EY’s video spot was made with an AI algorithm, using photos of 200 EY employees from around the world. The positive here is that EY eschew the uncanny deepfakes we’re becoming used to seeing elsewhere, styling the video in a cubist mode. This purposeful stance helps to distance EY from the negative association of AI – such as that it will replace humans.
Where the ad does fall down is that it makes AI the central topic of the ad, rather than the benefits of AI – falling just on the wrong side of the ‘show, don’t tell’ rule. This dampens any emotive impact the ad might have had and falls into the same trap that many AI-based ads have done recently.
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The Drum
FROM:
Sherwin Williams manufactures paint, coatings, and floor coverings to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. They developed a voice-activated AI colour system, leveraging optical recognition, to create custom colour palettes based on user inputs, e.g. ‘Caribbean blue’.
The falls on the right side of the ‘show, don’t tell’ maxim, enabling customers to use AI rather than simply telling them about it. It is interactive, fun, and memorable as an experience, and gives Sherwin Williams a ready repository of data and insights into the global, cultural, and geographical influences of individual colours. This gives Sherwin-Williams an advantage in colour mapping, predicting trends, and understanding the role colour plays in all our lives.
FROM:
TextFX
Client: Sherwin-Williams
By: Wunderman Thomson
DECEMBER 05/2023
AI in advertising –
Brands like Heinz, Coca Cola, Nike, and Ben & Jerry’s have used AI in a similar way to Absolut: to create new products. The problem we found with many of these campaigns was twofold:
1. These campaigns were more about getting involved with the AI conversation than the product itself
2. None of these campaigns really needed AI to be the focal point. They could equally have been created without AI, to the same effect.
While some of the artwork produced in those campaigns was aesthetically striking, we had the overwhelming sense of being dragged along behind the bandwagon. This seems to be a clear case of brands following a trend for fear of being left out, rather than having something of value to say about it.
And it is leading to gimmicky adverts and campaigns which talk about features rather than benefits, and often boil down to little more than ‘we made this using AI.
Our insight:
With AI continuing to top the conversation charts, particularly in marketing, the team set out to explore the best examples of AI in recent advertising campaigns. However, we quickly came to a frustrating realisation. But before we get to that, here is a summary of the adverts we discussed:
Wunderman Thompson
FROM:
Ogilvy
FROM:
Key Takeaway ›
To avoid falling into this trap, brands should follow the example of Sherwin Williams, whose ‘Speaking in Color’ campaigns shows how AI can be useful to customers, rather than telling them.
There are other marketing use cases for AI than generating design/copy. Consider stimulating audience conversation and insights with
AI-assisted focus groups, or augmented reality tools that connect online and in-person offerings.
Overall, we believe that AI is most beneficial on the back end. It is a behind-the-scenes facilitator, not the star of the show. It will undoubtedly be a vital tool for marketers going forward, but what will always make campaigns stand out are unique human perspectives that resonate with an audience.
is it becoming a gimmick already?
‘Speaking in Color’
Drop!
AI in advertising –
Client: EY
By: Ogilvy UK
'Faces of the future’
Client: Absolut
By: Ogilvy Toronto
Ogilvy’s Toronto team put this localised campaign together, encouraging residents to identify the ‘ingredients’ that make their neighbourhood unique, and then using these as AI prompts to develop cocktail artworks and cocktails that celebrate the neighbourhood. Part of a wave of campaigns from big brands using generative AI to ‘create’ new products, this survives on its interactivity and appeal to a local sense of belonging.
‘Mix Your Neighbourhood’
Avoid the gimmick; show, don’t tell
Key Takeaway:
The Drum
FROM:
To avoid falling into this trap, brands should follow the example of Sherwin Williams, whose ‘Speaking in Color’ campaigns shows how AI can be useful to customers, rather than telling them.
There are other marketing use cases for AI than generating design/copy. Consider stimulating audience conversation and insights with
AI-assisted focus groups, or augmented reality tools that connect online and in-person offerings.
Overall, we believe that AI is most beneficial on the back end. It is a behind-the-scenes facilitator, not the star of the show. It will undoubtedly be a vital tool for marketers going forward, but what will always make campaigns stand out are unique human perspectives that resonate with an audience.
Ogilvy
FROM: