Aperture on Generative AI
Created with MidJourney.
Extraordinarily powerful GenAI tools are emerging and revolutionising the way we create in branding and marketing.
Sophisticated tools like MidJourney, Runway and Perplexity have come at the perfect time for strategists, as our role evolves and increases in complexity. The goal of connecting with audiences, differentiating, positioning and storytelling hasn’t changed, but we’re assessing greater amounts of data and insights, and then having to create unique material that both responds to that data and also resonates within a saturated and ever-expanding market.
As we navigate this new terrain, it’s important to understand that the true value of AI doesn't lie in its autonomous capabilities but rather in how we, as creators, define its purpose and master its application. It has the potential to inspire ideation, and vastly change how we create value.
This is what we at DBZ are discovering as we partner with clients to drive change and value creation with AI. We are facing the AI wave with our clients, so we want to share our perspective as we begin to guide AI adoption within marketing teams.
Australian Chinese New Year Campaign
Combining AI and Human Ingenuity
We believe that human ingenuity is irreplaceable—but technology can help and support our ideas, AI is just another part of this evolution.
In his recent book, The Creative Act, music producer and creative thought leader, Rick Rubin, writes:
No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you. And through you the universe that surrounds us all comes into focus.
We don’t believe he had AI on the mind when he wrote it, but it perfectly sums up our perspective on AI capability. In an attempt to legally show you a photo of Rick, we created this picture of him. This is NOT the real Rick Rubin, but our attempt at recreating him using MidJourney. This simple creation shows how AI is changing the landscape of digital reality. An authentic quote, paired with an inaccurate rendition of its author. We feel ethically compelled to disclose this, but will everyone have the same approach?
This is NOT Rick Rubin, but MidJourney's attempt at recreating him.
While AI can process vast amounts of data and generate content at lightning speed, the challenge is producing work of value. Creators are having to learn a whole new language in mastering the intellectual act of prompt engineering, which is essential to creating meaningful assets. The most successful creators will be those who harness the power of AI while infusing their work with authenticity, empathy and a unique vision.
Created with MidJourney for a start-up apparel brand who embroider their garments.
Amplifying Creativity, Not Replacing It
GenAI should be viewed as a powerful instrument in a creator’s toolkit, not as a replacement for human creativity. How you choose to bring a vision to life is your IP and your tool kit—your speciality. AI can certainly amplify your ideas and execute them efficiently, but not necessarily more effectively. It has the potential to be a conceptual wonder, but harnessing its effectiveness is a skill in itself.
To begin with, the question you should ask is: Why are we using AI?
Clearly define AI’s purpose within your strategic or creative goals. AI is not a magic solution, it’s a sophisticated tool that can amplify your efforts and outputs when given clear direction.
For instance, AI tools can be invaluable in:
Content creation: Generating bold concepts, ideas and visuals. Check out MidJourney.
Data analysis: Distilling and analysing research and insights. Check out Perplexity.
Personalisation: Tailoring content to individual preferences at scale. including playing a role and writing from a specific perspective. Check out Claude or the old faithful ChatGPT.
Love Critters Series – Created with MidJourney and PhotoShop.
Share Your AI Aperture
As we integrate GenAI into our way of working, we must be mindful of ethical considerations such as client data privacy, transparency and the potential for bias or hallucination. Brands that prioritise authenticity and ethical use of AI will build stronger, more trusting relationships with their customers.
Balance your unique approach with your bespoke tool kit. This will become a creator's superpower. Let AI take the load off with tasks like data analysis or helping to visualise wild concepts so you can free up more time for strategic thinking and ideation.
Understand that AI's output is only as good as the input and guidance we provide. It's our responsibility to define the brief, set the strategic goals, and establish the ethical boundaries within which AI operates.
We use AI to help generate imagery for DBZ case studies — Explore ANZ Bank Transformation
Master Your Process
At DBZ we guide our clients in how to master the process of working with this technology.
This involves steps like:
Define your brief — Get clear on your use of AI, and which tool will yield the best results.
Data preparation — Ensuring that the AI is trained on high-quality, relevant data.
Prompt engineering — Learning how to craft effective prompts that guide the AI to produce outstanding, unique results, and importantly results that meet your brief.
Output curation — Developing a systematic approach to review and refine AI-generated content to maintain brand consistency and quality and avoid some of its pitfalls, like repetition and homogenous language traits.
Continuous learning — Staying up-to-date with the latest AI developments, constantly learning and refining processes to improve outcomes within your team.
Ethical considerations — Implementing safeguards to ensure AI use aligns with your brand values, privacy regulations and ethical standards.
AI is here. But the most powerful tool at our disposal is not an algorithm, it is the human mind that wields these powerful instruments, and adapts their ways of working to our needs.