AI advertising: saving costs, criticisms, testing creativity

You have probably seen a lot of ads recently with AI content. And a new survey shows that people are already sick of seeing those ads. According to this recent survey, nearly three out of four Gen Z consumers react negatively to AI ads. Most of the people say they've taken action, like unfollowing the brand or refusing to buy from companies that use AI in their ads. This is Dr. Chris Covilley. He's creative director at Evoque Advertising. Good to see you. Appreciate you being here today. Good morning. Okay, so what's the big deal with AI ads right now? Why there's so much backlash? I think it comes down to people aren't really tired of creativity. They're really tired of inauthentic, lazy content. And to me, that's the big issue right now is you have a generation that was raised with AI content at their fingertips, so they can tell inauthenticity very easily. And so for us as advertisers, it's our responsibility to deliver authentic content. So are you hearing not only from advertisers, people doing business with you, but the people who are consuming the content, you guys are in the middle there. What are you hearing from people? Well, it's interesting, a couple years ago when AI content was really starting to come in place, if you were using AI, you were considered a trailblazer. Now with the developments, if you're using AI, you're considered lazy. And so it's kind of interesting, and I think using AI for your business is just like hiring a virtual employee. If you don't put the time in to train them properly and understand your business, putting content out, you wouldn't have an intern be your CEO, right? Right, right. Very similar point. So how do you balance that then? Because sometimes you're going to have to use a little AI content here and there. How do you balance it to keep it authentic, but still incorporate some of the new technology? Well, that's a very good question. And AI is only good as the data you give it, right? It never will understand your business. It's predictive modeling, right? So the more data you give it, the better it's going to have for output. So for us, we have a proprietary AI system that we build off of our backbone of creativity need so that it's delivering authentic content. A lot of these systems are all trained out the box to search the internet and do other services like that. So if your business is using the same tool as another business, it's researching the same data. So it may deliver it quickly, but it may not be what you need. I think a lot of people in businesses don't realize the backlash right now. I have two kids in college. Everything is anti-AI on college campuses. We saw that at UCF last year when she said embrace it and the woman got booed, right? I think a lot of adults don't realize that. Companies may not either. So how do you advise them, not only in ads, but in AI all over the place? Because you guys do a bunch of work for companies. What are you saying to them right now? I think for us, it's important to know that AI is not a supplement for your creative output, that it should enhance it, right? So when you're putting the work in, it's still going to be a human conductor making sure everything's moving in succession. And so we use it to allow the team to have more time to dive deeper into the products and services we're trying to promote and understand the client more deeply if you're using it to supplement your creative process or your marketing you're going to run into a big issue so we all get it though small businesses that maybe can't afford a big creative agency right now they're trying to grow into that so they're thinking i need to do something to stand out so what do you advise them at this point i would say if you're going to invest in AI in your business take the time just like onboarding a new employee on by onboard your AI the same way give it the historical information give the DNA of your organization so that when it's crafting content for you it feels authentically you so i did see one the other day we'll give somebody a free tip here they had an AI model doing it and the guy pops on dressed down says don't trust this person they're not real i'm real i thought that was brilliant so there are ways to cut through the clutter still absolutely and i think that's again when we talk about you You know, being a human conductor of AI, it's a human thought process that's going to find those gems and nuggets of how to utilize those services to really enhance the product. And I think whatever generation you are, you can appreciate true creativity. You guys are some of the best. You don't realize all the work they're doing, but you see it everywhere. Evoque Advertising. It was good to see you, Chris. Appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.