Our own Kevin Jones sits down with ChatGPT to gain some insight on this exciting new technology.

Over the last 10 months or so, much has been made about the rise of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning capabilities of certain Artificial Intelligence language models. Arguably, too much. So much so that even your Wacky Uncle that only listens to AM radio is now asking you “Is AI gonna take your job??”

Advertising agencies especially have seemed more than eager to begin implementing this technology throughout their processes in the hope to streamline their systems, create better, more efficient work, and drum up some sought-after buzz.

Well, I spent the better part of a week with the most culturally prominent of these language models (which we’ll refer to as just AI for simplicity), ChatGPT to see what it knows, what it doesn’t, its capabilities and practicalities, and yes, if it can take my job. Now, as a notable human person, I’ve come to my own possibly biased conclusions. Let’s take a look at what ChatGPT has to say.

First, I asked ChatGPT to “write a 250 word blog post about the benefits and possible use cases of ChatGPT for marketing and advertising agencies.” Seems perhaps a bit self-serving, but I wanted to get a baseline of its understanding and see what it thinks of its own benefits. Here’s a sample of what ChatGPT spat out:

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Title: Unlocking Marketing Potential: Harnessing the Power of ChatGPT

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, marketing and advertising agencies are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage their target audience and drive business growth. Enter ChatGPT, a cutting-edge language model developed by OpenAI. With its advanced capabilities and natural language processing, ChatGPT offers a host of benefits and opens up exciting possibilities for marketing and advertising agencies. In this blog post, we’ll explore the advantages and potential use cases of ChatGPT in the realm of marketing.

1. Personalized Customer Interactions:

ChatGPT enables marketing agencies to deliver highly personalized and interactive experiences to customers. By leveraging its deep learning algorithms, ChatGPT can understand and respond to customer queries, provide recommendations, and offer tailored solutions. This level of personalization fosters stronger customer engagement and builds brand loyalty.

2. Content Generation and Curation:

Producing compelling content is a key component of any marketing strategy. ChatGPT can assist marketing agencies by generating engaging blog posts, social media updates, and email newsletters. Its ability to analyze trends and consumer behavior also aids in curating relevant and timely content, ensuring brands remain at the forefront of their target audience’s minds.

Conclusion: ChatGPT represents a significant leap forward in the capabilities of language models, presenting marketing and advertising agencies with an array of possibilities. From personalized customer interactions to content generation, data analysis, and social media management, ChatGPT offers a powerful tool for agencies to enhance their marketing strategies. By harnessing the potential of ChatGPT, agencies can unlock new levels of customer engagement, streamline operations, and gain a competitive edge in the dynamic world of marketing and advertising.

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Not bad right? Especially considering this took less time than grabbing another cup of coffee, this is a pretty solid surface-level overview of what it can do. Is it overly creative or beyond vague generalizations? No, and that point comes up again and again during this experiment, but that’s not a bug of ChatGPT, but rather a feature of its design.

Let’s see what it can do with some more direct campaign tasks.

To start, I asked: “Generate a multi-channel advertising campaign for a new local coffee shop in Athens, GA.”

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Multi-Channel Advertising Campaign: Brew Haven – A Taste of Athens

Objective:

To create awareness and drive foot traffic to Brew Haven, a new local coffee shop in Athens, GA, by leveraging a diverse range of advertising channels.

1. Social Media Marketing: Create an aesthetically pleasing Instagram account for Brew Haven, highlighting latte art, cozy seating areas, and mouth-watering pastries. Encourage customers to share their Brew Haven experiences using a branded hashtag. Collaborate with local influencers or micro-influencers to amplify reach and engagement.

2. Local Search Advertising: Optimize Brew Haven’s Google My Business listing, ensuring accurate information, attractive visuals, and positive customer reviews. Utilize Google Local Ads to appear prominently in local search results when users search for “coffee shops in Athens, GA.” Highlight unique selling points, such as fair-trade coffee beans or specialty drinks.

3. Out-of-Home Advertising: Strategically place eye-catching billboards along high-traffic routes in Athens, GA. Utilize bold visuals, such as steaming coffee cups or close-ups of latte art, accompanied by a catchy tagline like “Discover Your Perfect Brew at Brew Haven.”

4. Community Engagement: Partner with community events in Athens, GA, such as festivals, farmers’ markets, or art exhibitions. Set up a Brew Haven booth, offer coffee samples, and distribute branded merchandise to generate buzz and connect with potential customers.

