from Vurvey Labs for richer consumer insights and faster decision-making. In a test with a restaurant, they streamlined media recommendations and creative input. Meanwhile, Apollo is developing its…
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Yum! Brands Leverages AI for Enhanced Sales and Marketing
Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, is leveraging AI to revolutionize marketing and operations. CEO David Gibbs reported over 200 million AI-driven communications this year, generating five times more impact than traditional approaches. With digital sales hitting $9 billion, AI enhances personalized messaging and supply chains. KFC UK enjoys…
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NFL’s AI-Generated Season Opener: A Surreal Spectacle
The NFL launched its 2025-26 season with a groundbreaking, surreal ad titled “You Better Believe,” created in collaboration with agency 72andSunny. This psychedelic, AI-generated music video showcases a virtual parade celebrating all 32 teams, featuring elements like talking babies and airborne livestock, all set to a remix of “C’Mon ‘N Ride The Train.” Utilizing AI…
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The Rise of AI Influencers: Meet Bruce Ryder
AI-generated surfer Bruce Ryder is gaining attention in a retro-inspired short film, showcasing advancements in virtual influencer technology. Created by Emma Barbato, Bruce embodies a lifelike character thanks to tools like Kling and Midjourney. The phenomenon raises questions about the future of AI influencers and their impact on human connections and influencer markets.
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Furniture.com Moves from Aggregator to Marketplace with Agentic AI
Furniture.com has integrated an agentic AI-powered buy button, enabling customers to complete purchases directly on the site. A parent agent manages general details, while specialized agents handle retailer specifics, ensuring real-time updates on inventory and pricing. This shift aims to increase the site’s conversion rate and repeat customers ahead of the holiday season, moving from…
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The Rise of AI Avatars in Digital Marketing
TikTok has introduced AI-generated avatars, allowing brands to utilize the likenesses of real people for advertising, as seen with Scott Jacqmein, who licensed his image for $750. These avatars help streamline ad production for businesses but raise concerns among actors about contracts that grant unlimited use of their virtual selves across platforms without royalties. While…
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Byrna’s AI Ad Boosts Traffic by 50%
Byrna, a personal defense brand, has experienced a significant 50% increase in daily website visits due to its innovative AI-driven advertising strategy. The campaign, highlighted by a humorous commercial titled “We Don’t Sell Bananas,” has attracted 66 million views, reducing customer acquisition costs to $0.53 per visitor. This surge in traffic notably translated into a…
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How Gen AI is Transforming Snapchat Ads: Key Findings
Snapchat’s exploration of Gen AI has proven beneficial, enhancing ad performance with engaging AR Lenses. A study involving over 14,800 consumers revealed that AI-powered video ads significantly improved user engagement compared to traditional formats, leading to higher buying intent and brand visibility. Moreover, Snapchat is democratizing Lens creation through generative tools for broader access. However,…
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Generative AI Adoption vs Consumer Trust: The Disconnect
Generative AI is influencing creative processes and campaign planning, with its adoption in companies increasing from 20% in 2017 to 70% in 2022. Despite marketers successfully utilizing AI for creating campaigns, especially video ads, public skepticism remains high, as many consumers struggle to discern authenticity in AI-produced content. Big Tech firms are projected to invest…
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The Backlash of AI in Fashion Ads: J.Crew’s Controversy Explained
J.Crew’s recent collaboration with Vans to evoke its ’90s look backfired when AI-generated visuals drew criticism for their unrealistic features, leading to online backlash over transparency. Many consumers, including Gen Z and millennials, distrust AI-generated content, highlighting a significant divide between brand pursuit of AI productivity and audience acceptance. While J.Crew later acknowledged the AI…
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Transforming Retail: Wayfair’s AI-Driven Shopping Experience
Wayfair’s CMO Paul Toms is revolutionizing the customer journey through AI, introducing an AI-powered “Discover” tab that simplifies product discovery for users. With over 30 million items, this feature aims to alleviate choice paralysis and seamlessly convert inspiration into purchases. Collaborating with CTO Fiona Tan, Toms is rethinking cross-channel marketing metrics, utilizing first-party data to…
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From Janky Britney to 93% Gains: How Asana’s CMO Is Doing AI Right
At SaaStr Annual + AI Summit 2025, Asana CMO Shannon Duffy highlighted her team’s impressive 93% efficiency increase through daily AI use, emphasizing a cautious approach by initially automating simple tasks. Asana’s research revealed that regular AI users outperformed sporadic users by over 50%. Despite concerns among marketers about AI jeopardizing their jobs, Duffy encouraged…
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Meet the AI Sales Reps Who Never Sleep (and Outperform Human Counterparts)
