AI in Advertising: Secrets Behind the Dorco Campaign

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has transformed many sectors, but few have been as profoundly impacted as advertising and marketing. AI-based content generation tools, such as image, video, text, and sound generators, are redefining how brands create and disseminate their messages. These technologies allow companies to produce more creative, personalized, and effective advertising campaigns at an unprecedented speed and scale.

The Dorco Campaign

An-yal recently created an innovative advertising campaign for Dorco, a Korean razor brand that predominantly incorporated AI. The out-of-home campaign, displayed on more than 25 large screens at Tokyo’s densly populated commuter hubs, Ikebukuro and Takadanobaba, featured three characters representing a crosssection of the brand's consumer profiles: the athlete, the salaryman, and the student.

Each of these characters was entirely produced using MidJourney, an AI image generator. Their faces were then refined and modified with Stable Diffusion, utilizing deepfake techniques for a hyper-realistic result and a natural Japanese voiceover was also added using the sophisticated Voicepeak software.

Using AI tools in this manner eliminates the need to hire actors or photographers for this type of campaign or specific social media content, as well as the necessity of relying on stock photos of people, which frequently fall short in terms of pose, consistency, ethnicity, or age. Therefore, AI can reduce costs and production time while delivering a professional result perfectly tailored to the brand's requirements.

Limitations of Traditional Resources

Working with lifestyle brands targetting the Japanese market, we have frequently encountered the challenge of finding appropriate representations of people of various ethnicities, particularly via stock image and asset libraries.

This can often result in either substituting with an image that does not effectively localize or personalize the message, or simply not using any human representation at all, which can be detrimental to campaigns that rely heavily on personalization or relatability. To a considerable extent, AI is crushing such obstacles in a very positive way.

However, at An-yal, we also wanted to push the boundaries further. For this reason, we developed our newest solution, "Human+," which allows us to explore and combine a range of AI tools with traditional methods and our communication expertise to maximize performance and engagement. This is a synergy that reinforces dynamic, innovative communication strategies and campaigns.

Many More Techniques to Explore

Tools like MidJourney have brought visual creation to a new level. With sophisticated image generation algorithms, it is possible to create high-quality visuals with just a prompt and a few clicks.

For video, platforms like Luma and Runway have recently expanded the limits of video creation. These tools enable the generation of realistic and engaging videos, even without any prior video production experience. Luma, for instance, excels in creating three-dimensional scenes from simple text descriptions, allowing the production of immersive videos that capture viewers' attention.

In the realm of text, OpenAI's ChatGPT has become an indispensable tool for marketers. This AI-assisted text generator quickly creates advertising copy, blog posts, product descriptions, and even video scripts. One of ChatGPT's key advantages is its ability to adapt the tone and style of writing to the specified context, situation and target audience, enabling large-scale personalized communication.

The auditory dimension of advertising campaigns has also been revolutionized by AI, with tools like Suno and ElevenLabs. These sound generators allow for the creation of voiceovers, sound effects, and even original music without needing music libraries, recording studios or professional composers and musicians.

Suno stands out for its ability to generate complete musical compositions in various styles, such as rock, pop, classical, and more, enabling the creation of customizable and royalty-free background music. ElevenLabs, on the other hand, excels at creating high-quality voices that can adapt to different accents, tones, and languages, offering unprecedented flexibility for international campaigns.

Human Oversight Is Crucial

One of the most exciting aspects of using these AI-based generators is their ability to work together to create fully multi-sensory campaigns. The advantages are numerous: cost reduction, faster production, and the ability to test multiple variations of a single visual idea to determine which resonates best with the target audience.

Although AI generators offer incredible possibilities, they are not perfect and still require human intervention. The technical skills of creators remain crucial in guiding the AI, refining the results, and ensuring that the generated content aligns with the brand's strategic vision. Sometimes, AI may produce unexpected or inappropriate outcomes, necessitating human oversight and correction.

However, by significantly accelerating the creative process and opening up new creative avenues, AI facilitates a stimulating expansion of what is historically and currently achievable for advertising and marketing.

Based in Tokyo, An-yal is the leading independent advertising agency for lifestyle brands. Contact us to get ahead with your advertising, marketing and creative needs.