A Mega Deck
The Fundamentals
(Our biggest deck ever)
20. How To Know If You’re A Strategist (The P-Words Of Strategy)�23. Ideas Are First & Forever
24. Ideas Are Thoughts, But Not All Thoughts Are Ideas
27. The Types of Ideas In Advertising
30. What Is An Insight In Advertising
32. How To Write An Insight�33. What Strategy Is Vs What Strategy Is Not
66. Social Media Creative Brief template
67. Insight structure Template
68. Four Points Creative Brief Template
106. 50 Examples of how AI is used in the creative output
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Welcome to The Fundamentals Refresher, a Sweathead mega deck—our biggest deck ever.
It’s built from our top resources on strategy fundamentals to help you sharpen your skills. Careers need strong foundations to stand on, after all.
The strategy landscape feels more volatile than ever. It seems tougher to get hired, and even tougher to stay hired.
Many people in the industry feel like they’re years into burnout. Panic may be creeping in, but one thing remains constant—fundamentals are the job.
While it’s tempting to chase the next hot trend, trends come and go. Fundamentals, however, last—no matter how much the industry changes.
Whether you’re specializing to get hired or generalizing to get promoted, these fundamental skills are the bedrock of your strategy career.
Since this survey, it feels like strategy employment has become more volatile. It seems harder to both get a job and keep a job. And many people with jobs feel like they're years into burnout.
In one of our surveys “What Strategists Want From Work”, strategy bosses said this:
“Specialize to get hired, �generalize to get promoted.”
All of this makes sense: businesses need to survive. But it makes the reality of our industry difficult. And panic can set in.
“Specialize to get hired, �generalize to get promoted.”��So what does this mean?
Many companies are seeing to what degree:
- Artificial intelligence can replace staff,�- Junior employees can be an adequate swap for senior employees,�- Contractors are better for business than full-time workers, and�- What benefits overseas workforces can bring.
To get attention, it helps to “have a thing”, a specialization. Maybe you run a subreddit or you live deep in a music culture or you know the intricacies of YouTube. If you have some fundamental skills plus “a thing”, you become more interesting to people who might hire you.
But you then need to hone your fundamentals. And, having taught thousands of people over the years, Sweathead Founder and Strategy CEO Mark Pollard’s hunch is that many people overshoot what this even means.
For instance, these are fundamentals that are important to a strategist:
Writing�Asking questions�Personal time management�The ability to write a discussion guide�The ability to summarize research into a simple debrief�Staying on top of trends and the zeitgeist�Having a basic understanding of social platforms�Basic account and project management techniques�Making easy-to-understand and captivating decks�Simple Excel techniques�Hosting meetings�Running workshops
If you want to generalize, we think it’s important to generalize across these fundamental skills because you can use them when you generalize across topics: communications planning, data and analytics, trend spotting, qualitative research techniques, artificial intelligence, creative thinking, learning more about the different media channels and social media platforms, and so on.
It can be tempting for people to skip over these fundamental skills while trying to jump onto the hot new thing. But, as you know, hot new things come and go while fundamentals help you grow.
Catch yourself if you or your teams start acting too good for the basics,
Encourage each other to practice the basics - read books on writing, do creative writing exercises, pay attention to good project management techniques,
Maintain healthy skepticism towards hot new things - most fade, but
Make sure you aren’t a default strategist - you know, you do what everyone else does. Have “a thing”.
Now, let’s jump into our top strategy resources to help you sharpen your strategy fundamental skills and set a strong foundation for a thriving career.
The Complete Guide to Enhancing Your Strategy Skills
Starter Kit
by
The Strategist
Introduction
Table of contents
How To Know If You’re A Strategist�(The P-Words Of Strategy)
Ideas Are First & Forever
Ideas are thoughts, but not all thoughts are ideas
Every Idea Has A Type
The Types of Ideas In Advertising
What Is An Insight In Advertising
How Insights Happen
Problems Are Worth Having
How To Write An Insight
What Strategy Is Vs What Strategy Is Not
How To Do Strategy - A Guide
Explaining The Four Points Framework
Where Strategists Get Stuck With The Four Points
The Four Points Framework Examples
How To Put Your Creative Brief To Work
7 Life-Affirming Thoughts To Remember About The Strategy Life
8 Decks Every Strategist Should Read If They Want to Succeed
Why People Ignore Your Creative Briefs
Conclusion
Introduction
Whether you’re just starting out or refining your skills, this deck will guide you through the essentials of strategy work.
