Have you been involved or experimented with AI, AR or other emerging disciplines or new technologies? If so, relative to experimental or actual projects, briefly tell us about the work and what you’ve taken away from the experience. If the work is complete and you’d like to share a link to it, please include.
I use ChatGPT and Midjourney daily. I’m seeing some patterns emerge in how I’m using them. ChatGPT can’t create great original concepts. And it’s a terrible headline writer. Why? It creates from the totality of written expression in its data set. It doesn’t know how to dismiss bad writing and elevate good writing. So it writes at the average qualitative level of its data set. Which is lousy. What is does well is help populate an idea. Now what do I mean by that? Let’s say you have a concept. We had one recently for Lexus which was about friendly and healthy disagreement. (Remember when we could do that without demonizing each other?) Here ChatGPT is incredibly helpful. I’ll ask it to list 20 topics of friendly disagreement. 9 out of 10 will be subpar. But every now and then it’ll hit on something resonant. A good tip is the “be more creative” prompt. Which will generate odder and odder results. (Kind of like the chaos “em dash” in Midjourney.)
I prefer Midjourney to Dall-E. My first CD back when I was an intern exhorted me to sketch when I write. I was a terrible artist then. And now. But Midjourney turns my insane mental ramblings into something visually articulate. Midjourney’s “hallucinations” are fantastic. There’s a terrific randomness in its interpretations of my prompts. I think it’s only a matter of time before we negotiate a consumer facing license for Midjourney. But for now, I use it in presentations.
What work (advertising, entertainment, documentary, etc.)–your own or others–struck a responsive chord with you so far this year and why?
I’ve been thinking about the Ikea “Second Best” campaign a lot. There’s no mad science to it. It’s an achingly beautiful thought. I have to believe the production cost didn’t break the bank. But it’s so disarmingly reductive. The complexity and volume of messages we’re getting is verging on information overload. We all carry around 4X6 hunks of plastic in our purses and pockets that catastrophize every data point. And look, there’s legitimate reason for concern everywhere. But we’re not hard-wired to be in a state of constant stress and agitation. “Second Best” takes the opposite approach. Letting us sink into a gorgeous rendition of reality for just a moment. There’s a truth to it. But also an element of escapism. I’d wager we’ll see more work like this. And more work like this getting honored.
While gazing into the crystal ball is a tricky proposition, we nonetheless ask you for any forecast you have relative to content creation and/or the creative and/or business climate for the second half of 2023 and beyond. (250 words max)
I’m guessing we’ll see less resistance around being in the office. Not because of the arm-twisting. More due to rampant loneliness. Harvard Business Review says that 36% of survey respondents report serious feelings of loneliness “frequently” or “almost all the time.” But those numbers skyrocket for young people to the tune of 61%. That’s nuts. I grew up in advertising back in the mid-90’s. Those were intensely social years. The bulk of my friends I met in agency settings. My partner of 20 years was introduced to me through another copywriter who’s still one of my closest friends. I understand the need for a firewall between work and life. That said, I think there’s a generation of younger ad folks who are really missing out on a key channel of friend and significant other discovery. And it’s the office.
Maybe this is wishful thinking. But I see TV making a comeback. FAST Channels (Free Ad Supported Television) are growing fast. Streaming services are bolstering their valuation with ad-supported models all over the place. And Wall Street’s eating it up. This opens up huge visibility opportunities for brands. Remember when movie studios were pronounced dead. Then “Barbenheimer” happened. Turns out we can get people back to theaters. I think the rumors of TV’s death are premature. It’s quiet now. But look for brands to throw more TV investment in their media mix
