It’s not a secret that the advertising industry is going to suffer a major switch. AI technologies will change the way artists, copywriters and creatives work.
Agencies will have their own AI tools that will allow them to find insights quicker, process data more efficiently, brainstorm and present concept art in a very quick and lean manner.
Today, we’ll be reviewing the early adopters. In this article, we will present some advertisements that have been done with the help of AI technologies, and the brilliant results that have come from it.
Later on, we eill discuss the 5 most important things to keep in mind when creating ads with AI.
Agencies will have their own AI tools that will allow them to find insights quicker, process data more efficiently, brainstorm and present concept art in a very quick and lean manner.
Today, we’ll be reviewing the early adopters. In this article, we will present some advertisements that have been done with the help of AI technologies, and the brilliant results that have come from it.
Later on, we eill discuss the 5 most important things to keep in mind when creating ads with AI.
Examples of AI generated ads
1. Heinz A.I. Ketchup - Rethink Canada x Heinz
In recent years, Heinz has developed a series of advertising campaigns in the attempt to position their brand as the best ketchup out there.
They are trying to capitalize on the iconic bottle and label of the Heinz Ketchup. In this AI generated ad, Heinz wants to highlight the fact that even an Artificial Intelligence model, thinks about their product when asked to generate a bottle of the red sauce.
They are trying to capitalize on the iconic bottle and label of the Heinz Ketchup. In this AI generated ad, Heinz wants to highlight the fact that even an Artificial Intelligence model, thinks about their product when asked to generate a bottle of the red sauce.
Agency:
Rethink Canada
Masterpiece - Blitzworks x Coca Cola
Masterpiece by Coca Cola was one of the first ads to incorporate A.I. generated images. And it remains one of the best.
The video revolves around an art student, who sits frustrated in a museum trying to find inspiration. He’s bored and distracted, while all of his classmates are creating art pieces.
Suddenly, a character inside of a painting notices the situation and comes alive. It reaches out for a coke bottle and passes it to another character that has come alive as well.
Through a series of passes between characters in the paintings, the coke bottle is finally passed to the student, who drinks it and is able to finish his artwork.
This ad uses A.I. in a very ethical way, making it only a part of a mixed media video, and not the main subject.
The video revolves around an art student, who sits frustrated in a museum trying to find inspiration. He’s bored and distracted, while all of his classmates are creating art pieces.
Suddenly, a character inside of a painting notices the situation and comes alive. It reaches out for a coke bottle and passes it to another character that has come alive as well.
Through a series of passes between characters in the paintings, the coke bottle is finally passed to the student, who drinks it and is able to finish his artwork.
This ad uses A.I. in a very ethical way, making it only a part of a mixed media video, and not the main subject.
Agency:
Blitzworks
How to make a great ad with AI
Making a great ad employing A.I. Technology is a complicated topic. While very useful, A.I. generated content may be seen as lazy, unethical and cheap. It’s crucial to make it properly, or it could backfire.
Here are some important points to make a great AI advertisement.
Here are some important points to make a great AI advertisement.
1. Don’t use AI to drive the creative direction.
The authenticity of a great job made by a human can hardly be substituted. Clients want to know about your brand and the people that drive it. They want to hear from people, and they want to feel like the company is making an effort to bring them on board.
For this reason, it’s best to avoid taking major creative, narrative or artistic decisions employing AI. Avoid writing scripts or a copy with ChatGPT or similar language models. It’s best to let a human do this job, and then have the software check it for mistakes.
In the same fashion, avoid generating key visuals with Midjourney or similar platforms. If anything, use them to generate elements that will be part of a broader composition, just like Coca Cola did in their Masterpiece ad.
For this reason, it’s best to avoid taking major creative, narrative or artistic decisions employing AI. Avoid writing scripts or a copy with ChatGPT or similar language models. It’s best to let a human do this job, and then have the software check it for mistakes.
In the same fashion, avoid generating key visuals with Midjourney or similar platforms. If anything, use them to generate elements that will be part of a broader composition, just like Coca Cola did in their Masterpiece ad.