In case you don’t know us yet, Sweathead started as a place for people to come together and practice strategy. That’s why it’s called “Sweathead”–because, you know, when you practice thinking, your brain sweats. This isn’t exactly science but we’re maverick like that. Our “place” was anywhere we turned up–in a podcast, at a conference, in a book, or in a social media feed.
Over time and after talking with and teaching thousands of strategists and account planners around the world, we realized a few things:
Introduction
Feedback on our programs often highlights: “You opened my mind to new ways of doing things. You reconnected me to a love of words. I feel more alive in my work.”
Sweathead now exists to unite strategists and help them, their strategies, and their careers flourish.
Whether you’re new to advertising, switching roles, or aiming to elevate your strategy skills, we’re here to support you.
Problems
Account planners have only existed in advertising agencies for 50 years.
Here’s how to know you might be one:
Some people might think you’re negative because you see problems everywhere. But what’s more important is that you see them like puzzles—they’re something for you to solve. And that’s why you love them.
How To Know If You’re A Strategist (The P-Words Of Strategy)
How To Know If You’re A Strategist (The P-Words Of Strategy)
People
You’re a self-confessed people-watcher. Sometimes, you wonder if you should spend time in the middle of the crowd but you often find yourself backing away to watch what’s happening.
Prying
You have two modes:
1. Avoiding small talk, and�2. Long, dark conversations.
Or, you simply like to ask questions and don’t mind an awkward silence. You know the truth will unfurl itself eventually.
How To Know If You’re A Strategist (The P-Words Of Strategy)
Patterns
You disappear into rabbit holes that seem disconnected only to come up for fresh air with dots connected in a new and useful and vibrant way. A novel you read when you were 12, your recent Netflix binge, and insurance “Here’s the connection!"
Possibility
A lot of strategists present as cynics because they use negativity to come up with ideas. But, deep down, strategists are filled with the hope of possibility. It’s just uncool to show it sometimes.
Persistence
Sure, a big chunk of the strategist's job is finding out stuff and thinking about the stuff they find. But a lot of the job is exerting yourself at other people to get them on board with your—or, other people's—thinking.
Pitching
Strategists need to enjoy pitching their and their colleagues' ideas to clients or stakeholders. Fear of or hatred of pitching means the strategist might be best suited to be an intellectual.
Strategy is ideas and ideas are made of words. After you have round facts in research, you combine these facts with feelings and you origami it all into something new.
This new thing is a combination of things that have already existed. This new thing, if it’s good, will be an idea. And you'll express the idea in words.
When people fight these two truths that strategy is ideas and ideas are made of words-they are fighting to defend their sense of identity, their status, and their desire to feel they own certain words and that other people do not get to play with those words.
Ideas Are First & Forever
Here is how you can know if you have an actual idea:
You can do whatever you like with words, because nobody owns words, but when you throw words at other people it is considerate for you to hold yourself accountable for the way you throw the words.
Otherwise, what are you saying?
And if you hurl the word "idea” at people all day without knowing what you're saying, the word “idea” will limp home exhausted to its TV dinner in desperate need to recover from its daytime nightmare and anxious whether its stress will let it sleep at all.
The word “idea” is used in almost as many ways as the word “thing”. This is why the word “idea” often gets in the way of actual ideas.
Ideas Are Thoughts, But Not All Thoughts Are Ideas
Here Is How You Know If You Have An Idea:
There is a combination of things that do not usually exist together.
It is useful. Utility comes in many shapes including entertainment, connection, and access to resources.
It feels unfamiliar. This may be hard to pinpoint because it requires extensive domain knowledge, which is what people with experience can bring (though not always).
It answers a problem and does so with compassion for the people experiencing the problem.
There is something dramatic about it. Fear and strange sounds are worth a strategist’s ears.
Ideas are born for battle. To explain them well is to give them the best chance of survival. It is also to love them for how specific they are using words to do so.
Watch “What Is An Idea? An Introduction To Lateral Thinking” here.
You meet a lot of types of ideas in advertising. You might even have a type. The problem is the word “idea” masquerade as all of the types of ideas if the speaker doesn't clarify what they intend.
The following list of idea types isn’t exhaustive but it hopes to make your workdays less exhausting.
