A lot has been said about the disruptive potential of AI and, in particular, how it might eventually come to replace human creativity. But the reality we’re seeing now suggests it’s likely that AI will become something very different, providing creatives with a richer ideation toolkit that doesn’t simply replace original human ideas but enhances them. AI makes it possible for creative thinkers to broaden their horizons, bringing forth concepts previously thought impossible to life.
Nowhere is this more evident in the advertising industry, which has been one of the most eager to embrace the possibilities of AI-enhanced creativity.
AI Insights
Last month, at an exclusive event in New York City’s Lavan Midtown for industry luminaries to share their insights and perspectives on AI, which is revolutionizing creative development, Lightricks showcased a number of pioneering use cases for LTX Studio. This AI tool helps advertise creative teams and develop concepts into polished storyboards.
At the event, host Katie Perry, the founder of Ursa Major Media, was joined on stage by Pierre-Jean Bernard, Head of Digital and AI at McCann Paris, who talked about the effects of AI on the ideation process for his creative teams.
Bernard said he was immediately grabbed by the way AI has taken on the role of a copilot, collaborating with creatives to bring their ideas to life. Having an AI copilot dramatically accelerates the creative process, enabling teams to outline a basic vision and quickly create a universe of visual assets that can be used to flesh out an entire series of ads.
“It’s much like discussing ideas and concepts with an assistant, and it happens in real-time,” Bernard said. “That’s what we like because when you’re in a business and working with celebrities and other high-profile people, you really want to make sure you can define what you have in mind.”
Rapidly iterating on creative visions.
As AI platforms become more prevalent in the advertising world, they also impact how people express their creativity. With AI, creatives find they have more freedom to focus on the narratives, how they are framed, and the finer details. It gives users more opportunities to showcase their creativity, constantly iterating on their vision.
Recalling one recent project, Bernard talked about this, saying that AI makes it simple to create a visual world and edit almost any element, getting the finer details just right. In this way, it’s possible to quickly showcase almost any idea or vision to see how it looks and what kind of impact it can have.
“We started with this idea to create a visual universe inspired by the TV show Dynasty, where you had all of those crazy 1980s hairstyles,” Bernard said. “Our creative teams used these generative AI platforms to iterate and come up with this visual territory, and what we really liked is the consistency. You can create your universe and your characters, define their hairstyles, change the backgrounds, and so on. And keep iterating quickly until you get it right.”
Consistency is Key
AI also makes it easier to achieve greater consistency across advertising assets, making it possible to zoom out and make sure you have the right color palette and tones across your entire campaign, inspired by the product and brand. Bernard emphasized how AI simplifies this process, so a team can begin with a simple mood board and use that as a reference for all of the outputs and media devoted to a single campaign.
“Consistency is something that’s very complicated to achieve; it requires a good level of skills and prompting,” Bernard pointed out. “The platform makes this easier, and that’s what we like. That’s what creatives want. They want to use platforms that allow them to get the most out of their creativity and not struggle with the technical part of it. That’s really important.”
Communicating visions more effectively
Perry said one of the most practical benefits of having an AI copilot for ideation is that it makes it much easier to communicate ideas, which is especially important for an advertising agency that can sometimes be challenged to outline their vision to a client. Sometimes, she said, a client has one thing in mind, and the agency interprets that vision differently, leading to a repetitive feedback process where the client will constantly request changes to the look and feel of the ad.
With AI, that goes away, as it’s possible to upload a visual reference and work from that, creating a kind of shortcut through all of that back and forth. “You can just say, here’s my idea; this is what I want you to do,” she said.
Bernard agreed that it’s possible to achieve some excellent results and immediately demonstrate concepts and ideas that were previously too complex to explain without investing heavily in pitch materials.
“It makes life easier because you can just show them what it could look like, rather than telling them,” Bernard said. “So it makes our life easier, and it makes our pitches way more effective. And the quality of what you can achieve is huge, so not only is it beautiful and effective, it’s really pitching your idea and selling it in a more effective way.”
Unleashing creative ideas
In the era of relentless AI development, ideation is fast becoming the cornerstone of innovation. It’s the process of brainstorming and mapping out new concepts and stories, and it works best when a group of diverse individuals pool their unique perspectives and talents to create something truly original and compelling.
AI accelerates this process, increasing the pace of innovation. With AI acting as an assistant, creatives can explore and develop their ideas more rapidly and then communicate them to other stakeholders so that these concepts can be refined and brought to life more efficiently. Another advantage, Bernard said, is that AI handles the technical side, so creatives have more time to focus on what they’re actually supposed to be doing and where their specialized skills lie – that is, coming up with ideas.
“So not only do you increase your capabilities, it allows us to focus on what’s really important,” Bernard said. “We’re in the business of selling ideas and making ideas, and these tools are what allows us to do that in a better way.”
Photo by Kai Gradert on Unsplash
