This week, we’re diving into the world of generative AI and its impact on online video creativity.

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, video has cemented itself as a powerful channel, shown by:

• 11% increase in ad spend in 2023
• 1/3 of UK adults watching short form video content on a daily basis

Various studies prove beyond doubt that for capturing attention, cementing memorability and driving profitability, video continuously is shown to be the best format.

However.. it doesn’t come without its challenges. Enter Open AI, the creators of ChatGPT, who last week announced the upcoming release of Sora. This new AI model can create videos of up to a minute in length based on a short text prompt. See the announcement here for some examples of the kind of content it can produce.

What does this mean for you? We believe Sora can help entrepreneurial brands overcome the following challenges:

1. Producing original, engaging and cost-effective video content: From brainstorming ideas to scripting, filming, and editing, the traditional production process can be arduous and costly.
   1. The solution? Sora creates high-resolution, photo-realistic video content from a simple text prompt in seconds. This kind of technology continues to evolve at an incredible pace and integrating it into the process of creating video content – from a creative, analytical and technical standpoint – offers new and exciting opportunities. Generative AI can automate various aspects of the content creation process, allowing marketers to streamline workflows and expedite the production process. By leveraging algorithms trained on vast datasets of video content, generative AI can write scripts, produce storyboard concepts, create video content and even assist in editing tasks, thereby reducing the time and effort required to produce high-quality video adverts.

2. Maintaining audience engagement in an era of content saturation: Especially in cluttered digital environments, consumers’ attention span dwindles meaning that competition for eyeballs is fiercer than ever. Creating content that resonates and captures attention is paramount for brands.
   1. The solution? Generative AI harnesses vast amounts of data to identify trends, preferences, and audience demographics. Armed with these insights, marketers can tailor their video adverts to suit the preferences of their target audience, increasing the likelihood of capturing and retaining viewer attention.

3. Delivering seamless and optimised video content: The proliferation of digital platforms and devices poses a challenge to creating content to fit various digital channels and formats.
   1. The solution? Generative AI can help address this challenge by facilitating the creation of adaptive and responsive video ads. Through advanced algorithms capable of generating content optimised for different screen sizes, resolutions, and platforms, marketers can ensure that their video adverts deliver a consistent and engaging viewing experience across devices, thereby maximising reach and impact.

4. Ensuring authenticity and relevance in video advertising: In an age where consumers demand transparency and authenticity from brands, striking the right tone and message in video adverts is crucial.
   1. The solution? Generative AI analyses consumer sentiment and feedback to generate content that resonates with audiences on a deeper level. By harnessing natural language processing and sentiment analysis capabilities, the tool helps marketers craft narratives and messages that evoke emotion and foster genuine connections with viewers.

Things to consider…

Despite the undeniable potential of generative AI, it is not without its challenges and limitations. Ethical considerations, such as the responsible use of AI-generated content and the potential for bias in algorithmic decision-making, must be carefully addressed.

While generative AI can automate certain aspects of content creation, the focus must always be on humans, be that from a response perspective or not underestimating the power of human creativity and human intuition which remain invaluable assets in the production process.

There is a lot of noise in our industry at the moment around AI and questions still need to be answered. But tools like Sora, in the hands of innovative creative teams, offer exciting opportunities that address a specific need for cost effective, creative and quick-to-produce video ads.

For entrepreneurial brands, this could be a chance to:

• Test and experiment with ideas at scale;
• Try something outrageous or something that would be too difficult (or expensive!) to film with cameras;
• Or, quickly update content for multiple formats to get as broad a reach as possible.

Sora is really restricted to online video, which leaves us and our brands wondering how this can help with TV copy creation. Undoubtedly the benefits of cost efficiency and time can apply, but the data feedback loop, even within AVOD such as ITVx or Netflix is shut off, mainly due to our TV’s not being the device we use to action our thoughts driven from advertising.

The use of data in TV advertising is increasing, especially in the CTV world. The use of retail media for example, Tesco, Boots and now Amazon have all unlocked their databases to supercharge CTV advertising.

Additionally, new tech is coming through to aid contextual placement (a topic we touched on in this edition of The Specialist View). Up until now, contextual advertising in the CTV world was purely based on the genre of the programme and the type of ad being run (in its broadest sense).

However, watch this space…

Advancements from both ITV and Channel 4 have meant that very soon, brands will be able to target contextually relevant environments based upon the actual content of the programme. For example, if in Coronation Street there is a moment focused on holidaying, then a travel brand might be able to take advantage.

This is only available in the AVOD space currently (ITVx and Channel 4 Streaming), but it’s certainly another interesting lever to pull when capturing human attention.