Artificial Intelligence will be the single most disruptive force the world has ever seen. It will change the way we work, the way we communicate, even the very nature of our existence. The world as we know it will be torn down and AI will build a new utopia from the ashes. Or . . . maybe it will do none of that! In reality, it’s way too early to predict the scope of AI’s impact on the world. But, one area we are starting to see AI have some mastery over is the world of advertising.
Welcome to ‘Brand New World,’ a podcast about this nascent moment in marketing and advertising as it all begins to take shape. Join ‘Fast Company’ senior staff editor Jeff Beer who takes a look at how creatives see their work evolving, how ad agencies are embracing this technology, and how big companies such as Google and Coca-Cola are leading the way in deploying AI to grow their brands. Jeff has been covering marketing and brands for the past two decades—during which he’s seen Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, Mac versus PC, Red Bull jump into the stratosphere, and a ‘Barbie’ movie—but never anything quite like this.
All content for Brand New World is the property of Fast Company and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Artificial Intelligence will be the single most disruptive force the world has ever seen. It will change the way we work, the way we communicate, even the very nature of our existence. The world as we know it will be torn down and AI will build a new utopia from the ashes. Or . . . maybe it will do none of that! In reality, it’s way too early to predict the scope of AI’s impact on the world. But, one area we are starting to see AI have some mastery over is the world of advertising.
Welcome to ‘Brand New World,’ a podcast about this nascent moment in marketing and advertising as it all begins to take shape. Join ‘Fast Company’ senior staff editor Jeff Beer who takes a look at how creatives see their work evolving, how ad agencies are embracing this technology, and how big companies such as Google and Coca-Cola are leading the way in deploying AI to grow their brands. Jeff has been covering marketing and brands for the past two decades—during which he’s seen Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, Mac versus PC, Red Bull jump into the stratosphere, and a ‘Barbie’ movie—but never anything quite like this.
This past December, Coca-Cola released a set of holiday ads made entirely from generative AI. They asked three different studios to create their own interpretations of the 1995 Coke holiday spot called “Holidays Are Coming” using AI video-generation models, including Leonardo, Luma, and Runway. The brand got three unique adaptations from studios Silverside AI, the Wild Card, and Jason Zada’s Secret Level.
Even though the AI ads were supposed to be a reimagining of Coke’s holiday ads from the '90s, which is a pretty innocuous concept, the backlash was intense. The reactions were passionate and numerous enough to get coverage from The New York Times, USA Today, NBS News, and more. Despite the backlash, the ads were effective and these new AI ads also got the job done. Coke is confident that its early experimentation is not only fun, but a meaningful investment that—despite the negative reviews in the short term—is setting the company up for long-term marketing success.
In this episode, host Jeff Beer talks to Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola's global vice president for generative AI, about the companies' approach to using AI, creative risk-taking, and those holiday ads.
Brand New World
Artificial Intelligence will be the single most disruptive force the world has ever seen. It will change the way we work, the way we communicate, even the very nature of our existence. The world as we know it will be torn down and AI will build a new utopia from the ashes. Or . . . maybe it will do none of that! In reality, it’s way too early to predict the scope of AI’s impact on the world. But, one area we are starting to see AI have some mastery over is the world of advertising.
Welcome to ‘Brand New World,’ a podcast about this nascent moment in marketing and advertising as it all begins to take shape. Join ‘Fast Company’ senior staff editor Jeff Beer who takes a look at how creatives see their work evolving, how ad agencies are embracing this technology, and how big companies such as Google and Coca-Cola are leading the way in deploying AI to grow their brands. Jeff has been covering marketing and brands for the past two decades—during which he’s seen Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, Mac versus PC, Red Bull jump into the stratosphere, and a ‘Barbie’ movie—but never anything quite like this.