Why is Gen-AI-led face replacement in ads gaining traction?

The commencement of the festive season has surely got brand marketers on their toes to step up their game from driving brand awareness to driving preference for their brands via advertising along with meeting the demands of the consumers during the period.

Owing to this, brands have resorted to the utilisation of not only new age mediums but also tools and technologies such as Generative AI to cut across the clutter when garnering the desired eyeballs for the creatives in times when audiences are flooded and fatigued with festive-special brand communications.

Traditionally, one of the beliefs that transcended generations of marketers was that roping in celebrities in ad campaigns provided the brand with a certain stature and trust factor in the consumers’ mindspace along with an increased reach. But, in the here and now, brands have upped the ante by shifting gears on customisation and personalisation by enabling these audiences to co-star in the brand campaigns along with celebrities.

While it was the much applauded Cadbury’s SRK My Ad which ignited the trend of leveraging technology to provide personalised experiences to the TGs (for sellers) in the festive period, what has kept it going and growing this year is the ad campaigns rolled out by Seagram’s Royal Stag Packaged Drinking Water, Zomato and Sunfeast Dark Fantasy.

Conceptualised by Seagram’s Royal Stag Packaging Water in association with Creative agency FCB India, Digital agency Dentsu India, Technology partner Artizens Events, and Experiential solutions and Media partner Wavemaker, the fan experience titled ‘A Billion Films For A Billion Fans’ is a campaign which gives fans a chance to feature alongside Indian Cricket Team Captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Surya Kumar Yadav in a personalised ad.

Similarly, ITC Sunfeast Dark Fantasy along with their media partner IPG, teamed up with Akool, to give every SRK fan a first-of-its-kind experience as part of ‘Har Dil Ki Fantasy’ campaign wherein people get a chance to share a screen with the new brand ambassador through ‘#MyFantasyAdWithSRK’.

Mitesh Kothari

In the views of Mitesh Kothari, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, White Rivers Media, the festive ad campaigns have been making a splash, with AI taking the lead role with brands harnessing the same to craft personalised and interactive messages like that of the recent Ganesh Chaturthi campaign conceptualised by the agency for Pulse Candy.

“The secret, you ask? Gen AI. It takes centre stage, replacing the face and voice of the featured character with that of the audience. It fits perfectly to create an ad experience tailored to each viewer's desires. Think shareable and viral. This innovation isn't just about breaking through the clutter; it's about shattering it. When viewers see themselves or similar faces in ads, they're hooked. It sticks in their minds. Plus, personalised ads get shared, far and wide,” he added.

With this he also went on to add that in times when festive ads can be fleeting, AI-led campaigns are actually data-driven and scalable which is why their success usually depends on relevance, creativity, and emotional connection and Gen AI, with its face-swapping magic, helps brands check all these boxes.

Sanju Menon

Sharing his views on the same, Sanju Menon, COO, Wondrlab Network, pointed out that festive campaigns have always struggled to break clutter which is why marketers have been on the lookout to ensure that their campaigns are more connected and sharply targeted with consumers.

“With the dominance of the digital medium, the challenge has been in increasing interactions with the stimulus and what AI-led brand campaigns do is allow one to increase interactivity. Also, with gamification of content, this challenge has minimised to an extent,” he opined.

Generative AI in his view, allows the consumer to play with the content, share their piece and in return increase their affinity with the particular brand. Hence, with AI when one changes the face and voice– and this year especially makes it customised to oneself, there is more time spent with the brand.

“With an attention-deficient audience, solving for this increased interaction time in itself is a big tick on any campaign KPI. And even though these campaigns are short-lived, the novelty resides in the mind of the consumer for a long time,” he added.

Raghav Bagai

Raghav Bagai, Co-founder, SW AI Studios, also shared the viewpoint that this year, there has been a remarkable shift in festive ad campaigns across various categories compared to previous years as brands are increasingly recognising the importance of authenticity and personalisation.

“The trend of leveraging Generative AI has gained significant momentum during the festive period as it allows brands to create campaigns that resonate more deeply with their audiences by offering an unprecedented level of personalisation and inclusivity, all at scale,” he opined.

He also emphasised that today it is all about moving from a one-size-fits-all approach to a one-for-one approach, where every viewer can see themselves represented in the campaign.

“Take the recent campaign by Sunfeast Dark Fantasy for that matter, the touch of personalisation, where every person can make their own ad with Shah Rukh Khan is pure genius, which has become possible only due to Gen AI,” he added.

Sahil Chopra

Striking a similar tone, Sahil Chopra, Founder and CEO- iCubesWire, also stated that the industry is witnessing more technology-driven marketing strategies than last year which focused more on digital presence than digital innovation and the integration of Gen AI, especially for face replacements, is a testament to this.

“Personalisation, AR integrations, and AI-driven content are leading the current trends and Gen AI is undoubtedly emerging as a significant player in this shift. Today, brands use Gen AI to create stronger bonds with their audience and by including the audience's face and voice in their stories, brands make them a central part of the narrative. This deep personalisation transforms how ads engage people, making them more than just viewers but active participants,” he opined.

He then added that what AI offers is actionable insights, allowing for precision targeting and real-time adaptability, streamlining campaign processes, offering predictive analytics and most importantly empowering brands to be proactive rather than reactive in their strategies.

Madhurika Banerjee

As per Madhurika Banerjee, VP- Brand Solutions, Schbang, too, the festive season has always been an important time for brands, so much so that there are various players which specifically park substantial amounts of the marketing budgets for the period and put in all efforts to come up with interesting and engaging ad campaigns.

“Now that we’ve pretty much gone back to the pre-covid times, brands are raring to go all guns blazing during this festive period. Also, personalisation has always been key to the success of any marketing campaign and this time round with the power of Gen AI, a lot of brands are trying to use it to maximise both the efforts and results as AI helps in better prediction of consumer behaviour, identifying trends, and thus customising the messaging in a way which enhances the relevance of content being consumed,” she said.

Moreover, she also pointed out that what AI does is help marketers to better predict consumer behaviour, identify trends, and thus customise the messaging in a way which will enhance the relevance of the content being consumed. It goes without saying that AI comes to the aid to amplify quantity and minimise time, increasing efficiency and in cases where the right human intervention is also leveraged, the effectiveness as well.

“As marketers, we all understand the constant need to innovate and differentiate. An ad campaign is considered to be effective if it is able to influence consumer behaviour or preferences. Celebrity faces are usually used to generate as well as retain interest, and also enhance the brand or product recall. If advertisers are able to achieve the same without a celebrity face, but backed with the power and possibilities AI provides us with, there’s no reason why brands should not leverage AI assisted campaigns where they are not only able to actualise their imagination, but also break the clutter with enhanced creativity, in turn, driving conversations,” she added.

In Sociowash’s Bagai’s views, the trend of leveraging Gen AI for face and voice replacement in ads is influenced by several factors such as the need for brands to break through the clutter by creating content that's more relatable and emotionally resonant with their target audience along with the fostering on inclusivity, showing that brands genuinely care about their customers and their stories.

“This innovation not only cuts through the noise but also builds stronger emotional connections between brands and consumers. It's a way of saying, "You are a part of our story, and we want to celebrate you,” he added.

Further, he also added that while festive campaigns may have a seasonal focus, their impact is long-lasting and that the emotional connection built during these campaigns can lead to lasting brand loyalty.

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