2. Control the randomness or avoid using it at all.
Neural networks are still in an embryonic stage, and the results are quite unpredictable. Although some improvements are being made in a rather quick manner, the outcomes are still random and unreliable.
We have to keep in mind that AI models don’t understand human emotion as we do, nor do they grasp how social platforms work, or how well an ad will perform in a given format.
For this reason, it’s crucial to start with an initial idea, and don’t let the machine drift too far from it.
If the software decides to go rogue and present you a script, image or element that’s too different from your initial picture, it’s important to toss it and start from scratch, or hire an experienced professional to do the task.
We have to keep in mind that AI models don’t understand human emotion as we do, nor do they grasp how social platforms work, or how well an ad will perform in a given format.
For this reason, it’s crucial to start with an initial idea, and don’t let the machine drift too far from it.
If the software decides to go rogue and present you a script, image or element that’s too different from your initial picture, it’s important to toss it and start from scratch, or hire an experienced professional to do the task.
3. Work with proven, reliable models
New technologies in the early adoption stage are hard to operate and not very user-friendly.
The use of AI to create content loses its economic advantages the moment a creator needs to spend more time giving instructions to a machine than doing the work themselves.
It’s a good idea to stick with proven, user-friendly and high quality models, since the hassle will be much lower than experimental ones.
The use of AI to create content loses its economic advantages the moment a creator needs to spend more time giving instructions to a machine than doing the work themselves.
It’s a good idea to stick with proven, user-friendly and high quality models, since the hassle will be much lower than experimental ones.
4. Read the terms and conditions
A neural network needs to be trained. And to complete this task, a lot of content is needed, so the model can analyse it.
Many times without the author of said content’s authorization.
Some companies offering AI image-generation services employ a workaround by writing in their webpage’s terms and conditions section that the art pieces that result from the use of their service won’t be available for commercial purposes.
So, before launching a campaign and then realising it’s forbidden by law to do so, make sure you’re using a platform that has been trained with authorised content and that the results from their service are publishable in a commercial context.
Many times without the author of said content’s authorization.
Some companies offering AI image-generation services employ a workaround by writing in their webpage’s terms and conditions section that the art pieces that result from the use of their service won’t be available for commercial purposes.
So, before launching a campaign and then realising it’s forbidden by law to do so, make sure you’re using a platform that has been trained with authorised content and that the results from their service are publishable in a commercial context.
5. Always disclose it’s done by an A.I. model
Disclosing a neural network model took part in an advertising campaign is a must. And the reason is twofold.
On the one hand, if an ad is completely generated by a machine and this fact is hidden from the clients, they will probably feel played.
Clients want human-generated content, and expect transparency from the brand when the content is artificially generated.
On the other hand, if an ad is well made, AI only plays a minor role, and the creative direction is human-driven, the audience might appreciate the use of new technologies as a cool addition to an already cool ad. In this case disclosing the machine learning software will work in your favour.
On the one hand, if an ad is completely generated by a machine and this fact is hidden from the clients, they will probably feel played.
Clients want human-generated content, and expect transparency from the brand when the content is artificially generated.
On the other hand, if an ad is well made, AI only plays a minor role, and the creative direction is human-driven, the audience might appreciate the use of new technologies as a cool addition to an already cool ad. In this case disclosing the machine learning software will work in your favour.
Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence is still in the very early stages of its development, and it’s hard to predict the route it will take.
In the very same way, it’s impossible to know how the general public will react as computer-generated content floods the internet.
But it’s a technology that shouldn't be slept on, and brands have to start implementing it in their daily operations if they want to stay competitive. If it’s done in a conscious, critical and intelligent manner, it can be one of the most powerful assets a company will have.
In the very same way, it’s impossible to know how the general public will react as computer-generated content floods the internet.
But it’s a technology that shouldn't be slept on, and brands have to start implementing it in their daily operations if they want to stay competitive. If it’s done in a conscious, critical and intelligent manner, it can be one of the most powerful assets a company will have.
