April 6 2023 - Should I Let ChatGPT Write My Headlines?

⚡️I really hate writing them. Anyways – It's a slow-ish day and I'll take it! It's going to be in the 70s on the East Coast, so open up those windows and get some fresh air.

Meta's top executives, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, CPO Chris Cox, and CTO Andrew Bosworth, are dedicating most of their time to working on the company's new AI unit, according to Bosworth. The product group, announced in February, focuses on generative AI and aims to use machine learning techniques to generate text, images, and other media that resemble human output. Using large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google's PaLM to help with 3D model creation, making content creation more accessible to more people.

Despite a $13.72 billion loss in 2022 by its Reality Labs division, the digital advertising business continues to be Meta's largest revenue source.

According to Boz, the shipment of the ad tools will happen later this year.

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, has announced that the company plans to integrate conversational AI features into its search engine. This would enhance Google's ability to answer an array of search queries, and Mr. Pichai stated that conversational AI would not pose a threat to Google's search business. The company's long-term investments in large language models would assist the AI conversational features, and Google is testing several new search products, such as versions that allow users to ask follow-up questions to their original queries.

Disney has appointed Joe Earley, the current president of Hulu, as the new president of direct-to-consumer for Disney Entertainment, succeeding Michael Paull who is leaving the company after six years. In the new role, Earley will be responsible for leading Disney's streaming efforts for Disney+ and Hulu and will work with content teams around the company to expand Disney’s streaming efforts. Earley will report to Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden. The announcement comes amid speculation that Disney will sell its 67% ownership in Hulu, and a major restructuring that will result in 7,000 layoffs.

Bob Lee, founder of Cash App and former CTO of Square, was identified as the victim of a fatal stabbing that occurred in San Francisco on April 4th. Lee was in town for a MobileCoin leadership summit and had been staying extra days to see friends. The police have not yet made any arrests or released any suspect details, and the investigation is ongoing. Lee was remembered fondly by his colleagues and friends, and his death has prompted discussions around public safety in San Francisco.

Phil Harrison, former head of Google's cloud gaming service Stadia, has left the company following the platform's closure in January. Harrison, who joined Google in January 2018, is known for his extensive experience in the gaming industry, having worked for Sony, Microsoft's Xbox, and as an advisor for cloud gaming service Gaikai. Stadia failed to live up to its promise and struggled to gain traction as the service felt unfinished and was unable to attract enough users. After just 14 months, Google shut down its in-house Stadia development studios and pivoted to offering a white-labeled service. In September, the company announced that Stadia would be completely shut down.

