Artificial intelligence is getting a productive workout in generating custom text for targeted consumers.
The artificial intelligence ecosystem is shifting from one-off content creation to AI-powered automation, producing brand-aligned, AI-generated marketing content at scale for multiple channels.
Generative AI is no longer simply a creator but also a business intelligence integrator, creating niche market segments, journeys and optimized content.Google partners with AI marketers from Tripadviser personal recommendations for its 400 million monthly users to Boston Red Sox outbound marketing, turning Salesforce into a Bill James Handbook for fan experiences. Meta is rolling out new tools to let advertisers create images and messaging from generative AI prompts.
PepsiCo, Unilever and Salesforce were among the first generative AI innovators. Now, custom content strategy is exploding–to the point where ChatGPT can generate a cache of brand examples from the web. Yes, it still takes time to track down whether the chatbot is summarizing multiple case studies, cutting-and-pasting a single source or dreaming up fake campaigns. The chatbot descriptions were generic, to be honest, but our deep dive to find source material found even more compelling and current examples.
We think other marketers will want to work at scale with generative AI. Here are 10 of our favorite examples.
Airbnb: The listing site acquired GamePlannner, making co-founder and Siri and iPhone developer Adam Cheyer the Airbnb AI experiece VP. The move should further enhance development of generative-AI vacation rental features as photo tours, pricing aids and machine-learning recommendations. In developing new AI tools, Airbnb may be following the lead of enterprising hosts who optimize listings in their favorite chatbots.
Amazon: The machine learning tools Amazon developed for its e-commerce site now are offered to other catalog marketers as a web service. Amazon Personalize suggests products based on historical and real-time customer behavior, boosting conversion rates and satisfaction.
BMW: The Enterprise Knowledge Harmonizer and Organizer uses AI to generate realistic images and videos of cars. EKHO allows showroom customers to visualize custom features without stopping to flip through a shelf of manuals. Marketers can analyze multiple campaign inputs just as swiftly.
Coca-Cola: A GPT-4 platform invites customers to create their own ads. A series of “Real Magic” promotions give creators access to brand logos and icons such as Coke’s polar bear and Santa Claus characters for billboards, Christmas cards and other custom images. Is there a better way to engage customers with an ad than to let them design it?
Heineken: Data is hard to wrangle. The brewer has made early and extensive use of AI to unlock data to make more potent marketing decisions, from when and where to advertise to which bars to target for promotions. (Fact-checking for this item sent us to some weird places, from Heineken’s Ant-Man Super Bowl ad to a trippy AI-generated ad parody with shape-shifting, levitating, giant beers consumed at a roaring barbecue conflagration. View responsibly.)
L’Oréal: An inclusive approach to skin and hair diagnostics includes a generative AI personal beauty assistant and brand-compliant and localized AI content across its 37 beauty brands. A creator partnership with Meta, New Codes of Beauty employ new 3D, augmented reality and AI tools and techniques. Our goal is to unleash technological creativity in a rising creator economy.”
Netflix: Generative AI tailors its home-screen array based on individual viewing habits, the content of shows and thousands of preference profiles. The custom content recommendations enhance user engagement and retention.
Sephora: The Sephora mobile app’s Virtual Artist feature uses face recognition to apply makeup to the shopper’s selfie screen–an augmented reality compact that replicates in-store testers.
Spotify: The streaming music service creates personalized playlists, aligning music recommendations with personal listening patterns. A premium AI Playlist service also lets listeners enter prompts for a specific mood–or maybe a vague vibe like “tracks for horse riding into the sunset.”
Stitch Fix: OpenAI machine learning enhances the clothier’s recommendation engine to produce online product descriptions, while an Outfit Creation Model suggests new wardrobe combinations. Stylists use GPT-4 to recall customer preferences and incorporate their feedback as they prepare a new shipment.
Marketers will continue to understand how wellcan predict what niche audiences need. User experience guru Jakob Nielsen sees a future in which websites change on the fly with accessible displays for blind or low-vision users. But it’s not hard to see how AI could produce custom content as well, letting customers choose their own adventure.