2023 witnessed a surge in innovative campaigns driven by artificial intelligence. AI was the driving force behind many highly successful and engaging campaigns. From creating campaigns using generative AI to inviting fans to create ads using interactive AI tools, brands across industries went beyond the usual to embrace the collaboration between human creativity and emerging technology to tell captivating stories this year. Let’s delve into some of the best AI-powered campaigns of 2023 and why they stood out from the clutter.
digiBank’s Navigating Smartly: A Multiverse of Possibilities
digiBank Indonesia launched a campaign generated entirely by AI. The campaign featured renowned Chef Renatta Moeloek pondering over other lifepaths she could have chosen. Ultimately, all choices led to success only by being smart about money with the versatile financial services and support of digiBank. This campaign utilized AI-generated images and storytelling to compel viewers to become users by resonating with the relevant life experiences of their target audience.
Coca-Cola Create Real Magic
Coca-Cola collaborated with Bain & Company and OpenAI to build ‘Create Real Magic’, an AI platform that generates artwork using the iconic beverage’s creative assets. Combining the capabilities of GPT-4 and DALL-E, this platform “signals the company’s commitment to move quickly to test, learn, and scale ideas using AI,” said Pratik Thakar, Global Head of Creative Strategy at Coca-Cola. By incorporating AI-driven elements into the campaign, Coca-Cola transformed passive viewers into active participants, driving high engagement and memorable experiences.
Blibli’s Smile To Unlock Deals
Indonesia’s leading e-commerce platform, BliBli, launched a campaign, ‘Smile to Unlock Deals’, to break through the clutter with an innovative AI-powered solution. The brand asked users to capture their smiles with their phones to discover deals and discounts. An AI-based algorithm detected the smiles and returned personalized deals and offers to the user. The campaign demonstrated the power of AI in leveraging cultural connections and personalizing experiences for a mass audience.
Prega News #ThankYouChemists
Mankind Pharma launched an ad for their pregnancy detection kit featuring Bollywood actress and brand ambassador Anushka Sharma. The campaign allowed pharmacy owners to create highly personalized ads for their stores featuring Sharma as their endorser. Powered by AI technology, the campaign aimed to strengthen the relationship between Mankind Pharma and its local partners. The campaign not only celebrated chemists but also demonstrated the potential of AI in tailoring content for specific audiences.
Dulux Vietnam’s Enjoy the Moment – Painting AI Dreams
Timing the campaign with the year-end tradition of painting homes, Dulux invited consumers in Vietnam to input keywords about their dream homes. Powered by Midjourney, this campaign aimed to help consumers bring their imagination to life using generative AI images and colors from the Dulux Colour Futures 2023 collection. By allowing the consumers to ‘paint’ their dream homes, the campaign had a two-fold impact: It facilitated the brand to strengthen customer relationships by creating an experience and helped the brand collect data on color trends directly from the users for the future. Dulux’s campaign in Vietnam explores the intersection of AI and art, showcasing the creative potential of AI for paint and decor brands.
Tata Tea Premium Lohri Campaign
Tata Tea Premium launched an AI-powered campaign featuring actress Shehnaz Gill to celebrate Lohri, a festival celebrated with great enthusiasm in Northern India. The campaign featured Gill singing personalized traditional Tappas (folk songs) using the power of AI. The hyper-personalized campaign combined local culture and technology to create a memorable connection with the brand. Imbibing the spirit of ‘Desh ki Chai’ Tata Tea Premium brought the experience of personalized content to the masses, demonstrating the potential of AI in cultural celebrations.
Greetings from La Banlieue
Heetch, a ride-hailing app, launched a campaign, “Greetings from La Banlieue,” to combat the negative stereotypes associated with the word ‘banlieue’ and the harmful impact of bias in AI. Renaud Berthe, CMO of Heetch, said they aimed to make a difference by supplying corrective data to Midjourney, the image-generating AI tool. With this campaign, launched in collaboration with advertising agency BETC Paris, Heetch sent thousands of pictures from the banlieue to Midjourney’s 11 employees as postcards. The brand took a proactive role in correcting harmful biases in AI through this campaign, paving the way for a more balanced representation of these neighborhoods in AI-generated content.
God Is Watching by Taiwan’s New Taipei City
BaoXing Council of New Taipei City launched a campaign to combat its rising littering problem with the help of AI. Under this campaign, an AI-powered Behavior Recognition Detector identified a garbage dumper and projected a holographic image of Tudidong, the God of Land in Taoism, to deter them. Within three months, the city achieved a 73% reduction in illegal waste. This campaign demonstrated how technology can be a powerful tool for real-world impact.
Pepsodent Merdeka Smiles
Pepsodent launched a campaign to promote oral health awareness among Indonesians. The campaign unfolded in two parts on the user’s screen. Initially, the display featured a family with unhappy faces alongside a microphone button. Upon the user recording “Merdeka” into the microphone, the AI recognition triggered the faces to turn into happy smiles. A six-second video followed, and the personalized end card encouraged users to brush their teeth. The message was customized depending on the time of the day. The toothpaste brand utilized a full-screen rich media experience on mobile, AI-based keyword recognition, and Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) to craft an interactive experience for its target audience, driving high awareness and engagement.
Wakefit Mattress ft. Ayushmann Khurrana
Wakefit Mattress launched a campaign featuring actor Ayushmann Khurrana to promote its orthopedic mattresses. This campaign aimed to break through the clutter by incorporating an AI-generated kid version of Khurrana to demonstrate the child-like energy one can wake up with sleeping on a good mattress. The innovative campaign focussed on educating the audience about the product instead of focusing on the product itself. The ad skillfully employs storytelling in AI to resonate with the everyday experience of the audience.
The Way Forward
Brands venturing into creating an AI-driven ad strategy in 2024 should focus on audience-centric personalization and immersive storytelling. AI tools can help create campaigns with interactive elements that foster a deeper connection with the audience by focusing on user experience to drive high engagement and visibility. Continually optimizing campaigns in real-time will remain crucial for unparalleled user experience and long-term brand loyalty. Lastly, brands must be open about AI usage, as consumers value and appreciate transparency.
