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← Back to IdeasIs AI the End of the Road For the Ad Business?
Let’s talk straight about this notion that AI might someday swipe the pens out of the hands of our creatives. It’s a fascinating time, no doubt, with machines churning out designs, copy, and even music. But let’s not kid ourselves – AI is a tool, not the artist.
AI can assist, enhance, and perhaps even inspire, it will never replace the soul of creativity. At the heart of every campaign there is not a circuit but a heartbeat.
I did not write those lines. They were written in seconds by Grok, an artificial intelligence program created by Elon Musk’s X. It was my friend Mitzi Perdue’s idea to give Grok the assignment of writing about what AI can and cannot do.
We asked the same question of ChatGPT. We got this response in seconds.
In the dazzling whirl of technological advancements, artificial intelligence is often touted as the future of creative industries. It can generate ideas, write copy, and even compose symphonies in mere seconds. Impressive? Yes. A substitute for human creativity? Absolutely not.
AI is a tool – albeit a powerful one – but creativity is a uniquely human trait, born from lived experiences, emotions, and a nuanced understanding of culture. A machine can analyze data, recognize patterns, and even mimic style, but it lacks the very essence that makes creative work resonate: authenticity.
The question is not what AI can do, but what it cannot do.
The answer is creativity and touch. Advertising legend David Ogilvy was a firm believer in “story appeal,” based on research and brilliant application of that research. Ogilvy thought of 22 different story-appeal elements to put in the photograph of Hathaway shirts. The last of them was a photograph of the male model dressed in a Hathaway shirt and wearing an eyepatch. Even though the first “Man in the Hathaway Shirt” ad ran only in The New Yorker magazine, it sold out every Hathaway shirt in stock and was imitated around the world. “But I would not have gone looking if I didn’t know the research,” Ogilvy explained.
Ogilvy spent three weeks talking with engineers and reading everything about Rolls-Royce cars. He wrote over 100 headlines and freely admitted that he did not invent his eventual choice but rather pulled it out of an article that had appeared 20 years earlier: “At 60 Miles An Hour The Loudest Noice In This New Rolls-Royce Comes From The Electric Clock.” The campaign had to be paused because Rolls Royce couldn’t keep up with the demand for its cars.
Lever Brothers proudly told Ogilvy that it had invented a new beauty bar that was neutral – neither acid nor alkaline. He said that promise left housewives cold and asked about the product’s formula. He learned that it included stearic acid, the chief ingredient in cold cream. So was born his biggest idea: “Dove is one-quarter cleansing cream – it creams your skin while you wash.” Dove grew to become the number one cleansing brand in the world.
Scurvy-conscious gold miners were the main market for California oranges until Albert Lasker branded the oranges Sunkist, arranged to put inexpensive juice extractors in homes, and directed his agency, Lord & Thomas, to promote orange juice as nutritious. OJ became our universal breakfast beverage.
Hard work. Knowing the research. Creative brilliance.
We know that artificial intelligence can write a sensible marketing analysis, but we don’t know if AI can apply the research and create a great TV commercial or print advertisement.
There’s a useful German expression, fingerspitzen (technically, finerspitzengefühl) – literally a feeling or sensitivity in the fingertips. Does Grok or ChatGPT have fingerspitzen? Maybe. Until then, the great ads will be created by brilliant copywriters and art directors.
The best creative people know that strategy is half the battle, that a strategy must be single-minded and make a meaningful promise to the consumer.
They know what works in TV: The picture must tell the story. That’s why consumers are called “viewers. They know that the first five seconds are crucial to grab the viewer’s attention.
They know what works in print: Get your message in the headline because most readers stop there.
They know the #1 rule in outdoor advertising: No subtleties. Look for a BIG idea.
They know the #1 rule in digital: It pays to test. Test everything – copy, layout, color, offers, terms, prices, premiums, lists, platforms, targets.
To be effective, advertising must clearly communicate its message, be memorable, and persuade consumers to buy. We are in prehistoric times in the life of artificial intelligence. But AI will have to develop fingerspitzen and think like a human.
ChatGPT puts it more directly when talking with a four year old.
So while robots are super helpful and cool, they’ll never be as creative as you, because you have something they don’t: a big wonderful heart and a wild imagination.
Mitzi Perdue also contributed to this article. Mitzi is a journalist who has studied artificial intelligence and uses AI every day.