Generative Artificial Intelligence is radically changing the way digital advertising is done. In everyday life, I realize that this technology has transformed every stage of the creative process, from the first insight to the final validation of the campaigns
In the ideation phase, text generation tools offer instant brainstorming, giving quick and creative slogan suggestions, scripts or visual concepts. This greatly expands and accelerates the creative process, allowing the exploration of thousands of ideas in a few minutes, without relying exclusively on personal inspiration
During the creation of the content, the change becomes even more evident. There are advanced tools that generate complete ads, from well-crafted texts to customized images for different types of audiences. AI has finally delivered something that the market has been seeking for a long time: hyper-personalization at scale. This allows delivering the right message, at the right time and for the right person with an efficiency that would be impossible manually
These advances do not only mean efficiency gains, but also a quantitative leap in the campaigns. Ads that used to take weeks to be launched are now ready in days or even hours. Major advertisers have already realized this, highlighting that generative AI has greatly reduced the time needed for creative production, freeing up more time for the team to focus on strategic decisions
Furthermore, the quality of ads has increased because smart algorithms analyze previous behaviors and optimize every detail, from titles to images and calls to action, increasing overall engagement. In practice, many high-performance companies are already adopting these technologies
Another interesting point is that this revolution is not limited to just the creation of advertisements. In the distribution and broadcasting stage, platforms like Meta's AI Sandbox already use AI to dynamically adjust content based on real-time audience reactions, generating various versions automatically adapted for each channel. But to take advantage of all this, it is essential to have a solid foundation of knowledge. Companies must carefully structure their internal information – from style guides, historical data from previous campaigns and product catalogs to customer interactions on social media, evaluations and market research. All of this works as fuel for AI, allowing her to create more accurate content aligned with the brand's identity
Today there are already platforms and technologies such as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), that can quickly access this database and generate coherent and personalized content. Leading companies, like Coca-Cola, they have already shown the potential of this approach by combining models like GPT-4 and DALL-E with their own collection, ensuring that the AI captures and reproduces the true spirit of the brand. Connected to a good database, generative AI also becomes a powerful machine for insights. She analyzes gigantic volumes of information to identify trends and opportunities that often go unnoticed. One example is how large brands can predict consumer trends by analyzing millions of online interactions, generating useful insights for much more efficient campaigns
Next, AI takes the stage producing highly personalized content. The results are impressive: texts and images generated instantly and adapted to different audience profiles, drastically increasing the effectiveness of campaigns. A clear example is that of Michaels Stores, that achieved almost total levels of personalization in its communications, significantly improving your results
Creativity also gains new horizons with AI allowing for co-creations between brands and consumers. The "Create Real Magic" campaign by Coca-Cola is a great example, with consumers using AI to generate unique art, reaching extremely high levels of engagement
It is worth emphasizing that, even with all this automation, the human factor remains essential. The role of professionals becomes one of curation and refinement, selecting and refining the ideas generated by AI, ensuring strategic and emotional alignment of the campaigns. Another important gain is the prior validation of ideas. Today, AI models simulate the performance of campaigns before they go live, helping to quickly identify what works best and greatly reducing the risk. Companies like Kantar already do this in minutes, predicting the real impact of ads even before they are launched
These simulations go beyond the numbers, also providing qualitative insights that help understand how different audiences may react to a campaign, functioning as true virtual focus groups
The key to making all of this work well is the correct data. Proprietary data, social media, market reports, customer service conversations and previously produced content are essential for the AI to deliver truly personalized and effective results
This transformation is here to stay. Today it is possible to do much more with less, launching more assertive campaigns, fast and with high return potential. Of course, challenges exist, how to ensure ethics and quality, but the path is already clear: digital advertising will increasingly be guided by Artificial Intelligence, and the marketing professional will have a fundamental strategic role in driving and refining these results
