Top Global Advertisers Embrace AI: Nestle, Unilever, and Beyond

• Blockchain Council
• August 23, 2023

In a swiftly evolving realm, multinational giants like Nestle and Unilever are delving into the realm of generative AI, a technological leap that promises streamlined creative processes, reduced costs, and the potential transformation of the advertising landscape, as indicated by a recent Reuters report.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including platforms like ChatGPT and DALL-E, has opened doors to creating a diverse range of content based on historical data. This breakthrough holds the potential to bring about faster, cost-effective, and practically limitless approaches to advertising. Companies are now exploring ways to incorporate AI-generated text, images, and even code into their strategies, aiming to redefine how they connect with consumers.

Nestle, renowned globally as a food industry leader, has taken the lead in exploring the capabilities of ChatGPT 4.0 and DALL-E 2 to amplify its marketing endeavors. Aude Gandon, Nestle’s Global Chief Marketing Officer and a former Google executive is enthusiastic about how AI can inspire and shape creative ideas in line with the brand’s identity. These AI-generated concepts, subsequently polished by human creative teams, culminate in content that deeply resonates with consumers.

In Nestle’s annual report for 2022, e-commerce sales accounted for 15.8 percent of its total revenue, marking a 9.2 percent growth in the previous year. The digital marketing budget surged to 55 percent, underscoring Nestle’s commitment to the digital transformation led by AI.

Unilever, another global conglomerate boasting a plethora of household brands, has taken its AI journey a step further by developing proprietary generative AI technology. This system can craft product descriptions for online retailers and generate visual content for e-commerce platforms. However, the company is proceeding cautiously, wary of concerns related to intellectual property, data privacy, and potential biases ingrained in the AI’s training data.

Unilever’s annual report for 2022 reveals that it invested a staggering €7.8 billion in Brand and Marketing activities, underlining the central role of digital commerce, which saw a remarkable 23 percent growth during the same year.

Amid the allure of AI-generated content, the industry is not immune to apprehensions. Many advertisers are cautious about the security vulnerabilities tied to AI-generated content and the potential for copyright infringements. The persistent issue of unintentional biases present in training data poses a challenge to fully embracing AI-generated content. As a result, human input in the creative process remains a vital factor in the foreseeable future.

WPP, a heavyweight in the advertising realm collaborating with brands like Nestle and Mondelez (maker of Oreo), has already begun integrating generative AI into its campaigns.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, sheds light on the substantial cost benefits stemming from AI utilization. For instance, the collaboration between WPP and Mondelez in India led to the creation of AI-driven advertisements featuring Bollywood sensation Shah Rukh Khan. These advertisements were tailor-made for local businesses, garnering millions of views on platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

While the potential of AI-driven creativity is captivating, concerns regarding potential job displacement loom large. Mark Read acknowledges the ease of focusing on disrupted roles but also emphasizes the emergence of novel opportunities in this evolving landscape.

The transformational potential of generative AI in advertising is undeniable. As companies such as Nestle and Unilever explore innovative ways to leverage this technology, they also grapple with finding an equilibrium between its advantages and challenges. Addressing issues such as bias mitigation and intellectual property concerns, AI is poised to reshape the advertising industry. Nevertheless, the fusion of human creativity and AI-generated content is poised to define the trajectory of future advertising campaigns.

Reflecting on this paradigm shift, Aaron Rajan, Global Vice President of Go To Market Technology at Unilever, expresses concerns over the potential pitfalls: “Ensuring that these models when you type in certain terms are coming back with an unstereotyped view of the world is really critical.”

In a landscape where consumer trust is paramount, brands are venturing into a new frontier. Martin Sorrell, executive chair of advertising group S4 Capital and founder of WPP, divides clients into two buckets—those who plunge into AI and those who opt to experiment cautiously.

The journey, however, is rife with challenges and dilemmas. Ben King, VP of customer trust at Okta, succinctly outlines the cardinal rule in the AI landscape: “If you want a rule of thumb: consider everything you tell an AI service as if it were a really juicy piece of gossip. Would you want it getting out? Would you want someone else knowing the same sort of thing about you? If not, don’t tell the AI.”

In a realm where algorithms meet creativity and automation intersects human imagination, Nestle, Unilever, and other industry titans are scripting a new chapter. The stage is set for AI to revolutionize advertising, and as the curtain rises, the spotlight is on innovation, ethics, and the profound dance between human ingenuity and AI prowess.