The Brandtech Group

🚨3pm GMT today!!🚨 We have long been advocates for tackling bias in Gen AI and developed technology to mitigate the inherent bias in the foundation AI models - it's called Bias Breaker and does what it says on the tin :) This year we have been working with our partners at the WFA to create a joint report and guidance for brands on the issue, called The Inclusive Gen AI Marketing Framework. WFA research found that 90% of multinational brands said tackling bias in Gen AI is extremely or very important, but only 7% have a working definition of AI bias in place. Today at 3pm, one of the key leaders from the Brandtech Gen AI team, Amy Arnell who co-authored the report, is going to be talking with Camelia Cristache-Podgorean from the WFA and Sarah Fleury Global Head of Digital, Bailey's, Progressive Marketing Co-Lead, and Zarina Raja Head of Digital Capability Development, both from Diageo. Join us at 3pm UK today by registering via the link in the comments!

Highly recommended read: Every 6 months Benedict Evans creates a major trends presentation and his latest one is here, FREE! Some great data and insights on the disruption AI is creating herein! Access to the deck in the comments.

We are experiencing what David Jones calls a tectonic disruption to marketing, and when so much is uncertain, clients really need people around them who know what they're talking about. It's a time when there is no shortage of puff press releases and announcements about AI and real substance and expertise are harder to come by. But, you know it when you hear it. Here Claire Leon, the co-founder of Acorn-i, Brandtech's e-commerce business, speaks to Ad Age about Amazon's AI assistant Rufus, which is running one of the first tests for advertising inside an AI chat that could redefine (again!) how people discover products. Full story in the comments.

Congrats Jellyfish!! Well done to some truly brilliant teams!

We have long said that our General Counsel and Brandtech Partner Betty Louie is our secret weapon. Her expertise and experience in the field of brands and AI is second to none! She has written countless policies and other legal guidance for some of the world's biggest brands. it used to be that 'legal' came at the end of the process, but the tectonic shift Gen Ai is creating in marketing means it is now coming at the beginning - and Betty has spearheaded this brilliantly for Brandtech. Here she is speaking recently in a "Contracting for AI and New Tech" session with Microsoft's Pia Biswas moderated by Bar Williams, LegalOn Technologies. They were tackling the practical questions - e.g. where do conventional tech contracts fall short when it comes to AI? And what baseline technical literacy do lawyers need to negotiate AI contracts effectively? Betty said: "We’re seeing a major shift in how brands/advertisers approach AI from a legal standpoint. AI-specific clauses and questionnaires are becoming far more common. However, legal teams should not be complacent to just rely on the AI clauses, they need to understand the specific AI tools and which LLMs are specifically deployed in each case. Or else the legal counsels risk being left behind. Standardized forms and templates that many large companies rely on often don’t serve legal teams well, because they don’t allow them to exercise this new evaluative muscle that AI requires."

Last week Brandtech Partner Daniel Floyed had the very great pleasure of speaking in Dubai at the ABG Marketer of the Future. Daniel spoke about the tectonic shift Gen AI is creating in marketing and shared many insights from working with global brands that are scaling Gen AI. With huge thanks to Eleni Kitra and Katerina Papatryfon Drako for their brilliant organization (and patience!) and our friends at the WFA for inviting us to this excellent event.

Big mergers in the traditional legacy ad businesses - lots of talk about that right now. Talking to Campaign, Brandtech Founder & CEO David Jones says the question to ask around these deals is, "In whose best interest is it?"

Last week our Founder and CEO David Jones spoke at J.P. Morgan's Innovation Economy Summit in New York. David shared why Gen AI is causing a tectonic disruption to marketing and some key insights on the velocity of the change and what global brands should be doing - most importantly, they should not be thinking of Gen AI as something for the future. It is happening right now. With huge thanks to everyone, including Leyonna Barba and John Best.

Jack Smyth is one of Brandtech and Jellyfish's smartest people and has been at the forefront of Gen AI marketing for several years, scaling it with some of the world's biggest brands. He rightly says: " Faster, cheaper creative that doesn’t work is just faster, cheaper failure." In this article he advocates for reuniting creative and media so Gen AI can deliver the better business outcomes is it so capable of. Link to full story in the comments:

Why not spend some of your Friday reading the very excellent Tom Roach's most recent columns in Marketing Week, which cover the topic of Ai in marketing comprehensively. Including the latest one on new System1 and Jellyfish research that shows AI-assisted ads testing better on average than traditionally-produced ads. 💫