Microsoft's new AI ad creation tool

Plus: AI ads on shopping carts?

January 17, 2024

Hey there! If you’ve been using ChatGPT’s free version, it’s time to level up…and you don’t have to make a dent in your precious marketing budget. GPT-4 Turbo, the AI powering ChatGPT Plus, just rolled out on Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot—and it’s free to use. The coolest use case? Copilot allows you to upload images, which means that you can drop your ad creative in the chat box and ask AI questions about its content. You may not trust a bot’s creative opinion (fair), but it’s certainly a fun new way to kick off a campaign review.

Microsoft Launches AI Ad Creation Tool

Source: Microsoft

Last week, Microsoft announced that it’s updating its Retail Media tool with a new AI-powered ad creation element called Creative Studio.

  • Creative Studio enables retailers and advertisers to create ads with simple AI prompts. Users share a product URL and the retailer’s style guide, and the tool will automatically output banner creative for different channels.

  • The new tool allows for easy editing of any banner elements, from imagery to headlines. It can even turn simple product photos into lifestyle images.

  • Once the banner ad campaign goes live, the Retail Media tool leverages AI to choose the most effective banner creative based on click-through and conversion rates.

KitKat Says AI Needs to Take a Break

In its latest ad spot airing in Canada, KitKat is playing on its mantra and leaning into the generative AI craze.

  • KitKat’s 60-second spot shares the findings of a recent study on generative AI: “Simply put ‘Have a break, and then’ before your query…then get a more accurate response from your AI,” the ad reads.

  • The ad is part of a larger campaign by VML, “Have AI Break”—a series of short AI-generated videos targeting Gen Z. The new spot builds upon this foundation with a playful take on AI research.

  • By associating its tagline with generative AI, this 90-year-old candy company successfully repositions itself as a modern, plugged-in brand.

Instacart Brings AI Ads to Shopping Carts

Source: Instacart

Instacart is rethinking the digital ad format with its new pilot program, AI-powered “smart” shopping carts.

  • The company’s Caper Carts highlight new CPG products, deals, and brands on their built-in digital screens.

  • Caper Carts use AI-powered computer vision to automatically add cart items to a digital checkout list. As customers shop, the digital ad screen offers personalized product recommendations based on real-time purchases.

  • Instacart will begin testing the initiative at Bristol Farms supermarkets in Southern California and plans to deploy thousands of Caper Carts across the nation over the next year.

Rakuten Announces AI-Driven Affiliate Marketing

Rakuten Advertising, a global affiliate marketing network, is launching a new AI-powered platform called Partnership Discovery.

  • Partnership Discovery uses AI to find the most effective publishers for advertisers’ product-specific campaigns, prioritizing audience engagement and revenue.

  • The platform assigns a category tag to the advertiser’s product, filters through ad sales to discover the best-performing publishers for that product category, and offers advertisers alternative search terms and categories to reach new audiences.

Around the Web

  • NumberEight raises $2.7M to deliver “privacy-first” identity solutions to advertisers.

  • Google restructures its global advertising team as it strategically shifts towards AI.

  • In the year of the disappearing cookie, AI ad tech is taking over.

  • Salesforce announces new AI-powered tools for its commerce and marketing clouds.

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