5 Brands That Did Big in AI Marketing in 2024 and What They Learned

Brands went AI crazy last year, as they increasingly adopted the growing number of tools available to ease mundane tasks throughout the creative process and create new types of work.

While consumers still feel at odds with brands’ use of technology, some marketing departments have made savings by leveraging generative AI in particular.

In May, Klarna said so reduces sales and marketing costs by 12% per year, and that AI represented 37%, or $10 million, of its annual savings. Similarly, snack giant Mondelez said in June that it invested $100 million in AI in the bet that it could reduce its non-functional media spending by between 10% and 20%, or $30 million to $40 million.

But brands’ use of AI hasn’t been entirely positive. Klarna’s investment comes at the expense of future job cuts, and brands like Coca-Cola and Toys ‘R Us have faced anger from creatives and consumers who worry the rise of AI means for their work.

ADWEEK rounded up five brands that relied on AI marketing this year and the lessons they learned along the way.

1. Klarna

These campaigns, often tied to events like Mother’s Day, Black Friday, and back-to-school, focus on high-volume, time-consuming tasks.Klarna

AI’s big moment

The Swedish “buy now, pay later” company launched 30 campaigns this year around events like Mother’s Day, Black Friday and back to school, generated entirely by AI.

AI came up with ideas, wrote the copy, and created images to produce ads at a volume not possible without it. Without AI, the work would have taken a long time or required external production and translation agencies to tailor the ads for multiple markets.

Klarna has also partnered with AI platform Eleven Labs to use voiceovers for its global campaigns.

“We’ve removed many cumbersome, costly and mundane marketing tasks,” said David Sandstorm, chief marketing officer (CMO). told ADWEEK in October. “Historically, you had to pay an agency or an artist to bring these ideas to life. We saved millions on this ideation process alone.

What happened next?

AI helped the fintech company reduce its sales and marketing expenses by 12% last year while expanding its presence in countries like Austria.

In May, Klarna announcement a $6 million reduction in image production costs as well as a 25% reduction in external agency expenses, such as production, translation, CRM and social media. In total, AI contributed $10 million in annual savings

But Klarna’s warm embrace of AI also has consequences. The company announced in August that it planned to lay off half of its workforce over the next few years, citing in part the growing capabilities of AI.

Lessons learned

Klarna continues to ensure that its use of AI is still rooted in human understanding, as it has found that AI still struggles to handle larger, more complex campaigns. For example, his holiday campaign with NBA veteran Shaquille O’Neal relied heavily on human creativity.

“When it comes to our big creative campaigns, we haven’t yet figured out how AI can help us create an idea,” Sandstorm said.

2. JLL

JLLJLL

AI’s big moment

At ADWEEK’s Brandweek conference in September, JLL CMO Siddharth Taparia shared his plan to implement AI at the real estate company.

Taparia, who joined the company in 2021, said he realized the potential of AI when ChatGPT launched in late 2022.

Since then, he identified AI use cases at JLL that prioritized quick wins and high-impact initiatives and built a team of AI enthusiasts eager to build a culture around technology.

What happened next?

In May 2023, the real estate company introduced responsible AI guidelines. In August, he launched JLL GPTa bespoke generation AI platform used to incentivize board members to invest more in technology.

“Now we not only have their buy-in, but we also have their enthusiasm and excitement behind us,” Taparia said at the conference.

Last month, JLL revealed JLL Falconan AI platform that combines its proprietary data with generative AI “to deliver personalized capabilities and actionable recommendations to investors, occupiers and building professionals,” according to its site. It is one of several AI platforms developed by the company.

Lessons learned

By developing its own AI tools, JLL is finding new ways to use AI to facilitate commercial real estate.

For example, JLL GPT helped generate 3D rental visualizations, calculate sustainability risks, and generate investment leads.

3. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola remade its classic “Holidays Are Coming” with AICoca-Cola

AI’s big moment

Coca-Cola has partnered with Silverside AI to reimagining its classic “Holidays Are Coming” commercial last month.

