Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the advertising and marketing landscape, bringing both excitement and apprehension. The rise of AI presents immense opportunities—streamlining workflows, enhancing creativity, and optimising media spend.
At our agency, we’ve been actively exploring the role of AI in digital marketing, and recently, our teams conducted an internal deep dive to examine AI’s impact across various facets of our day-to-day. From content creation to media planning, here’s a breakdown of what we learned.
Content Writing: Battle of the Bots
ChatGPT, the trailblazer in generative AI, has undoubtedly set the standard for many. But today, the market is flooded with alternatives like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot, all vying to outperform each other. To test their capabilities, our digital content writers Elizabeth Cheng, Stella Yum, and Donovan Foong pitted the OG (ChatGPT) against these competitors in a head-to-head battle across several key tasks, including processing vast amounts of information, translation, image generation, plugin support, and research.
What We’ve Discovered: While each tool has its strengths, one thing became clear—ChatGPT still reigns supreme for versatility. For instance, Copilot excelled in converting an image of a data table into a functional Excel sheet, retaining accuracy and structure, where ChatGPT struggled and produced errors. However, ChatGPT proved to be the most reliable overall across different functions, reinforcing its position as the go-to for most creative and research needs.
Key Takeaway: AI tools like ChatGPT are rapidly evolving and, when used strategically, can enhance content creation at scale. Brands can leverage AI to accelerate time-consuming tasks, freeing up writers to focus on crafting narratives that require emotional nuance and depth.
Media Planning: Automation with a Dash of Caution
If you’ve run campaigns on Meta or Google, you’ve likely encountered AI-driven features like Meta’s Advantage+ placements or Google’s AI-powered ad recommendations. These tools are designed to streamline ad planning, setup, and optimisation. But is AI a flawless planner?
What We’ve Discovered: AI shines in speeding up search and structuring media plans, and its ability to automate ad setup drastically reduces manual intervention. However, transparency remains a concern. There’s an underlying worry about how AI decisions are made—what biases may lurk beneath, and whether it’s always acting in a brand’s best interest. Moreover, finding the right balance between relying on AI and human expertise is critical for campaign success.
Key Takeaway: While AI tools can streamline campaign management and deliver impressive results, brands must ensure there’s a human touch guiding the strategy. Oversight is essential to ensure ethical use and to avoid potential pitfalls of algorithmic bias.
Creative & Design: Unleash the Possibilities with AI
When it comes to creativity, the possibilities AI unlocks for creating impactful visuals and videos are practically endless. From generating conceptual images to solving the problem of limited stock photos, AI can turn creative roadblocks into speedways of innovation.
What We’ve Discovered: According to Yee Sook Yan, senior digital art director, and Suvien Lee, senior digital designer
- Time Savings: AI can quickly can quickly generate visuals in line with creative concepts, bypassing time-consuming searches or manual editing in Photoshop.
Our work for Elanco Malaysia, where the animals with capes were generated with the assistance of AI
- Localised Content: AI-generated images can help fill gaps in stock photo libraries—particularly useful for creating localised content like Asian faces for Malaysian audiences
Our work for Woods’ Malaysia
- Inspiration Boost: AI-generated visuals often spark new creative ideas and provide designers with a fresh starting point for concept development.
- Enhanced Storytelling: AI tools can also amplify visual storytelling, helping designers weave compelling narratives faster and more efficiently.
Our work for Arla Malaysia
Key Takeaway: AI isn’t about replacing creativity; it’s about enhancing it. By leveraging AI for creative tasks, creative professionals can save time while producing visually striking and culturally relevant content that resonates with local markets.
Final Thoughts: AI as a Collaborative Tool, Not a Replacement
The role of AI in marketing and advertising is not to replace humans but to assist them. While AI excels in automating repetitive tasks, analysing large data sets, and providing creative inspiration, it’s the human touch that will continue to drive authentic storytelling and genuine emotional connection with audiences.