Some of these types are interchangeable, even synonymous, depending on who’s using the words. Some of these types mature or regress into other types over time.
Understanding the types matters, but so does the question, “What are we talking about here?”
Every Idea Has
A Type
Watch the full video here
The 16 Types Of Ideas In Advertising
Problems are so powerful that they appear in every story, whether it’s Can’t find Love, Must Fight Aliens, Get Back Home, Discover the Thing, Beat the Baddy and so on…
And in each story are scenes that give characters problems:
Sneak In Unnoticed, Get Through Traffic, Recruit More Allies, Escape The Depression, Stay Quiet Longer.
Each story and each scene say:�“Here’s a problem. Sexy, isn’t it?” And humans gorge themselves on all of it.
Humans are stories. All that noise in your head is you telling yourself stories about problems you have. That last conversation you had, good or bad, was one big story built on many problems.
Problems Are Worth Having
Problems Are Worth Having
Problems are necessary human dramas. They help us survive.
The irony is this:
Our lust for problems is matched only by our fear of problems.
But why is this? What is our problem with problems?
Problems can do good things. Problems help people sell. Not only do problems help us sell and survive, problem also captivate brains. Problems shock the ego into activity.
Remember that throughout your strategy career. It will help you see and work with problems in a more effective way.
The campaign brings to life long-term brand assets,
The campaign is creative,
The campaign makes people react--emotionally.
An insight is not usually the campaign idea.
An insight will lead to and sit in a campaign idea.
Learn More About What Is An Insight In Advertising here
What Is An Insight In Advertising
Insights can help all of this happen.
Insights can come from all over the place.
Sweathead Founder and Strategy CEO Mark Pollard shares with us seven places he’s seen insights coming from.
How Insights Happen
Watch the full video here
You can write an insight however you’d like to write an insight.
This is because you are an adult, you're in possession of a brain, and you want to take responsibility for your life.
How To Write An Insight
You can also define the word “insight” however you would like to define it, for the same three reasons.
But there are useful writing techniques to help you put a twist, a turning point, a tension, or a surprise into a sentence.
Thinking of insights and ideas as surprises can help. Both take something people think they know and then, Surprise!
The Four Points Framework is a strategy framework that we teach. Sweathead’s Mark Pollard wrote a whole book on it called “Strategy Is Your Words”.
It centers the strategist on the problem they need to solve.
�In The Four Points, the problem is the barrier in the way of someone doing or buying something.
Watch this video from Sweathead Founder Mark Pollard explaining the Four Points Framework.
Explaining The Four Points Framework
“The problem seems like the insight.”
Here are a few places where people get stuck with the Four Points Framework:
We encourage you to dig beyond the obvious problems such as “low awareness” and to find something that is true, that you can argue for, but that also feels like an epiphany.
The problem is the reason someone isn’t buying or doing something. It’s the barrier or obstacle in their minds preventing them from action. That’s how the problem is different from the insight.
Where Strategists Get Stuck With The Four Points
Where Strategists Get Stuck With The Four Points
“The problem seems negative.”
Yes, problems can seem like criticisms.
They’re still worth your time for all the reasons you’ll hear Mark Pollard talk about. It’s another thing to decide whether you use the word when presenting your thinking in environments that police negativity.
Shallow or misdirected insights
With insights - and, yes, we know people debate whether you even need one - we want to have this reaction:
“Oh I hadn’t thought about it like that before. And it’s deeply true.”
We need to be able to provide evidence to argue for them but they usually involve little lateral leaps.
Often the insights we see are somewhat shallow or familiar, or they describe something about the brand. Yes, you can say there are different categories of insights but Mark Pollard likes to focus them on people, not brands.
Where Strategists Get Stuck With The Four Points
Not bringing one clear and interesting theme through
Yes, there’s so much discussion about strategy frameworks these days - people on LinkedIn mocking other people’s frameworks (what happened to us?) - but one of the main issue with how people use any framework is not pulling through one clear and interesting theme.
We encourages students to not fear repetition of words throughout frameworks. Repetition can make your thinking easier to understand and remember.
Cloudy words - academic and intellectual language
Every now and then we will see a clear problem statement - something fresh and captivating. But, then, when we scan the words to come, 3 - and 4 - syllable words start to litter each sentence.
This rarely makes for clear writing. It's okay if it happens but make sure you go back and switch out most of the big words for 1- and 2-syllable words.
