In the messy aftermath of the SVB collapse, few may remember—or even noticed—that of all people, and of all subjects, none other than Henry Kissinger penned an Op-Ed piece on AI.
Henry Kissinger.
Yes--China Nixon ‘Nam--that Henry Kissinger. Which pretty much sums up the state of anxiety regarding the recent introduction of large language model AI tools such as ChatGPT and their more visually oriented counterparts like MidJourney.
The advertising industry in particular (not to mention other creative fields) seems wildly spooked by this development--AI, not Kissenger’s OP-Ed. The rationale for the industry-wide panic is that machines will replace humans in the once well-protected, sometimes lucrative creative fields.
As longtime ad industry veterans, we respectfully disagree. We’ve watched the doom slingers get it wrong every time a new technology that’s going to “kill the ad industry” is introduced. Let’s briefly rewind.
The unholy triumvirate of the Mac, layout software, and the laser printer did not kill print advertising. Page design and typography simply moved in-house.
Email, the Trojan Horse of quantification and the scourge of in-boxes everywhere, simply joined the party where it’s still rocking, OG-style, like an 80’s hair band.
The many-headed monster that is social media? Rather than creating a traditional advertising bust, it ushered in a content creation boom.
So no way do we think the advent of AI bots and tools will signify the untimely demise of human creativity in advertising. In fact, we maintain the opposite. The arrival of this technology represents the beginning of a golden age for ad agencies.
But there’s a catch! Agencies have to compete in the marketplace for client budgets. Their success often rests on creating truly brilliant ideas developed from unique insights into consumer preferences.
Any agency foolish enough to think they can rely on AI to do all the heavy creative lifting for them is going to wind up with a trash can full of parity ads. Why? Because the robot is going to do exactly what it’s told to do. We maintain that at this stage the technology is not the differentiator. Never has been. It’s still all about who’s using the tool, and how.
So unless agency teams and their AI Whisperers quickly learn how to come up with the prompts and directions that differentiate the robot’s output, every shop is going to end up with pretty much the same ads. With no differentiation and no obvious competitive advantages agencies and their creatives become commoditized and their value drops faster than META’s stock price.
That’s what the panic is really all about.
But it doesn’t have to come to that. What we see--and we have seen it before--is that the need to win in the marketplace will create huge incentives for agencies to use these fledgling AI tools as their starting point rather than their end state. Therein lies the massive opportunity.
Example: beyond message creation, AI can make a significant contribution in providing more solid starting points. AI bots can analyze data on consumer behavior and preferences to identify patterns and surface insights that human creatives, planners, and account people may not have considered. This information can then be used to inform the creative process, allowing agencies to create campaigns that are more targeted and relevant to their respective audiences.
So, start looking at your strengths, weaknesses and processes. Adapt, adapt, adapt. But adapt to your agency’s personality and strengths. Do not expect somebody else’s model to work for you. If you do this, you’ll be fine. Next up, part 2: some implications of generative AI on the structure of your ad agency. In the meantime, you can take a deep breath. And so can Henry Kissinger.
George Chalekian has been a creative director at agencies large and small, traditional and digital, and some that did both. He sees the advent of natural language AI as the dawning of a new ad agency Golden Age. Provided the technology is employed correctly. And the robots don’t eat us first.
Kevin Sullivan (aka Headplant) has been in the Advertising / PR / Digital space for 20 years and has worn many hats, and played many roles - some humiliating - but all based around creating great work. Kevin understands how creative departments work, how to build them, and how to make them successful.
Bruce Carlisle is a communications nomad who has done everything from bag carrying to VC pitching to agency CEOing. He’s also done several startups and currently plies his trade as a consultant to Ad Agency CEOs and, when he is not doing that, as a “consultant”.
"AI isn't going to eat your agency, but people using AI will." As much we all like to think what we do is original, most isn't. Even in the agency world where I spent a couple of decades. In the end agencies should first and foremost be looking at efficiencies that AI can bring before considering anything else. The basic "What jobs are being done here and now that we could do faster, and in less time, with fewer people by augmenting them with AI processes?" NOTHING else matters right now, because somewhere you can be assured there are agencies who are already all on board with that. If you want to get farther out front and stay out front then get ready to run leaner and more profitably for a while, and then eventually the margins will realign with the new realities of the time and resources now required, and as long as you already made that realignment internally earlier - you'll be golden to lower client costs once the market requires it - but also ready to steal others business who can't lower costs yet - and grow the overall portfolio of business. If not, then you will see your clients going to more cost and time efficient agencies. Later you can look into all the ways the AI can help with the more 'creative and original' parts of the work portfolio. But today - it should all be about efficiencies in the tasks that are not so originality based as many would like to think.