 |
|
|
|||||
Last summer, The Brandtech Group CEO David Jones and creative director James Dow went to Cannes Lions to convince the industry of the power in their companys GenAI tools. To show off what the tools could do, Jones and Dow declared they could create a brand in 59 minutes. The Brandtech Group made a spree of AI acquisitions over the past few years. The company’s crown jewel is Pencil, which it acquired in 2023. Pencil uses AI to create static and video ad creative, and as of December, it had generated more than 2.35 million ads for more than 5,000 brands, and processed $2.65 billion in media spend since 2018. Soon after the acquisition, the company launched a premium platform, called Pencil Pro, with Unilever and Bayer as launch partners. Midway through last year, Brandtech claimed it had already produced an average 48% drop in an ads cost-per-action and a 78% boost in return on ad spend compared to a brands baseline. In episode two of Brand New World, I decided to interrogate the claims of Jones and Dow with my own idea for a toothpaste brand as a way to get a peek under the hood of how these tools are significantly changing the advertising we see. What should the toothpaste brand look like? What should it be called? What’s the market analysis and growth strategy? Their answers were . . . impressive. I also spoke to Omnicom Advertising Groups chief operating officer Deepthi Prakash about TBWAs CollectiveAI platform. The Omnicom-owned agency launched the platform last summer. Its a collection of tools trained on the company’s past work to do everything from create social content and brand materials for clients, run ideas by synthetic audiences of any and every desired demographic, and use the company’s DE&I values to create more diverse casting, programs, and partnerships. This episode is about how ad agencies and other brand partners are retooling their services and business using AI, and how that is already impacting brand culture. And, of course, toothpaste. David Jones on the fears of GenAIs impact on creativity: One of the big fears people have is like, everything’s going to look the same. And my first answer to that is just go look at a reel of banking ads and car ads. And they all look the same. This isn’t an AI problem. This is a human problem. But actually you’re going to be able to do so much more to ensure that you can push your brands into different spaces. Omnicoms Deepthi Prakash on the value of ideas in the AI era: As creative becomes more automated, the volume of it is going to grow to an extent where it will be really hard to stand out. And brands are going to have to work a lot harder. And that means you can’t get away with just making campaigns anymore. You actually have to figure out what you stand for, and have a strong and differentiated position if you’re going to survive and not be diminished in your margins, your costs, and even the quality of your product. The content is not going to break through as easily when everybody else can also make it really fast and really cheaply. Feeding the model what the model has created will no longer be useful. Listen to the full episode for more. And if you missed Episode One last week, check it out here.
Category:
E-Commerce
For cryptocurrency investors, Donald Trump represents a great hope. In the libertarian paradise where tokens on blockchains pave the future of the financial system instead of banks, lenders, and brokerages, Trump could even be a prophet. Trump has cleared the way for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and coins with names youve never heard of to go to the metaphorical moon. He has promised to kneecap the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is tasked with reining in fraud on the traditional markets and was getting more comfortable with calling a spade a spade when cryptos acted like equities or trading platforms mimicked the highly regulated function of brokers. Earlier this week, Trump announced a Crypto Strategic Reserve in which the government would presumably use taxpayer money to buy and hold various cryptocurrencies. And on Friday, the White House will hold a crypto summit hosted by Trumps AI and crypto czar, the venture capitalist David Sacks. But one thing is holding him back from being a savior of decentralized finance: tariffs. (Well, really its his entire economic plan.) On Tuesday, tariffs went into effect on goods from China as well as neighbors Canada and Mexico. Not only did the traditional markets falter with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.3% and the S&P 500 dropping 1% as of midday, but the crypto markets took a hit too. The price of Bitcoin fell 1% and Ethereum dropped 1.2%. The Dow and Bitcoin have each erased all of their respective gains since Trump was elected in November. If youre wondering if thats a coincidence that the crypto market is moving in tandem with the stock market, its not. Cryptocurrency was long hailed as a hedge against inflation. So the theory goes: If the economy suffers, the price of goods will go up and the buying power of the U.S. dollar, the worlds reserve currency, will go down. In that scenario, itd be nice to have some alternative asset like precious metals or a digital currency that can bear the brunt ofor even thrive duringthe hard times. But Bitcoin and its peers became so popular in the mid-2010s that investors bought up a lot of it. Treasuries at companies like Microstrategy and Tesla hold billions of dollars in Bitcoin, crypto hedge funds abound, and there are even ways for retail investors to buy crypto on traditional markets such as through Bitcoin ETFs and even in their retirement plans. This intermingling often means that when traditional assets suffer, investors sell crypto and when crypto assets suffer, investors sell traditional assets. Their fates are intertwined. So, when Donald Trump announced his tariffs, both the stock market and the crypto market suffered. In other words, Trump cannot inflict pain on the stock market without sending those shockwaves through the crypto world too. Thats why his laissez-faire approach to digital assets wont workuntil he gets out of his own way, stops picking fights with neighbors and key trading partners, and does something that will actually improve the economy. Unless he does that, Kamala Harris will have been the better pick for the industry, even if she placed a cop on the beat.
