World’s Largest Ad Agency Taps Nvidia To Conjure Up Campaigns In Minutes With AI

In the same way that CGI revolutionized filmmaking, generative artificial intelligence has transformed the art world. Now, it will likely sweep the advertising sphere too.

WPP, the largest advertising agency in the world, is diving right into the AI boom, which would let it churn out quality campaigns in minutes instead of the usual weeks. The company—which owns communications, advertising, and public relations giants like Ogilvy, Wunderman Thompson, AKQA, and VMLY&R—is working with none other than computer graphics technology firm Nvidia to steer its new AI-powered workflow.

The first big glimpse of this technology was presented by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at Computex Taipei, and it showed a lifelike rendering of a car zooming through a desert. There, audiences learned that the backdrop could be quickly transformed into a rainy street and other settings, with the vehicle adapting its reflections to fit the new environment.

As detailed in a CNN report, the same car could be transported to various streets around the world to appeal to local markets. This step would be instant, knocking off hours or even days from the traditional way of filming on site or using a green screen.

Stephan Pretorius, WPP’s chief technology officer, tells the Financial Times that through the new content engine, the agency would be able to craft 10,000 tailored versions of the same concept “within a couple of minutes.”

Besides generating commercial campaigns “faster, more efficiently, and at scale,” Nvidia’s technology will allow the advertising group’s output to remain aligned with the client’s brand while using copyright-safe content from Adobe and Getty Images. WPP will draw from Adobe’s Substance 3D tools to create 3D  and immersive imagery, as well as harness the Adobe Firefly generator to dream up new graphics and assets.

Projects can then be exported for various digital channels ranging from Instagram to TikTok.

The new ecosystem “outperforms current methods,” which involve hours of manual work, WPP adds.

“Generative AI is changing the world of marketing at incredible speed,” expresses WPP’s CEO Mark Read in a press release. “This new technology will transform the way that brands create content for commercial use, and cements WPP’s position as the industry leader in the creative application of AI for the world’s top brands.”

[via CNN, Financial Times, WPP, cover image via WPP]