There's a place for AI in branding but it needs human creativity, argues OLIVER's Rod Sobral

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I’ve been using these words from Maya Angelou for years when talking about creativity. I believe they have become more important than ever due to the rise of marketing-powered AI.

Let’s be frank - there’s a lot of rubbish creative out there. As reported in Marketing Week, 5% of the total digital content produced in our industry generates 90% of the consumer engagement. That means that 19 out of 20 pieces of digital marketing content have little to no impact.

Our industry is creating a landfill of content that no one cares about. Add to that the fact that Generative AI will drive a never-before-seen increase in content creation, and the scale of the issue we face becomes more evident.

That’s why, more than ever, we must care about creative quality - it is the biggest single contributor to advertising effectiveness. Behind every phone, computer, TV or billboard, there is a human being just like you. So, if the creative work is not noticed, there’s pretty much no point in doing it. It’s a waste of money and time.

Avoiding the sea of sameness

At its core, great creative stands out because it entertains, it moves people and it can improve people’s lives in big and small ways. So, how can AI amplify this power?

AI can help you sharpen up your marketing tactics and strategy. For example, if you are working on a briefing for the launch of a new SUV, AI can tell you which car colour sells the best, what are the most used headlines in the category and what are the common cliches so you can avoid them. That will help you to zig when everyone else is zagging.

It can also test concepts in minutes, where it used to take days, in doing so shaking up the industry production process of more than half a century. You can use it to visualise ideas, create more executions, give you more options and create concepts that may not see the light of day, but help you sort the wheat from the chaff.

And that actually reduces that clutter - because that end product, the one that is actually seen in the wild, is the best it can be. And it has been released in a more efficient and effective way to the point of doubling your productivity and performance as you do with Pencil Pro AI. In short - “Do more. Do better”

But if you are going to use AI to create ideas that are “the signal” amongst the noise, human ingenuity is what will get you there.

Alone, AI is only capable of adding to the content landfill. It speaks the language of data, and uses probability to predict the most obvious right answer – and therein lies the obvious problem and opportunity. The most obvious right answer doesn’t help a brand cut through and stand out.

We need to care about creative quality more than ever. By using AI tools as a playground to experiment with human-centric ideas, we can rapidly scale and augment creative executions that will resonate with people.

Brand-centric storytelling

While the very best creatives will always be sought after for their ability to connect with audiences on an emotional level, the ability to immerse themselves in brand identity is also crucial. This primarily involves understanding brand behaviours well enough to tell the right stories to elicit and make sure the brand is identifiable.

Here’s an example from my own experience of how brand knowledge is essential for effective storytelling with AI. A well-known skincare brand had two separate creative teams working on storyboarding for an ad using an AI tool. The first team understood the storyline but weren’t familiar with the brand itself. And it’s safe to say that the results left a lot to be desired.

The AI-generated models looked too ‘perfect’, and there wasn’t anywhere near as much diversity as the brand would normally include in a campaign. The background of the shots was also way off: they looked more like a white-label pharmacy than someone’s familiar bathroom at home. Textures used in shots looked more like harmful bacteria instead of efficacious ingredients.

These results were in stark contrast to those achieved by the other creative team – one that was well versed in correct brand identity and behaviours. The right brand colours and elements were used. Products looked natural. Models and skin tones were representative. This on-brand, budget-friendly and rapid execution was a clear case study for how successful joint ventures between humans and AI can be.

Localising creative ideas

Using humour is always a powerful way to connect with people. If they laugh you win. That was the precise goal for an effervescent vitamin tablet brand that had become associated with being a hangover cure.

The brand’s aim was to reposition as an energy booster that combats tiredness. The ‘hack the lag’ campaign, which was based around the concept of avoiding ‘fatigue f**k-ups’, was devised by a team of human creatives. The brand spent big on the hilarious and high-quality video ad campaign that saw success in Australia.

But they also wanted to shift brand perceptions in other markets (the Asian markets in particular) where the specific humour and execution used in the Australian ad wouldn’t translate. Enter AI.

The creative team was able to quickly and cheaply generate high-quality alternative executions of the human-centric concept at scale for additional markets – a feat that wouldn’t have been possible within budget otherwise. Another win for the human/AI double act.

Human creativity, AI-assisted execution

AI is driving disruption in our industry. And for me, that’s exciting. It’s opening up a whole new world of opportunities to create content, that is memorable, and doesn’t join the scrapheap of creative. Because creating forgettable content is a creative’s worst fear.

That’s why creatives will always be essential to the process. Get art directors, designers, photographers and creative directors to input the prompts. They need to be involved, bringing the human eye, artistic skills and fundamental human truths that AI can’t replicate.

Oliver is is an agency that offers fully-integrated campaigns, ecommerce and video content, social and digital advertising. Find out more of what this team can offer via its website, Oliver Agency.