Category:
E-Commerce
I like to say that I spend most of my life negotiatingand if you consider your own work and life, you just might feel the same. My career has been full of back-and-forth: I sat across tables negotiating agreements for Christies for over two decades as Global Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships; I stand on stages around the world as a charity auctioneer, negotiating prices up to maximize fundraising; and I founded a talent agency that requires me to negotiate pay and conditions on behalf of my clients. To top it all off, Im a mom of three kids. Over the years, I have listened to many people unknowingly sink their own negotiations with a mistake as simple as using the wrong language, revealing their inexperience and lack of confidence in one sentence. Here are three phrases you should avoid if you want to come out on top in your negotiations every single time: 1. Is it okay if I ask for . . . ? One of the most important things to remember in any negotiation is to project confidence from the minute the conversation begins. I have watched innumerable people show a lack of confidence and subpar negotiating skills in the first couple of minutes of the negotiation with this phrase. If you begin a negotiation asking Is it okay if I ask for . . . ? you have made me the authority, which gives me the upper hand. As an auctioneer, I never look out into the audience and ask the bidder for the next incrementI tell them the number and then wait for them to agree. This doesnt mean you need to walk into a negotiation acting aggressive or assertive if that is not your natural demeanor. In fact, it is better if you act naturally when you walk into the room, so that the person sitting across from you feels comfortable and relaxed. Body language is a telltale sign that you are in control of the situation. If you are the type of person who likes to overexplain or ask for permission, practice the negotiation with friends and family before you walk in the room and get comfortable sitting in silence. Remember, in a negotiation, confident silence will always be your greatest asset. The person who speaks and asks too much will usually come out with less than they wanted. Negotiation is about gaining the upper hand from the minute you sit down . . . and keeping the upper hand until the DocuSign has been completed. 2. Do you think my number is too high? To set the right tone for a negotiation, it is important that you appear to be in control at all times. If you have done your prep work, you should set your LMH number in advance of the meeting. Your L is your Low (walk away) number. Your M is your medium number; you would feel comfortable accepting this offer. Lastly, your H is your high number; would be thrilled to get this in exchange for what you are providing. By thinking this through before the negotiation, you should feel confident you wont give away more than you want or accept less than you should in the heat of negotiation. Even better, this means you dont need to ask the question of the person across the table because you already know what you will accept for the service or product you provide. If they want it, fantastic! If not, you already know what it will take for you to walk away. Also note that a shrewd negotiator will go into a negotiation expecting that a higher number will be stated to start the negotiation. Good negotiators expect the person across the table to be good at negotiating until proven otherwise. If you dont feel like a confident negotiator, asking if your number is too high will only show them you dont feel confident that what you are asking for is worth the number you have put out there. Instead of asking, state your number and let them react to it before continuing the negotiation. 3. I will just wait to hear back from you about next steps. When I stand onstage at an auction watching two bidders battle it out to win the item, the minute I slam down the gavel and read out the paddle number, I recommend the winning bidders credit card number be charged as soon as possible. I learned a long time ago that buyers remorse is real, and things that are purchased in the heat of an auction battle might not be as appealing outside of a crowded room of people cheering on the bidders. I have seen the same thing happen in a negotiation. A negotiation is not done until the contract is signedso make sure to take the initiative to follow up immediately and ensure everything you discussed is ready to be finalized as soon as possible. The sooner you finalize the deal, the sooner you can get on to your next successful negotiation.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||