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Q&A: AI in Advertising With Rembrand’s Cory Treffiletti

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AI is consuming the advertising space in rapid and innovative ways. 这引发了关于传统植入式广告已成为死亡概念的讨论, 生成式人工智能通过其对不同环境和平台的广泛适应性灵活性取代了物理产品的放置.

One company at the forefront of AI advertising innovations is Rembrand. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with additional offices in two countries, Rembrand focuses on AI activation for video advertising, using their Enhanced In-Scene Advertising technology.  

I talked with Cory Treffiletti, CMO of Rembrand, 关于他在数字营销领域的长期职业生涯,以及他是如何发展出“数据驱动叙事”的方法的,以及人工智能在广告行业的迅速发展和颠覆传统媒体购买流程. We also touched on its unique advantages for content creators, how Rembrand’s AI is being trained for dynamic use in various settings, 以及需要做些什么来帮助改变公众对人工智能的看法,缓解人们对人工智能取代工作或被滥用的担忧.

泰勒·内斯勒:你从1994年开始从事数字营销,并开创了“数据驱动的故事讲述者”的方法,利用数据和对受众的见解. 在营销的背景下,数据驱动的故事叙述对你来说意味着什么, and how is new technology enhancing the core benefits of storytelling?

Cory Treffiletti: 数据驱动的故事叙述融合了我作为营销人员最喜欢的两个元素. The ability to be creative and the ability to be analytical. For me, 市场营销是对人和文化的研究,我们手头的数据几乎是无限的,可以更好地理解这些元素. My process is quite simple: data in, create value, data out. 我首先收集数据来了解我们的受众和目标. You review the data and insights, 你可以假设是什么激励他们,什么让他们兴奋或行动. 然后你把这个假设带到一个创造价值的地方. At this stage, you are looking to create an idea, a story, or a hook that nobody else has come up with. 也许你把一些别人还没有注意到的点联系起来,然后你就形成了一个想法. Then, you test that idea in a logical manner, 以一种精心编排的方式产生分析,为您提供一个信号,要么是积极的,要么是消极的,要么支持或反驳您的假设. Next, you choose a direction based on those signals. 

In this model, your story is organic. It evolves, and it never gets stale or stagnates. That is being a data-driven storyteller. As I have continued to use that model, the technology makes it easier to gain access to data, and AI allows me the chance to process ideas, create hypotheses, and test ideas creatively much faster. For example, I can create imagery that meets a hypothetical approach, 我可以快速测试它,而不必依靠别人来消化我的想法和开发美术作品. I can do it all fast and by myself.

TN:你认为人工智能在广告领域会以什么样的方式发展,并从根本上改变媒体购买的方式? 这种演变的一些关键优势是什么?当前的一些挑战是什么.e.,整个行业还没有完全赶上这种快速发展,等等.)? 

CT: 我认为人工智能的挑战在于行业中大多数人的单一理解点. To date, most people see it as a replacement for roles and responsibilities, thereby displacing people. I don’t see it that way. 最大的公司正在开发文本到图像或文本到视频的产品, and even text-to-music with Generative models, 或者他们正在使用人工智能来提高媒体优化和MarTech工具的决策速度. 这些都是很好的用例,但人们也必须把它看作一个工具,就像Excel或PowerPoint一样. Excel did not kill accountants. 它使他们更容易做他们所做的事情,从而导致其他技术和平台. 

AI is a tool we create to do things we want it to do. Specifically – and I love this line, 我将解释一下——人工智能允许我作为一名营销人员在过程的每个阶段无休止地调整成品. If I am pitching an idea, 我几乎可以毫不费力地使用工具和提示的正确组合来推销成品, and I can do so in a fraction of the time. I am still being creative, but I am creative more quickly. 这意味着我的灵感不会消失,我的激情不会因为一个项目而耗尽. 我不会被困在令人疲惫的会议和旅程中,等待别人完成他们的工作. 我们可以在一个房间里,一起调整项目,看看每个阶段的发展. 这可能是一个脚本,一个主页设计,定位,或任何我们需要开发的内容. The process is accelerated, and that is exciting to me.

TN: Rembrand的In-Scene Media利用尖端的人工智能将品牌媒体和虚拟对象无缝地整合到视频中. 新技术如何使传统的产品植入在当今的市场中变得无关紧要?

CT: It’s a great distinction you make. Product placement takes too long, 要么需要在原始场景中,要么在后期制作中与视觉效果艺术家一起添加, requiring weeks to do it properly. 它也很容易被忽视,因为它的本质是融入场景. Maybe you see it, maybe you don’t. For us, 人工智能生成的场景内媒体的概念是确保媒体不可跳过(考虑到人们如何在线和通过VOD消费视频,这一点非常重要), OTT, 和CTV)和自然,但也引起人们的注意,并通过创造意识来传递曝光, recall, 并推动购买意向或对B2B产品的考虑等行为. 