Where Strategists Get Stuck With The Four Points
Letting product information win
We find that product marketers and founders can struggle with seeing their world through the minds of their users or customers.
Often their strategy stories will feel like a list of information about their product when he is trying to get them to think more about the customer.
A lack of mischief
Yes, we share silly examples of the Four Points.
We do this because we find it amusing but also to make the point that so much strategy is too dry to be useful.
Every now and then a student will mimic this approach and almost sound like Mark Pollard but while working on a serious project. He doesn’t mind this - He’d rather see some mischief that you can turn down instead of something that is flat, going nowhere, and that needs to be redone from scratch.
The Four Points Framework - Student Work
The Four Points Framework - Student Work
Read “Sweathead’s Best Strategy Homework” for more examples
Creative briefs are important but people take them too seriously. �Can both of these things be true at the same time? YESSS!!!
What do we mean?
Creative briefs try to gather all of the most important things you’ve found and discussed while working on a campaign. This could involve months of research, tens of workshops, hundreds of emails and many meetings.
But all of that is a YOU problem not a CREATIVE BRIEF problem.
The creative brief doesn’t need any of it.
In fact, when you’re writing a creative brief, ask yourself, “What’s the least I need to write?”
Keep it short. Keep it cheeky. Write phrases loaded with visuals like you’re heaping cheese onto a cheese burger that you then dip into a cheese fondue that’s sitting on top of the world’s largest Camembert that’s floating on a cheese ocean just off the coast of Brie.
How To Put Your Creative Brief To Work
How To Put Your Creative Brief To Work
The job of a creative brief is not to educate the creative team about marketing.
The job of a creative brief is not to bully the creative team with EVERYTHING YOU KNOW or show your boss how much money you’ve spent on your education.
The job of a creative brief is not to put in plain sight the politics of everyone touching the project or to list all the features the product team are infatuated with.
The job of a creative brief is devious clarity. It’s an attempt to mess with the creative team. You point a candle at a big sky and say, “There, that star. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Reckon you can reach it on this step-ladder if I hold it?”
Can I write this creative brief in a creative way?
What’s the least I need to write to make it work?
Is it obvious or unexpected and a bit devious?
Ask yourself:
Am I telling the creative team anything they don’t already know?
Your creative briefs are not brief or creative
If you are wondering why people ignore your creative brief, it’s probably because you are doing one or more of the following things:
Keep your creative briefs to one page and load them up with lateral thoughts you’d expect from a good nonfiction writer.
Why People Ignore Your Creative Briefs
Your creative briefs are vague and full of jargon
If you try to sound like a strategist, people will ignore you. Sound like a writer. Keep things street-level.
Why People Ignore Your Creative Briefs
You’re inflexible and seek obedience
If you patronize creative teams and treat them like you’re a school principal, they won’t want to deal with you.
You’re trying to do the creative team’s job
Creative briefs that try to answer themselves with campaign ideas and aggressive thought-starters will offend.
You peddle the obvious
If your briefs don't include revelations, they are dead on arrival.
�Reveal to the creative team things they haven’t thought of before.
Why People Ignore Your Creative Briefs
You ignore everyone else’s thoughts
Strategists are channels-if a colleague uses better words, use their words.
The creative team doesn’t get strategy or doesn’t like it
Strategists need to be more likable than creative teams because that’s how the game works.
Your creative briefs come out of nowhere
Creative minds resist other people’s thoughts because the ego wants to originate. Talk before you brief.
You get to learn for a living
Many of us who think for a living feel this existential pressure right now:
How can I feed myself with my thinking?
As a small antidote to the dark thoughts, here are seven life-affirming thoughts:
7 Life-Affirming Thoughts To Remember About The Strategy Life
This is why it’s weird when strategists rush to have immediate answers rather than relishing the finding of answers over time.
7 Life-Affirming Thoughts To Remember About The Strategy Life
Your life is full of ideas
Creativity is surely one of the most innate human traits. And you get paid to do it (well, if you’re lucky).
You get to solve chunky problems
There is so much power in problems that being put in a position to help people solve them is a privilege.
People let you into their lives
You might have interviewed someone about soap this week but you might also be the only person who’s listened to your interviewee all week.
You hold space for people’s ideas
You might fight this at times but a lot of what you do makes other people’s ideas possible. This is an honor.