5. Collaborative Online Marketing: Collaborate with local food and lifestyle influencers to showcase Brew Haven’s coffee offerings through engaging content and sponsored posts. Offer exclusive discounts to their followers to drive traffic and encourage trial.

Remember to monitor the campaign’s performance through analytics, adjust strategies based on customer feedback, and consistently deliver an exceptional coffee experience to build a loyal customer base. By combining these multi-channel advertising efforts, Brew Haven can establish itself as a beloved coffee destination in Athens, GA.

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Again, a pretty solid showing! It understood the assignment clearly, analyzed the wealth of marketing plans available across the internet, and generated a plan around a new-ish brand that included some creative suggestions. Once more though, this plan is rather generic and reads closer to a textbook case study than an innovative strategy from a creative agency. But even a generic plan is better than no plan at all!

Next, I wanted to see how far it could carry creating a brand on its own, so I asked ChatGPT to generate the rest of the components needed for a new brand. Here are some samples of what it offered:

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Generate a list of alternative name options for the previously described coffee shop

1. Brew Hub
2. Bean Haven
3. Caffeine Haven
4. Grounds & Grind
5. Java Junction

Remember, choosing a name for your coffee shop is an important decision. Consider your target audience, brand identity, and local market when selecting the most fitting option. Conducting a survey or gathering feedback from potential customers could also provide valuable insights into which name resonates the most.

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That’s good advice ChatGPT, I’ll be sure to do that.

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Could you provide name options that are more metaphorical or more Athens, GA related?

1. Athena’s Brew
2. The Acropolis Café
3. The Parthenon Perk
4. The Georgia Grind
5. The Southern Steamer

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A little geographically confused, but it’s got the spirit! Now that we have some name options, let’s think about Brew Haven’s potential customers.

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Develop a series of audience profiles for Brew Haven

1. The Caffeine Connoisseur: This audience profile consists of coffee enthusiasts who have a refined taste for specialty brews. They appreciate the art of coffee-making and seek out unique flavor profiles and brewing methods. They are likely to be knowledgeable about different coffee origins, roasting techniques, and brewing equipment. The Caffeine Connoisseur enjoys exploring new coffee experiences and values a coffee shop that offers a wide selection of single-origin beans, pour-over options, and expertly crafted espresso-based beverages.

2. The Study Group Regulars: This audience profile comprises students and professionals who frequent coffee shops for studying or working. They seek a welcoming and comfortable environment with ample seating, power outlets, and a relaxed atmosphere conducive to productivity. The Study Group Regulars value a coffee shop that provides quality coffee, delicious snacks, and a peaceful ambiance where they can focus on their tasks. Free Wi-Fi and a variety of seating options are essential features for this audience.

3. The Community Connector: This audience profile represents individuals who view coffee shops as social hubs and community gathering places. They appreciate a coffee shop that fosters a sense of belonging and provides a welcoming space for meeting friends, networking, or participating in local events. The Community Connector seeks a coffee shop that hosts live music performances, open mic nights, or art exhibitions. They value engaging with a diverse community and enjoy being part of the local culture.

By understanding these audience profiles, Brew Haven can tailor its offerings, ambiance, and marketing strategies to cater to the specific needs and preferences of each target audience, fostering stronger customer relationships and driving customer loyalty.

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I’m impressed! Audience profiles are pretty abstract ideas, and while again it’s a bit overly generic, some solid insights are presented. Let’s go further.

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Which of these audience profiles should we target as our core audience, and why?

Considering the description of the audience profiles and assuming Brew Haven’s positioning as a local coffee shop in Athens, GA, targeting the “Community Connector” profile may be a strategic choice for the core audience. Here’s why:

1. Local Engagement: Athens, GA, is known for its vibrant community and thriving local culture. By targeting the Community Connector audience, Brew Haven can position itself as a hub for social interaction, fostering a sense of belonging, and becoming an integral part of the local community.
2. Differentiation: While many coffee shops cater to the caffeine connoisseurs or study group regulars, prioritizing the Community Connector audience allows Brew Haven to stand out from the competition and carve a unique niche. By hosting community events, live performances, or art exhibitions, Brew Haven can create a distinct identity and attract individuals seeking engaging social experiences.
3. Word-of-Mouth Marketing: The Community Connector audience tends to be highly engaged and active in sharing their experiences within their social circles. By focusing on this audience, Brew Haven can leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Positive recommendations and enthusiastic sharing of experiences can contribute to organic growth and a loyal customer base.