In China’s livestream shopping landscape, AI avatars are emerging as 24/7 sales representatives, outperforming human counterparts. Developed by PLTFRM using Baidu’s video tech and DeepSeek’s script-writing, these “virtual humans” have shown impressive results, such as generating $2,500 in sales within two hours and increasing livestream revenue by 30%. While they offer consistent engagement, the rise…
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Three Seconds to Sell: Kellanova’s AI Test Drive in Creative Effectiveness
Kellanova is leveraging AI to enhance its advertising creative through a year-long collaboration with Vidmob and MMA Global. By analyzing 443 assets across ten brands, the company optimized elements to capture attention, resulting in a 2x view-through rate and an 11% ROI increase on AI-scored assets. Additionally, predictive models for sweet and salty products demonstrated…
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AI or Bye: Why Agencies Can’t Show Up Empty-Handed at Reviews
AI has transitioned from being a novel advantage to a fundamental expectation in media agency evaluations. Brands are demanding deeper insights into AI capabilities, leading agencies to reveal intricate details about their technologies. While agencies need to be proficient in AI, brands often lack understanding, necessitating education and clearer questioning. This evolution is altering agency…
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Cat Fights, Space Babies, and Algorithm Mush: AI “Slop” Is Eating YouTube
In July, nearly 10% of the fastest-growing YouTube channels featured solely AI-generated content, showcasing bizarre storylines and attracting millions of subscribers. Channels like Super Cat League exemplify this rise, amassing significant followings through surreal yet captivating videos. Experts criticize this trend as “AI slop,” driven mainly by ad revenue. In response, YouTube is attempting to…
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IPG Taps Aaru to Help Predict Consumer Behavior
IPG is enhancing precision marketing through a partnership with AI-driven startup Aaru, which creates human simulations to predict audience reactions to campaigns before launch. This innovation, integrated into IPG’s Interact platform and Acxiom toolkit, is designed for improved creative testing and audience targeting across various sectors. The collaboration also includes a new Simulation Studio for…
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How AI is Boosting New Biz for Digitas
Digitas has achieved remarkable success with its AI tool, NX Score, winning 80% of pitches by analyzing brand performance across consumer loyalty stages. Utilizing large language models and data from various sources, NX conducts comprehensive brand health checks in just five minutes. It provides tailored reports with diagnostics and strategies, assisting clients in improving their…
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AI accounts for a third of brand search traffic
AI engines like ChatGPT now drive a significant portion of search traffic, prompting brands to adapt their SEO strategies to focus on generative and answer engine optimization instead of traditional methods. Marketers must refine content based on user intent as AI systems become new gatekeepers of brand discovery. However, risks like transparency gaps exist, emphasizing…
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How R/GA and Google Made the Unmakeable Ad with Veo
Google challenged R/GA to create a generative AI commercial in four weeks, resulting in “From the Mountains to the City” for Moncler. The innovative project, showcased at Cannes Lions, highlighted the interplay between AI and human creativity, highlighting both the advantages and limitations of AI in storytelling and production.
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Google Says AI Isn’t Eating the Internet
Google asserts that its AI-driven search results do not cause significant drops in website traffic, despite concerns in the publishing industry. Search chief Liz Reid claims traffic remains steady overall, but unevenly distributed. While AI Overviews may reduce clicks, intentional user engagement could be increasing. The media landscape faces pressure from algorithm changes and competing…
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WPP Open reimagines planning with AI
AI is revolutionising how agencies plan – and how we create. WPP Open aims to combine data, tools and advanced AI to unlock faster, smarter, more agile planning. From social-first campaigns to real-time cultural activations, it’s helping brands stay ahead of the curve in a fast-moving world. Whether it’s finding the perfect TV show tie-in…
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How Walmart’s AI Agents Are Changing Advertising Strategies
Walmart is developing an AI-powered command center to enhance ad strategies and streamline retail operations. Central to this initiative is “Marty,” an AI tool for automating ad campaigns and seller onboarding. Walmart aims to efficiently link trends, manufacturing, and influencer marketing through AI, fundamentally transforming how media is bought and sold.
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Measuring the environmental impact of AI
French AI startup Mistral revealed the environmental impact of its “Large 2” language model, indicating that 86% of its carbon emissions come from model training and prompts. Over 18 months, emissions reached 20,400 tons of CO2. Mistral highlights the need for businesses to consider environmental costs alongside financial returns in AI use.
