AI and the art of advertising

Hiya. Artificial intelligence is already bringing “creative accountability” to some of the squishier parts of the marketing world. But first [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Alex Barinka]( Hiya. Artificial intelligence is already bringing “creative accountability” to some of the squishier parts of the marketing world. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Qualcomm gave an outlook suggesting [smartphone sales are recovering]( • Telsa’s job cuts have now hit [its class of summer interns]( • US regulators barred a Huawei lab [from a program to certify equipment]( Art or science? In the era of digital advertising, a familiar debate emerges across companies of all sizes in every industry: How much should be spent on brand marketing, telling stories about a company’s identity to connect with customers? And how much should be spent on [performance ads](, which aim to quickly drive a specific outcome like a purchase or a subscription sign-up? Companies that want instant gratification and [measurable results]( — and are OK with a more transactional relationship with their customers — might lean into performance ads. When you run an ad on Google for a Venice canal ride experience, for example, you can immediately see the return based on how many people clicked on your link and paid for your service. The problem is [constantly bidding against your competitors]( for the best ad placement on Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc.’s social networks and others can get expensive. At some point, convincing people to come to you directly via brand marketing because they are attracted to your company’s values and reputation may be a better use of some of those advertising dollars. That’s the position travel experience company, [Viator](, found itself in. The company, a unit of [TripAdvisor Inc.](bbg://screens/TRIP%20US%20Equity%20FA), had never conducted a brand campaign. Viator wanted a longer relationship with potential and existing customers, but needed to make sure the time and investment were worth it. “The risk in a brand campaign is that it is inherently difficult to measure and to understand,” said Laurel Greatrix, vice president of brand and communications at Viator. “Where it gets the most nerve wracking is that you have to land on one idea, and that’s quite scary.” The travel company, which generated about 40% of TripAdvisor’s revenue in 2023, worked on the campaign with the Fig Agency, a creative shop founded by longtime ad executive [Mark Figliulo](bbg://people/profile/16549018). To help create the ads, the agency used an an artificial intelligence-driven analysis called Story Data. The tool reviewed all the visual, audio and text where the brand and its competitors showed up — from ads to social media posts and even packaging — and classified the topics and types of stories being told. The obvious use of artificial intelligence in advertising is in performance ads, making and iterating on them more quickly. Fig’s AI-driven retrospective helped the agency hone in on a few messages that would work in a big splashy brand campaign, and back up its ideas with data. “They had creative accountability,” Greatrix said. “We were very quickly able to see this is where we’re going to join the sea of sameness and these three areas are where we might stand out.” The process gave a picture of what other [travel companies](bbg://screens/BI%20INETG) are talking about the most, and where things were quieter. A campaign development process that could’ve taken several quarters was in the market in about four months with the tagline, “Do more with Viator.” In its first campaign with [Fig]( launched in the US in 2023, Viator saw more people searching or coming directly to its site. After working with Fig to analyze that first effort, the company evolved its messaging for a new campaign that’s set to launch in 2024. There’s been a debate among creative professionals about AI taking away jobs or defiling the artistic process. For some, that will certainly be true. But artificial intelligence and its immense ability to crunch data, pattern match and give novel outputs can also speed up a human-centered creative process. “It’s still an art no matter what — even with really hard-core performance data and Story Data, you have to interpret the information. So it’s never, you know, just a press of a button,” Figliulo said. “But this is an additional layer of information so we can make that choice.” —[Alex Barinka](mailto:abarinka2@bloomberg.net) Bloomberg Tech conference Hi, Tom Giles here, hijacking part of today’s newsletter to hype our flagship Bloomberg Tech event, coming up May 9 in San Francisco. We’ve got a stellar lineup that includes Anthropic co-founders Dario and Daniela Amodei, Xbox President Sarah Bond, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Adam Neumann, the former CEO of WeWork. I’m especially excited to get the chance to interview Meta Chief Product Officer Chis Cox, Arm CEO Rene Haas and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman. [Learn More](. The big story Apple’s CarPlay was the most popular in-car information and entertainment dashboard on the market. But General Motors decided the iPhone maker’s software [was just a bit too powerful and created its own]( — much to the dismay of some GM car owners. One to watch [Watch Pinterest Chief Executive Officer Bill Ready be interviewed on Bloomberg Television about the company’s appeal to Gen-Z users.]( Get fully charged Dropbox says hackers breached [its digital-signature product.]( EBay gave a disappointing sales forecast, sending its s[hares down in after-hours trading.]( Take-Two Interactive closed two game studios [as part of broader job cuts](. AI startup Anthropic debuted an [iPhone app for its chatbot, Claude.]( More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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