Generative AI in Media: The Domino Effect

Generative AI has existed in the form of chatbots since the 60s. However, it truly rose to prominence in March last year through OpenAI’s rollout of ChatGPT-4; and has since gained popularity due to its easy-to-use conversation simulator interface.

ChatGPT was the 26th most googled word globally in 2023, with ‘what is chatgpt’ the 62nd most googled question globally. The seamless integration of its use (and similar tools like Google’s Bard) in our day to day lives and the growing integration of generative AI in tools, systems and software used by businesses suggest it will impact us all in some way, shape or form in years to come.

However, for the purpose of this article, I’d like to focus the lens on the impact generative AI will have specifically on creative production in the world of media and advertising in the not-too-distant future. It has been a topic which has seemingly gone under the radar somewhat, until the recent news of Omnicom’s first mover collaboration with Getty Images, which provides the network with early access to its Generative AI tool - A development, which has no doubt brought the conversation further up on the agenda for the industry.

To clarify, when speaking of generative AI here, I am specifically referring to the use of tools and technology to produce creative assets which can be used for advertising and marketing communication. For the time being, this is focused on static creative assets often used in mid-lower funnel activity for consideration and conversion campaigns.

Within the media ecosystem, publishers, media agencies and creative agencies are inextricably linked by the clients they service. However, when we speak of the general impact of generative AI, we could argue there is perhaps more of a commercial impact (or potential opportunities, depending on your point of view) for both media and creative agencies as well as brands going forward. As such, I’d like to explore three possible outcomes, from three different perspectives within this quartet of the media landscape.

Outcome 1 – Brands in-house creative production

We could see a scenario where clients opt to in-house creative production, through either building new internal teams, or by upskilling existing employees, likely from the brand, content and or/marketing teams to use these tools. The benefit is that you have individuals within the business who understand the brand, the objectives and desired outcomes better than any 3rd party, and the feedback loop and iterative process of creative production is likely smoother and more seamless because you’re dealing with fellow colleagues whom all have the ‘same priorities’. The challenge presented by this approach however is that said teams are often involved in so many other aspects of the end-to-end campaign process that carving out additional time to for creative production can prove to be difficult. This provides a really good opportunity for media agencies and a useful segway into the second possible outcome from this new development.

Outcome 2 – More media agencies begin offering creative production services

With increasing pressures from clients to reduce agency/management fees, which places downward pressures on profit margins and income; media agencies are having to increase diversification of their offering and invest more in proprietary solutions to deliver additional revenue streams. Offering creative production as a service could be one such opportunity for media agencies. The advantage these agencies have lies in the vast amounts of data they can access across their portfolio of clients who often are spread across multiple industries, markets and channels. This rich data provides agency teams with key insights into best practices and know-how of what works well vs what doesn’t. These insights then provide the backdrop to provide clients with strategic recommendations, and in turn can then be leveraged as a vital component in creative production should media agencies choose to pursue this venture.

Outcome 3 – Creative agencies switch focus to higher-value video creative production

We could see creative agencies switch their attention to focus more on the high production value creative assets which are often used in higher funnel reach and brand awareness campaigns. We have seen significant developments across the impact of generative AI with regards to production of static imagery. However, one would assume it will be some time before we see these tools develop to the point where they can receive commands and produce the level of quality required to adequately replicate (or improve on) the kind of brand video assets we see on our tv screens, computers and smart devices daily. As such, creative agencies still have an advantage when it comes to video production, and the eventual adoption of generative AI within the media landscape may result in greater efforts being focused in this area. However, it is conceivable that if creative agencies continue to produce static creative, they will likely be challenged by clients to reduce turnaround times/SLAs, increase the volume of creatives that are being produced and reduce the fees charged for producing these assets.

Of course, the extent to which these outcomes are realised remains to be seen; and will no doubt vary from case to case. For example, I can see a scenario where larger media network agencies use these new tools and systems to build on their product offering, whilst smaller brands/companies with smaller budgets opt to in-house. With the speed at which we’re seeing progress take place, it will be interesting to monitor how the landscape changes in the next 12-18months. Taking the above into account, who do you think stands to benefit most in the media industry from the developments we’re seeing in the generative AI space?