7 Life-Affirming Thoughts To Remember About The Strategy Life
You help people make a living
You might change the world a little
You might struggle with this idea at times but you are at the heart of capitalism. This means you help jobs happen.
For better and for worse, just a little of the world is in your hands.
Did these thoughts inspire you a little bit?
Read here
Conclusion
We appreciate the time you spent exploring The Strategist Starter Kit.
We hope this guide has provided valuable knowledge, practical tools, and renewed enthusiasm for your strategy work.
As you refine your skills, remember:
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(Find out the most common strategy frameworks for people who work in advertising)
Strategy Frameworks
To Build A Career With
Table of contents
Get/To/By Framework
Before we get to the frameworks, let’s talk about 7 important things you should consider about them.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The On-Going�Battle Of The�Strategy�Frameworks
Let’s state the obvious:
Frameworks frame work.
Read it again, frameworks frame work.
You need to do the research, think critically, and then you get to frame your thinking.
Frameworks aren’t forms you mindlessly fill in.
Frameworks are prompts, creative constraints. They help you focus but you still need to focus.
The On-Going Battle Of The Strategy Frameworks
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
There is no ONE BEST FRAMEWORK
You can get to a strategy off the back of one sentence from an interview or by digging into the problem then reversing it.
Frameworks are useful signposts in presentations but you only need two.
One before the idea and one after (comms plan).
Frameworks benefit from a clear company philosophy.
Think McCann’s Truth Well Told, TBWA’s Disruption. The briefs would bring the philosophy to life too.
A lot of frameworks are filled in with jargon.
Try to use 1- and 2-syllable words. You don’t get paid by the syllable.
Carry a theme through the framework.
Otherwise, you just have a bunch of random disconnected stuff.
Strategy Frameworks
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Now, let’s get to the most common strategy frameworks for people who work in advertising.
But…remember:
Pineapple words are words with few synonyms. �
When we say “pineapple”, you think 🍍. ��When we say “holistic”, what do you think? [cloud??? Or confused???]
The 4Cs is a strategy framework that has been used �by account planners in advertising for decades.
It seeks to summarize the account planner’s �research into four categories:
● Consumer truth�● Category truth�● Cultural truth�● Company truth
In fact, it is often the final slide presented before the campaign idea is revealed and all the campaign tactics and executions unfold.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The 4Cs Framework
The 6Cs is a strategy framework is an evolution of the 4Cs that we’ve seen McCann use.
It adds Channel Truth (or Communications truth). As in, what’s happening in the media or in our communications channels?
And it adds Conscious Inclusion. As in, What’s a group of people we need to consciously include or consider in this campaign?
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The 6Cs Framework
Get/To/By originates from BBDO.
It seems simple but, like all frameworks, is often used in a way that is a waste of everyone’s time.
For example:
Get - people who don’t like pineapples
To - buy pineapples
By - telling them to buy pineapples, making 4 videos, and sending them an email.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Get/To/By Framework
The Four Points Framework is a strategy framework that we teach. Sweathead’s Mark Pollard wrote a whole book on it - “Strategy Is Your Words”.
It centers the strategist on the problem they need to solve. In the Four Points, the problem is the barrier in the way of someone doing or buying something.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Watch this video of Sweathead Founder Mark Pollard explaining the Four Points Framework.
The Four Points Framework
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The Four Points Framework - Example:
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The Four Points Framework - Example:
For/Only/Because is technically a way to structure a positioning statement. It can be a bit awkward because it doesn’t always read easily in a sentence. But you could use this on a brief.
EG
For vegans who wince when they eat pineapple�Only Winceless Pineapples won’t make them wince�By removing all wince powers from our pineapples�Unlike pineapples that make you wince
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
For/Only/Because�Framework
This framework came from our work with social media platforms and publishers.
We often saw these things lacking in pitches to brands: �1. The brand and what it needed to communicate,�2. Platform- or publisher-specific intel, and�3. Space to promote new feature that the sales team was trying to sell.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Strategy Framework For Social Platforms
We can’t explain comms planning in one page but this is a useful framework that Maria Van Buskirk from Mother uses.
The goal is to make sure the campaign idea turns up in channels in a way where the theme of the idea connects with the theme of a channel.