• McKinney has been selected as the creative agency of record for Popeyes, following a competitive RFP. McKinney's expertise in the food & beverage category, franchise landscape, and connecting culture and iconic brands will be leveraged in its partnership with Popeyes. McKinney will handle all aspects of brand strategy, creative development, and production across all channels, with a focus on social, digital experiences, and sales-driving creative. The creative work will pay homage to Popeyes' New Orleans roots and culture, while driving brand equity and daily sales goals. The first campaign is expected to launch in late spring, and the account will be led by McKinney's Durham office with support from team members in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Phoenix.
• Droga5 CEO of Americas Susie Nam is leaving the agency after 14 years. Nam played a pivotal role in the remarkable success of Droga5, which she joined three years after its inception in 2006, when the agency had only 35 employees in New York. Nam has held numerous positions at the agency, including chief operating officer, head of account management, and group account director. She was also known for her work on diversity and inclusion within the agency and the industry. Dan Gonda, president of Droga5 New York, will succeed Nam. As part of the shift, Sean Lackey, currently Droga5’s global CMO, will add duties for leading communications for Accenture Song in North America.
• Clif Bar & Company has appointed David New York as its creative agency of record, following a competitive pitch. The move comes after snack bar maker Clif Bar was acquired by Mondelēz International last year for $2.9bn. The remit for the business is expected to be global, with the bulk of it in the US. Clif Bar spent $21m on US measured media in 2022, up from $20m the previous year. The appointment of David New York is expected to lead creative with support from teams within Ogilvy and Ogilvy Consulting.
• David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song, discussed recent departures from Droga5 and the impact on the agency's culture in an interview with Ad Age. Droga stated that the departures were expected and part of the agency's evolution after its 2019 acquisition by Accenture. He also mentioned that some executives were absorbed into Accenture Song and that the agency is trying to break new ground and create new relationships. He acknowledged that the culture has changed under Accenture Song but maintained that the agency is still mission-driven and has a bigger future. "You can't be a $200 billion company and have the culture of a 700 person creative startup in New York. It just doesn't work that way"
• Framestore has made several senior creative hires in its New York studio, including Corey Brown as Executive Creative Director, Andre Vidal as VFX supervisor, and Keno Naidoo and Theuns Van Rensburg as compositing supervisors. Brown, a VFX industry veteran with over 25 years of experience, will strengthen Framestore's successful advertising division. Vidal, who joins from The Mill, is an accomplished VFX supervisor known for his work on award-winning campaigns for brands like Pepsi, Bud Light, and PlayStation. Naidoo and Van Rensburg will bring their compositing skills to Framestore's Flame team, and Jordan Carroll has been promoted to head of CG for Framestore's Los Angeles and Chicago studios.
• Mother Design partnered with Peerspace to create a new brand identity that embodies the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Peerspace's diverse customers. The new look and feel pays tribute to Peerspace's mission to be a place where every moment can reach its full potential, with the visual iconography inspired by Peerspace's core offering: Space. The Peerspace Wordmark, inspired by historic analogue poster printing, is bold and monumental, while the “P” Icon is a simple, minimal monogram angled to reference dimension or the opening of a door to endless possibility. The new Peerspace Purple is a blend of the brand’s two previous colors, representing creativity, inventiveness, and imagination. The result is a brand strategy, tone of voice, and visual identity that dynamically adapts to the space it occupies and comes to life in motion.
  

Instrument x Nike Membership. Killer. Full case study on Instrument's website here.

• Substack has announced a new feature called "Notes," which allows users to publish tweet-like posts, including posts, comments, images, and links. The feature will have its own dedicated tab and feeds, and users will be able to like, reply, and reshare posts. Substack co-founders argue that their platform offers healthier incentives for quality content as it is based on subscriptions, making it different from Twitter. Substack promises to offer users tools to protect against trolls. Notes will start rolling out in the "coming days."
• TikTok's ad spending in the US is increasing, despite security concerns and the possibility of a ban. According to Sensor Tower, ad spending on the platform increased by 11% in March, with companies like Pepsi, DoorDash, Amazon, and Apple among the top spenders. Advertisers are largely planning to continue spending on TikTok, and leading agencies such as WPP's GroupM and Omnicom have not advised clients to lower their investment. While some brands have contingency plans in case of a ban, ad executives believe that an immediate ban that would impact advertisers is unlikely.
• Meta has announced its new Segment Anything Model (SAM), an AI model that can identify objects in images and videos, even those that have not been encountered during training. SAM is an image segmentation model that can isolate specific objects within an image in response to text prompts or user clicks. The purpose of image segmentation is to make an image easier to analyze or process. SAM is expected to be useful in understanding webpage content, augmented reality applications, image editing, and for scientific study by localizing animals or objects to track on video. Meta has made SAM and its dataset available for research purposes under an Apache 2.0 license.
• Street Fighter is set to become the next video game franchise to get a new live-action movie, in partnership with Legendary Entertainment, according to an announcement by Capcom. This comes after Legendary acquired the film and TV rights to the series
• Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill are set to star in the upcoming Apple TV+ comedy "Outcome". Hill co-wrote and will direct the dark comedy, while Reeves plays the lead character, Reef, a troubled Hollywood star. The plot follows Reef as he confronts his past after being blackmailed with a video clip. The film will be co-produced by Hill's company, Strong Baby, with Ali Goodwin and Matt Dines. The project is an Apple Studios production
• Over 40% of the latest YC batch are AI/ML startups.

Another from my fav

Balenciaga's AI-generated videos have taken the internet by storm, the trend was sparked by a viral video from AI artist demonflyingfox, featuring Harry Potter characters in Balenciaga clothes. Since then, there's been a real glut of similar videos featuring characters from popular shows and movies sporting Balenciaga outfits.

As always, send us feedback at: thebrandtrackers@gmail.com