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David Jones Says Agencies Are Sleepwalking Through the AI Revolution
Brandtech’s David Jones advocates for generative AI in advertising, asserting it offers significant efficiencies. His company’s AI tool, Pencil, generated 235,000 assets at lower costs and faster speeds for major clients. Jones promotes a hybrid model blending tech with services, emphasizing AI’s potential to enhance, rather than replace, human creativity.
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Weber Ranch Vodka’s AI Wants to Mix You a Drink
Weber Ranch 1902 Vodka has launched “Tex,” a chatbot bartender powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, available via SMS or web. Tex provides personalized cocktail recipes based on pantry ingredients, interprets photos, and plans big-batch cocktails. Aimed at tech-savvy at-home drinkers, Tex enhances the vodka brand’s market presence amidst industry challenges.
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Google’s AI Answers Are Leaving Websites in the Dust
A Pew Research Center study reveals a significant decline in web traffic due to Google’s AI Overviews, which reduce click-through rates from 15% to 8%. With AI summaries, only 1% of users click through to sources, favoring platforms like Wikipedia. Google disputes the findings, claiming AI promotes user curiosity.
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In the Relevance Economy, AI’s the New Mad Man
The era of generic B2B messaging is over, replaced by hyper-targeting through AI. Successful brands utilize machine learning to segment audiences and tailor content, enhancing engagement. Companies like Salesforce and Adobe demonstrate significant improvements in metrics by optimizing personalized messaging. Future strategies focus on trust and authenticity over sheer volume.
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Orlando’s New AI Tour Guides Are Made of Pixels and Google Reviews
Visit Orlando and Razorfish developed The Morelandos, 1,200 AI-generated characters created from Google reviews to promote Orlando’s attractions. Using tools like Gemini and Imagen, they focused on emotional storytelling and character consistency. These characters serve as ambassadors in various media, offering new avenues for brand storytelling and evolution across campaigns.
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Model Behavior: AI Struts into Vogue—and Sparks a Backlash
Guess’s summer collection featured an AI-generated model in Vogue, sparking debate about transparency and body image in fashion. Co-founded by ex-architects, Seraphinne Vallora claims to offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional photoshoots. Critics, like plus-size model Felicity Hayward, warn that AI models threaten inclusivity efforts. The controversy highlights the need for clearer guidelines on the…
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R/GA Makes AI-focused Acquisition
R/GA just closed its first buy since splitting from Interpublic Group, scooping up AI studio Addition—a tight team of about a dozen that’s already punched above its weight with work for Google, The New York Times, and others. Founded in 2021, Addition excels in AI strategy, personalization, and rapid prototyping, thanks mainly to its “AI-native”…
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AI Congratulates the Humans
In what might be the most self-aware use of AI in advertising this year, Erich & Kallman handed off their annual Ad Age Small Agency of the Year congratulatory duties to the bots—sort of. The agency produced a darkly funny, AI-generated video to pass the torch to this year’s winner, WorkInProgress, while cheekily suggesting this…
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PepsiCo CMO on the importance of AI skills
In a chat recorded at Cannes, PepsiCo Beverages U.S. CMO Mark Kirkham made one thing clear: stagnation isn’t an option in the beverage world. “Innovate or die” isn’t just a catchphrase—it’s the guiding principle behind moves like the recent acquisition of prebiotic soda brand Poppi. Kirkham sees innovation not just in chasing new trends, but…
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IAB: Small Biz Leans into GenAI Video
According to new research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, nearly 90% of digital video buyers say they’re already using, or planning to use, GenAI for tasks like editing, styling, and localized targeting. The result? Roughly one-third of all digital video ads this year are expected to be GenAI-created or GenAI-enhanced, up from 22% in 2024—a…
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AI Agents and Billable Hours: Omnicom’s Pending Revenue Rethink
Omnicom isn’t just weaving AI into its workflows—it’s giving the tech a corner office. During the company’s latest earnings call, CTO Paolo Yuvienco spotlighted a growing internal web of custom-built AI agents fed by Omnicom’s Omni data platform. These aren’t your average productivity bots; they’re tag-teaming strategy teams to simulate focus groups, fine-tune campaigns in…
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Suspected AI writing reduces trust
A recent study by Raptive, the digital media firm behind ad sales for publishers like Stereogum, shows that readers don’t just side-eye AI-written content—they flat-out trust it less. In a survey of 3,000 U.S. adults, Raptive found that when people suspected an article was generated by AI, their trust in the piece dropped by half,…