

How is GenAI disrupting the ad testing market?
GenAI, or AI more generally, is radically disrupting the ad testing business. AI tools leveraged by DAIVID allow us to human-train models on dozens of marketing variables including Attention, Emotion Elicited, Memory and Intention. But the most important piece is how AI tools allow for massive scale. Current ad testing platforms cannot scale to cover the tsunami of new creative, different creative forms – video, social, all forms of content. Yet the need to test all creative assets has never been more important to avoid negative viewer reactions. In short, AI allows marketers to test all ad formats in the ecosystem and test the previously untestable ad content.
How is GenAI changing the way marketers use emotions in marketing?
GenAI is about creating new content. How that content actually creates a human emotional reaction comes from testing that content. Often, what was intended to be the outcome is not what actually happens with a viewer. So GenAI ads need to be tested for their ability to connect with viewers – creating human attention, successful emotion delivery, human ability to remember the ad, and then a person’s intention to do a desired behavior.
GenAI produced creative content allows marketers to experiment more and produce exponentially more content.
Can AI replace human creativity?
A speaker at this years CES said something I thought was interesting. “Creative can be produced using 100% GenAI, but Creativity will never be.” Human creativity will always be the driver of successful ads. But AI can augment that by offering more versions and different experiments to test out human creative ideas. By their very nature, LLMs are designed to leverage what has already been done, whereas humans can imagine what has never before been done.
How can brands maximize the effectiveness of Super Bowl spots?
Test, test, test. Don’t make assumptions about such a high risk advertising event. First, at close to $200k per SECOND, it’s important that SuperBowl ads maximize grabbing attention quickly and retaining attention throughout the ad. Second, ads need to be familiar in some way (which is why so many brands utilize celebrities in the ads). Third, make sure the ads are relevant to a broad cross-section of people. The Super Bowl is one of the highest reaching events of the year, so appealing to a small target segment of viewers is a huge waste. This is why so many high-penetration snack and candy brands advertise on Super Bowl.