With AI, we create these media opportunities in hours, enabling brands to be there seamlessly and easily on a CPM model. 我们看到这些自然的插入-带有一点动画或3D激活-在不太侵入的情况下引起注意, 他们与创作者和人们喜爱的内容建立了积极的联系,并转移到品牌上. 当一个品牌被视为支持创作者和观众所热衷的内容时, they comment positively and start to enjoy that brand as well. That’s the goal of all advertising, 我们惊讶地发现,人们的反应是如此积极. 我们看到观众在评论中呼吁在同一品牌的其他人的视频中插入类似的媒体. The viewers are pretty smart!

TN: Now, Rembrand is offering "non-interruptive In-Scene Media.“你能描述一下这个新产品的一些细节,并讨论一下它对内容创作者的独特优势吗??

CT: 从本质上讲,我们使您的品牌融入到高质量的视频内容中,主要是在 YouTube and TikTok, but it is also coming to other platforms soon. Your brand is inserted as a product, as art on the wall, or on a table. We generate these insertions with the brand, 使用我们的人工智能和动画库,使其能够在后期制作中插入视频. That insertion is what we refer to as “physics-informed,” meaning it has to obey the laws of physics: it is the right size, and it has the right lighting and shadowing. If something passes in front of or behind it, it doesn’t have the ghostly hallucinogenic blur that most AI has. 除了引起注意的动画外,它看起来完全正常. It is subtle enough not to be annoying but is always noticed, and since it is in the video itself, it can’t be skipped. 

它还触及了以前被认为遥不可及的受众, such as the people who pay for YouTube Premium. They see these insertions. On the flip side, 创作者非常高兴,因为他们可以保持自己对内容的看法,而不必被迫进行任何赞助阅读或以任何方式提及品牌. Many of those mentions feel forced or are less-than-authentic. 创作者喜欢它,因为他们的内容得到了大品牌的支持,几乎不需要付出任何努力. This happens in a couple of hours, 我们把品牌和创作者之间的所有谈判都压缩成一个单一的插入订单. 

Later this year, 我们计划推出一个完全程序化的版本,用于交易平台和媒体购买解决方案. We want to make this a standardized, simple, 任何品牌都可以轻松扩展并支持这个高质量的创意频道.

TN:目前,虚拟产品植入似乎最适合社交媒体内容创作者,因为内容是围绕稳定/固定镜头的室内环境创作的. 在不久的将来,你如何看待技术的发展,以更好地融入更动态/更不可预测的环境?

CT: 这又回到了场景媒体和虚拟产品植入之间的区别. 虚拟产品植入实际上并不适用于社交媒体,因为内容创作者的周转时间太短了. 它适用于传统电视和电影,但不适用于社交媒体. We started in social media because nobody else was able to do it. It was a green field. 我们的人工智能大大加快了这一过程,我们可以在品牌之间建立联系, audience, and creators in the timeline that works for creators. 

我们计划扩展到电视和电影内容,因为这对我们来说同样容易, even if it is a more cluttered environment with more competition. 你是对的,固定的位置和室内元素使它很容易, but there is a lot of that in traditional video as well. Our AI is being trained on multiple shot clusters, moving cameras, outdoor lighting, and more as we speak. 因此,我们可以在很短的时间内为任何情况下的每个人提供解决方案. 这种限制与其说是关于植入环境,不如说是关于创作者的时间安排.

TN: Overall, 许多形式的人工智能仍然被一些媒体和公众所犹豫不决/担忧, especially with possible unethical uses of generative AI. 你如何向人们解决这些问题,以帮助减轻人工智能挥之不去的污名?

CT: There is concern about the use of AI for deep fakes and more, but those are broad uses that have no constraints placed on them. Our business is constrained on purpose. For us, 我们正在提供一项服务,利用人工智能将品牌和内容融合在一起,并得到创作者的明确认可, the brand, and the implicit approval of the audience. 观众知道这些内容是由广告支持的,所以他们免费或以低成本获得这些内容. 他们可以不间断地体验内容,因为我们融入其中,而不是打扰和暂停内容. 

Meanwhile, 品牌和创作者一起工作,双方对插入和成品都有批准. We are 100% transparent about where the brand runs, with brand safety checks in place, also automated with AI, and we can halt a media insertion before it goes live. That means both sides have control, 我认为人们对人工智能的根本担忧是失去控制. For us, as I mentioned above, 人工智能是一个问题的解决方案,而不是一个可以任意使用的不受约束的工具. That means we use it in a controlled environment. 人工智能行业作为一个整体可以从限制使用中受益,将一些控制元素交还给使用它的人.

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