Known for its annual holiday campaign, this year’s advertising is also included the brand’s Christmas Truck Tour, its second annual “The World Needs More Santas” ad, and a digital AI experience that lets people create custom snow globe animations.

Last year, the brand used AI for its “Create real magic” campaign, allowing people to create digital greeting cards using generative AI.

What happened next?

According to Andrew Tindall, System1’s vice president of partnerships, emotional reaction to the announcement was “extremely positive”, with a score of 5.9 in the US and UK.

However, Coca-Cola faces scrutiny for using AI to create the ad, as many artists and creative professionals have expressed concerns about creative jobs being replaced by technology.

The brand responded to the backlash by stating: “…We are always exploring new ways to connect with consumers and experimenting with different approaches. This year, we created films through the collaboration of human storytellers and the power of generative AI. Coca-Cola will always remain committed to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology.

Lessons learned

Using Stable Diffusion, Pactto, DALL-E, and ChatGPT AI systems made the creation process faster, more collaborative, and allowed Silverside AI to send changes and updates more frequently to Coca-Cola.

The company also found it could use AI to develop personalized versions of the campaign for various cities and markets.

However, keeping up with the evolving technology has been a challenge, as new AI tools have been launched since work on advertising began in June. Silverside AI also noted that the accuracy of the technology was poor and that the ad had to be changed to match Coca-Cola’s color palette and logo.

Coca-Cola has also learned that the use of AI is a sensitive topic for creatives and the public alike, as people worry about the impact the technology could have on their livelihoods.

4. Toys’R’Us

Toys ‘R’ Us Studios and Native Foreign used OpenAI’s Sora tonNarrate-branded film “The Origin Story of the Beloved Toy ‘R’ Us.”Toys’R’Us

AI’s big moment

In June, the toy retailer launched its AI-generated “The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us” ad, featuring a child version of its late founder Charles Lazarus.

The brand’s production arm, Toys ‘R’ Us Studios, and creative agency Native Foreign used OpenAI’s text-to-video conversion tool, Sora, to depict Lazarus as a child with the company’s mascot , Geoffrey the giraffe. The commercial is the first branded film using AI software.

It also used corrective visual effects and an original musical score.

What happened next?

Toys ‘R’ Us’ advert received mixed reactions, with some users on X to like that, others not so much.

AI videographer Allen T. pointed out the discrepancies in the depictions of Lazarus throughout the commercial. “The hands still need work,” he says. wrote in a post.

Lessons learned

Native Foreign Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Nik Kleverov said Sora enabled the team to “tell this incredible story with remarkable speed and efficiency” in just a few weeks.

By The Wall Street JournalMiller Olko said advertising was less expensive, less time-consuming and less labor-intensive than without AI.

“It was a test. I think it was a success,” she said, according to NBC News. “I think there was a lot of learning. If the opportunity presents itself again and it suits us, we will use it, but it’s just one of many things we would do.

5. Pedigree

Pedigree’s “Adoptable,” which used AI to help shelter dogs find homes, won an Outdoor Grand Prix.Pedigree

AI’s big moment

In April, Pedigree used AI for its “Adoptable” campaign to promote pet adoption.

Created by New Zealand agency Colenso BBDO and production company Nexus Studios, the out-of-home (OOH) ads used machine learning models to digitally transform amateur images of real shelter dogs into high-quality, high-quality photos professional.

What happened next?

The ad won the Outdoor Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in June, one of the festival’s grand prizes.

According to Nexus StudiosPedigree saw an increase in shelter visits during the first two weeks of the campaign, with visitors 12% more likely to adopt after seeing the campaign. 50% of the dogs presented were also adopted.

Lessons learned

AI-generated ads can resonate with consumers while still earning big.

Marco Venturelli, jury president and CCO of Publicis Groupe France, said advertising was using AI to support brand engagement, rather than using it for the sake of technology.

“[AI] it was not about replacing the profession, but about evolving the category further,” he said.