EG If you want to sell intimacy, perhaps you turn up where intimacy is lacking.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Comms Framework
We made this template to address a few things:
1. Marketing effectiveness research not often being known in social media circles,
2. Our own needs as people who make content every day,
3. Social media briefs often really being product briefs – very long and full of technical details.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Social Media Creative�Brief Template
Front Page
Back Page
We love an insight but the main thing your advertising needs to do is trigger an emotional response. Insights help do this but there are other ways to do this, too. For instance, music, story, facial reactions.
Insights are unspoken human truths.
You can practice writing them by jamming a word like “But” in the middle. This helps to twist the sentence and give it drama.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Insight Structure�Template
This is a simple template if you’d like to try Mark’s Four Points framework.
On one side is a simple summary.
On the other side is a little more detail.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Four Points Creative�Brief Template
Anything can be put into a framework. Watch this video for 7 frameworks that can help you think on your feet.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
7 Ways To Do�Strategy Fast
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
The 5 Most Common Issues With Strategy Frameworks are:
When a strategist tries to sound like a strategist
There’s no theme running thru it
Boring info, no revelations
Writing in paragraphs instead of one simple
sentence in each box to look thorough
Mimicking, not inventing
Make sure you take these things into consideration when using any framework.
Conclusion
We hope this deck can help you throughout your strategy career, serving as a useful guide to help you create meaningful work.
The Sweathead team is here to support our global community of strategists throughout their lifelong journey and careers.
Strategy Frameworks To Build A Strategy Career With
Get your ticket here
Learn and practice the most fun parts of advertising strategy in these countries in March and April:
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Turn Information Monsters into Story Rainbows that Seduce Instead of Bore Your Audience.
The Ultimate Guide To�Powerful Presentations
Introduction
03.
Table of contents
The Main Issue With Most Presentations
04.
The Simplest Way To Structure Your Presentation
05.
How To Make Your Presentation Make A Point
07.
Weakest Way Vs. Strongest Way To End A Presentation
09.
Your Presentations Are Boring - Here’s How Screenplay Techniques Can Help
14.
Conclusion
15.
Introduction
Most presentations we see today are Information Monsters – like reading a long drawer of index cards in a library.�
Most presentations are also STATISTACTICS. A whole bunch of numbers with “some random shit we could do but we haven’t thought any of it through.”��Then we have presentations that look like Story Rainbows. And it’s the one that seduces people instead of beating them down with a high amount of boring information.
This guide is aimed to help you create powerful presentations by transforming Information Monsters into Story Rainbows that Seduce Instead of Bore People.
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
The Main Issue With Most Presentations
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
The Simplest Way�To Structure Your Presentation
Your presentation is divided into three distinct acts: one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end.
Here’s what a well-structured presentation looks like:
Hook
(start in the action, bring the drama)
ACT 1
Situation
(10 slides, build on one theme)
Challenge
(state the problem)
Our Idea
(dwell on the organizing idea)
ACT 2
Our Tactics
(only what you recommend, connected to the theme)
Rollout Plan
ACT 3
Logistics
End
(what the future looks like, revive the hook)
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Humans are blessed and cursed with the ability �to ask this question.
Where other animals are free to animal, this question tickles and shin-kicks human brains day in, day out. Answers have led to art, war, love, hate, articles for business websites, and cumbersome presentations. And, if you’ve ever frozen in front of a presentation, as Michael Jackson once sang, “Remember the time.”
Make a point
Make people care about your point
Ask for something
How To Make Your Presentation Make a Point
You’re here to do three things:
Sweathead CEO and “Strategy Is Your Words” writer Mark Pollard wrote the article “How to make a presentation make a point” to help you focus on your point - how to get to it, how to structure it, and how to design it.
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Weakest way to end a presentation?�“Thank you”��Strong way to end a presentation?�Storytime
Weakest Way�Vs.�Strongest Way�To End A Presentation
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Follow-through�Bring a story through
Reversing�Make it the opposite
Routines�Make it the opposite
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
An anecdote from your life
“When I was 12 years old...”
What kinds of stories?
An anecdote from history
“Here’s a thing from a long time ago that we can learn from...”
An anecdote from your research
“I was interviewing this person...”
An anecdote from pop culture
“When Wu Tang Clan released their first album...”
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Information
Information
Information
Information
Idea
Information
Information
Thank you
The Shift
To
Hook
Revelation
Argument
Argument
Argument
Idea
Idea
Story high
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Here’s How Screenplay Techniques Can Help By Victor Pineiro
�Director of Digital Innovation & Creators at HBO Max�Victor Pineiro shared with us this helpful tip to improve�your presentations with screenplay techniques at our previous conference, The Do-Together.
