Anthony Dean, marketing director at Mars Pet Nutrition, believes marketers should be hesitant when utilising AI unless they’re certain on business and campaign objectives.
“I don’t think we just should be using tech for tech sake. You need to have a business objective that you’re trying to solve that can be elevated through AI. And if you start with a business problem and then use AI as a solution, I think that’s when it’s at its best,” Dean told the AANA x B&T Brand Masters podcast — available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Last year, the pet care brand Pedigree launched ‘Adoptable’, an AI-powered initiative to help end canine homelessness. The AI-powered campaign took out numerous awards, including the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for its ‘Adoptable’ work for pet food brand Pedigree.
‘Adoptable’ used AI to put real, adoptable shelter dogs at the centre of global advertising, accelerating Pedigree’s mission to end dog homelessness, by turning every Pedigree ad into an ad for a shelter dog near you.
Dean highlighted that the campaign was successful due to the real time information that AI gave consumers when they interacted with it. “We had this technology, but the fact that people could go and scan the QR code and know that that dog was in almost walking distance for them to adopt… we’ve never been able to have that before in an adoption campaign,” he said.
In the podcast, Dean refers to the hesitancy of utilising AI, but he also explained why he decided to use it himself.
“Traditional photography, traditional ways of working, were going to be far too expensive and far too slow, and that’s where machine learning came in”, he added.
Listen to the full chat on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or below. Previous guests include Uber’s Andy Morley, outgoing NRMA Insurance chief marketer Michelle Klein and more.
This podcast was produced with help from Earmax Media and MIK Made.
