📓 The Creativ Brief: Generic AI
Differentiation. TikTok duplicates code. WBD bids on sports. Sony <3 Anime. LLM usage statistics.
Genericism is the state or condition of becoming non-unique, undifferentiated, or common.Â
In my latest byline for the DRUM, Is AI (already) in a race to the bottom?, I discuss how AI has become generic, no longer providing differentiation for many of the enterprises using the novel technology.
Instead, AI technology, which promised massive differentiation and added value for those who could harness it, has become a table-stakes footnote in pitches and start-up pitches.Â
Every tech, media, and agency firm claims to incorporate AI into their products or services. Diageo, Progress, eBay, Meta, Kantar, iFit, Snapchat, and Heineken all within the last month have announced AI partnerships or new capabilities.
The reality is these AI implementations have similar training sets, similar models, leading to undifferentiated outputs. OpenAI and others have sought to stem the tide of genericism by licensing proprietary data-sets to differentiate their models.Â
Our initial experiments with banking, entertainment, and gaming brands blend owned, public, and proprietary data feeds into a single data repository. Several large language models then work in coordination to make the data uniform, indexable, and find correlations. Finally, generative AI summarizes the results which are displayed in a variety of cuts for marketers to review.
This blended method provides differentiation by mixing both the inputs and models to generate truly differentiated outputs.Â
The swirling tempest of AI assaulting our algorithm-generated news feeds obscures a major disconnect between AI products and the industry problems they purport to solve. Like the ‘proprietary platforms’ of the 2010s, most ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) has become generic.
Read the full article in the DRUM magazine.
3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines
This effort, which began before a U.S. law mandating a potential sale of TikTok's U.S. operations, involves hundreds of engineers sifting through millions of lines of code to ensure the algorithm is free from Chinese influence.
Why it Matters: This move is significant as it addresses bipartisan political concerns over data privacy and national security, reflecting the broader trend of increased scrutiny on tech companies' global data practices and the ongoing tension between technological innovation and regulatory compliance.Â
Warner Bros. Discovery is internally deliberating on whether to match a specific package of NBA games earmarked for Amazon, sources tell CNBC. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav believes NBCUniversal is overpaying for the NBA if it signs a $2.5 billion per year deal, sources said.
Why it matters: The NBA hasn’t had any communication with Warner Bros. Discovery about its plans, as the league hasn’t yet signed a deal with any media partners, which would trigger Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching rights. Sports rights will be a major player in drawing audiences to streaming services.Â
Sony is focusing on its anime streaming service, Crunchyroll, as a major growth driver, according to Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra. With 13 million subscribers globally, Crunchyroll is part of Sony's strategy to capitalize on the growing international popularity of anime, which is expected to double to a $60 billion market by 2030.
Why it matters: This shift underscores the increasing importance of niche streaming services and specialized content. Meanwhile other entertainment companies have poured billions into making general streaming services. Â
Creativ Spotlight - MOCEAN x North Italia at F1 Fan Fest
North Italia tapped MOCEAN to strategize, design, and execute an IRL activation for them at Formula 1’s Racing fan fest. Check out the article below!!
MOCEAN x North Italia Activation at F’s Racing Fan Fest
Stat of the Week - Large Language Model Marketing Usage
For all the media hype, AI adoption and usage in marketing organizations is low.
Around 51% of marketing organizations are piloting or evaluating Large Language Models. Only 10% of organizations are actively using them. It’s less for generative AI.Â
As the technology develops, marketers will continue to find ways to make AI work for them.
One Fun Thing - Client Mind Reading Magic
Unclear or non-existent client briefs cause major frustration among advertising professionals. Client side executives and marketing professionals need to come to agencies with clear goals in order to build a marketing plan and execute.Â
Here’s a framework for writing one:
Goal - raise awareness of X, understand Y, sell more Z
KPI - a benchmark of how we’re going to measure success
Resourcing - what can a client bring to the table in terms of budget and resourcesÂ
Timing - when does this launch and when