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This is a much more thoughtful answer than I was expecting! ChatGPT understood the basics of brand positioning and the importance of audience segmentation. This seems to be the strongest area ChatGPT performed, which makes sense when you think about strategy and its roots in research and analyzing data, ChatGPT’s strong suit.

Now let’s move a bit more abstract and creative. What ya got for me ChatGPT?

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Design a logo for Brew Haven

As an AI text-based model, I’m unable to directly design visual content. However, I can describe a logo concept for Brew Haven that you can further explore with a graphic designer.

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That’s fair, little robot, that one’s on me. But how are those copywriting chops?

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Write a few different campaign messages targeting the Community Connector audience to build awareness for Brew Haven

Campaign Message 1: “Unite over a Perfect Cup: Brew Haven, Your Community Coffee Haven”

Campaign Message 2: “Discover More Than Coffee: Brew Haven, Where Community and Culture Blend”

Campaign Message 3: “Join the Brew Haven Family: Where Coffee and Community Embrace”

Remember, when crafting a campaign message, it’s important to ensure consistency with your coffee shop’s brand voice, values, and overall marketing strategy. These messages are starting points, and you can further refine and tailor them to suit your specific goals and brand identity.

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Now I may be a bit biased in this particular area, but I gotta say–not bad! They are a bit on the lengthy side, follow the same pattern, and present pretty generic platitudes, though. But It’s hard to ask a machine to grasp the concept of concision – I’m a wordy guy myself!

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Which of these campaign messages do you like the most?

As an AI language model, I don’t have personal preferences. However, I can provide an analysis based on the effectiveness and potential impact of the campaign messages:

Among the provided campaign messages, “Discover More Than Coffee: Brew Haven, Where Community and Culture Blend” stands out as a strong message. It effectively conveys Brew Haven’s unique value proposition by highlighting the coffee shop’s dedication to supporting local artists, musicians, and community events. This message appeals to the Community Connector audience’s desire for cultural experiences and social engagement, positioning Brew Haven as a vibrant and inclusive space.

The message taps into the community-oriented nature of Brew Haven, aligning well with the target audience’s preferences and aspirations. It would be beneficial to further refine and test these messages to ensure they resonate strongly with the Community Connector audience and effectively build awareness for Brew Haven.

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This is an interesting response–and is likely a result of my asking for subjectivity rather than analysis. ChatGPT had no problem explaining what it thinks will be most effective, but could not provide the message it liked the most. Analysis is always helpful, but to be an effective creative you have to know when to go with feeling, too.

Lastly, I asked ChatGPT the most important questions. The questions I ask myself on a daily basis, and the questions centuries of philosophers and artists have asked repeatedly. Questions we’re still trying to find our own answers to.

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Do you understand creativity?

As an AI language model, I can understand and generate creative content by utilizing the vast amount of knowledge and patterns I have been trained on. I can generate ideas, provide suggestions, and assist in creative tasks. However, it’s important to note that creativity is a complex and subjective concept, often associated with human imagination, originality, and the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. While I can assist in creative endeavors, the true essence of creativity lies within human experiences, emotions, and the ability to think beyond established patterns.

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That’s some Deep Thought Douglas Adams would be proud of.

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Can you think beyond established patterns?

As an AI language model, I can generate responses that go beyond established patterns by leveraging the vast amount of data I have been trained on. I can provide creative ideas, suggestions, and perspectives that may not have been explicitly programmed into me. However, it’s important to note that my responses are ultimately based on the patterns and information present in the training data. While I can offer unique and novel combinations of existing information, my responses are still limited to what has been learned from the data. True human creativity often involves the ability to think abstractly, make intuitive leaps, and draw inspiration from various sources, including personal experiences and emotions. These are aspects that are currently beyond the capabilities of AI.

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That last response really sums it up nicely. ChatGPT, a language processing model, excels at recognizing patterns, analyzing headache-inducing amounts of data, and processing that information to generate content within the identified pattern. That’s pretty damn impressive for a little chatbot! And there are certainly benefits and use cases where that kind of work is extremely helpful. The time saved in research and physical creation alone makes it worth a test drive at the very least.

But we also very quickly see its biggest shortcoming: it can’t come up with something new. Believe me, it’s a harder task than it sounds, but ChatGPT will be the first one to tell you creating a new idea is beyond its capabilities. It struggles even going beyond a surface-level understanding of creativity, creating generic, practically syndicated content.

At the end of the day, ChatGPT won’t be leading brainstorming sessions or pitching new creative ideas to clients. That, fortunately, is still a human burden to bear.