It all still starts with an idea

AI imaging is often seen as a threat to creativity and the creative industries. But, as long as the ideas are human, AI can help make them a reality. Or so says 7C3’s Creative Director, Neil Cook.

AI, AI, blah, blah, blah, etc. and so on.

That’s not a typo. Someone hasn’t forgotten to sub this diatribe. It’s just that there’s so much chat about AI, there’s such a scramble to have a pov on it (and thereby build your agency’s credibility) that adding fuel to the bonfire feels a bit redundant.

So now 7C3 has its AI article. Box ticked. Let’s move on.?

At first I was, cynically, thinking here we go again, the next fad that everyone in our attention-deficit-blighted industry will claim is epoch-defining, then turn its back on when it turns out not to be (see also the Metaverse, Crypto, NFTs, etc.). And then I thought again. This isn’t a full-blown exploration of how AI will redraw the borders of the creative landscape (although that’s quite a nice sentence isn’t it, I’m quite proud of that). Rather, it recounts an experience I had, one that creative people often have, when inspiration strikes and you don’t quite know what to do with it. And, like all the best stories, it starts in the pub…

A couple of weeks ago I was enjoying a catch-up with an old friend, watching the sunset over Blackheath outside an excellent pub, an experience made all the sweeter knowing that there wouldn’t be many more opportunities to do this until next spring. All was right with the world (which, given its current condition, is a very rare feeling). I suggested switching up the beverage of choice, which led us into a conversation about the (many) possible alternatives. Chief amongst them, whisky.

?The REAL amber nectar. Water of life. Liquid of dreams.

This sent us on a freewheeling, stream-of-consciousness chat about all things whisky-related. I have experience in the category from working on a couple of projects for The Glenlivet with Pernod Ricard. Which led me to dip my toe in the water of the world that is single malt whisky, a world I’ve happily been exploring for the last decade or so.

?My drinking buddy, however, explained that he doesn’t like single malt whisky.

Because it tastes like death.

Now, single malt whisky doesn’t taste like death. But some single malts, because of the way the barley grain is dried, have a distinctly peaty taste. And peat is… well, dirt. Old, wet, dirt. Which is, frankly, where we’re going to spend eternity. In the dirt. And, given we tend to drink things that taste nice and not old, wet, dirty, or that remind us of death, this explains my friend’s reticence.

(Those of you who tuned in expecting my riveting opinions on AI… please stick with me… I’m getting there.)

But now we’re in Marmite territory because, to some whisky drinkers, that’s exactly how whisky should taste. If you like the peat, you want the peat, you love the peat. And there are some big, peaty whiskies out there designed to suit the palates of those drinkers. But which of them is the peatiest? Remember, this is a chat between two men drinking outside a pub on a sunny evening, both of them creative writers (although in very different fields). So it’s at this point that the “what ifs” started.

What if we created the world’s peatiest whisky?

What if we fully embraced the “tastes like death” thing? Really go after the big peat fans and dare them to try it.

What if we called it… (drum roll please…) Six Peat Under.

Strapline: From dirt we come, to dirt we shall return.

And our brand spokesman?

Why, Death himself of course! Scythe in one hand, whisky glass in the other.

By which point, we’re just laughing our asses off.

I’m sure many of you have been there. The daft pub chat that turns into an idea that you hastily scratch down on the back of a napkin or beer mat or punch into Notes and never read back. Or that just drifts out of your brain, never to be found again.

Because what do you do with an idea like that? That pops up out of nowhere? Do you go into the agency the next day and get the design team working on the branding? So we’re in the whisky business now are we? Try squeezing that random and arbitrary ask onto the studio’s time planner (or past your head of Creative Services…). Even the most entrepreneurial of agency cultures can’t just take on random ideas that come from their creatives, or anywhere else in the building for that matter, and invest their peoples’ time into them. I readily accept that it’s not good business.

And this is where the AI part of the story comes in.

A few weeks back an old boss of mine, the legendary Patrick Collister, hosted an AI webinar. Among the guest speakers was Lars Bastholm, like me, a writer, who has been using AI imaging software to turn his ideas into beautifully-rendered visuals.

So, instead of sitting on this back-of-a-napkin idea, I went for it. I fired up Adobe Firefly and plunged right in. And, 45 minutes of fun later, settled on the key art used to intro this feature to represent my new whisky brand, Six Peat Under.

Death drinking a glass of Scotch. And greatly enjoying its peaty notes.

AI imaging software allowed me, a conceptual thinker from the copy side of the equation, to create a presentable visual in a matter of minutes. It didn’t rob me of the ability to come up with ideas. It supported them. Because, rather than having to bother an illustrator or designer with a half-thought-through idea with zero budget behind it, I could put a proof-of-concept together for myself. Use that as an internal or external “sell” to whoever might be interested. And then get the professionals involved to perfect, finesse and refine when there’s time, budget or interest in doing so.

And, given that I have about a dozen that-sounds-crazy-but-it-might-just-work ideas a day, being able to get them off the back of a napkin and into a format where they can be shared is a huge leap forward. As a result, I’m more and more excited about how AI can support ideation rather than replace it. And where it can take us by helping turn all those back-of-a-napkin ideas into reality. My own noodlings with AI are still in their infancy, but it’s already opening some very interesting doors that had previously remained closed.

And I’ll happily raise a glass to that!

To talk to us about how we support your brand with concepts, content and campaigns that tell your unique story, email [email protected] or visit seven.co.uk. And if you’re in the spirits business and fancy launching the world’s peatiest whisky, email [email protected]