Your Presentations�Are Boring
Conclusion
Well done. You’ve reached the end of “The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Presentations.”
We hope it has empowered you to transform your presentations from dull Information Monsters into captivating Story Rainbows that engage and seduce your audience.
By now, you should have a solid understanding on:
The Ultimate Guide To Powerful Presentations
Remember, a powerful presentation is not just about conveying information; it’s about telling a story that resonates, persuades, and inspires.
Use the techniques shared in this guide to craft presentations that leave a lasting impression.
Thank you for taking the time to improve your presentation skills with us. If you found this guide helpful, please share it with others.
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50
How Brands
Examples
Of
Are Using AI
survey
+
Table of contents
Ci En Lee is a Media Strategist with Publicis Groupe in sunny Singapore, who wants to take a stab at making brands famous.
You might find his name familiar from the resources he has shared with the strategy community. Since 2020, he has pulled together all the major trend reports, and along with some friends in the industry, puts it all out there for everyone to use and apply. Check out the latest 2024 Trends Google Drive folder here.
Credits
Media Strategist
Ci En Lee
Connect with him here
Artificial Intelligence is mentioned in almost every 2024 trend report. There is a lot of speculation about how it will affect our lives. The speculation comes from dreamers and visionaries as well as critics and naysayers.
But how will AI affect the dayjob of strategists?
To gauge where we are right now, we ran a survey spanning three areas:�1. AI readiness, 2. AI beliefs, and 3. The perceived impact of AI. ��There’s hope in the air for AI…to save time but there are also frustrations: the insights it provides in its current state are not seen as very useful or reliable, and this can waste the time it’s meant to save. It’s like a big shrug. Right now.
But there’s an expectation that this will change.
Introduction
AI
Survey
Results
AI Survey
We surveyed 210 people from our community in January 2024.
You can see the questions we asked.
It was a simple, rough-and-ready survey but we hope you find this a valuable contribution to the advertising community.
01 - What country are you from?
02 - Which best describes your current situation?
03 - How often do you use AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Bard or Copilot?
04 - To what degree has your company formally adopted AI?
05 - Which of the below are formally in place at your company?
06 - What access to AI tools do you have?
07 - How do you feel towards AI? (Choose as many as you like)
08 - Which aspects of AI are you concerned about?
09 - Why do you use AI?
10 - What do you use AI for?
11 - What frustrates you about using AI?
12 - “AI is currently making artists/creatives less relevant.”
13 - “AI will eventually make my job redundant.”
14 - “I am able to distinguish between an AI and human response/product.”
15 - “AI will improve the workplace.”
The advertising industry is mostly tinkering with artificial intelligence as individuals and in small groups.
To what degree has your company formally adopted AI?
1. AI is still in its infancy in the advertising industry
2. People are mostly playing with public AI tools
78% of respondents are using open-source tools like ChatGPT.
What access to AI tools do you have?
3. People are Somewhat excited and a little scared
49% of respondents are excited about AI but there are a lot of mixed emotions.
How do you feel towards AI? (Choose as many as you like)
4. People are scared of the unknown and bias
Surprisingly perhaps, fear of job loss isn’t as palpable with only 8% of respondents selecting this.
Which aspects of AI are you concerned about?
5. The hope is AI can save time but it doesn’t always
AI is not seen as something that takes your thinking to the next level. �It’s seen as a quick power-up, like the mushroom in �Super Mario.
Why do you use AI?
What frustrates you about using AI?
6. Strategists are clustering around GPTs in similar ways for conceptual work but yearn for AI to remove non-conceptual, time-consuming tasks
7. Most respondents use AI at least every week
Although our sample might be biased by attracting people interested in AI, 69% of respondents use AI at least once a week.
How often do you use AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Bard or Copilot?
AI Strategy Use Cases
This is how our respondents are using AI for strategy tasks.
1. Templates - focus group discussions, contracts
2. Operations
Summarizing calls (call reports), note-taking in meetings
Transcripts
3. Communication
Responding to emails
4. Personas
Creating personas from big datasets
Training a GPT to act like a persona
5. Translation
6. Encyclopedia
Definitions of concepts
7. Research
Distill insights and ideas from various digital sources
Category and industry understanding
What are the category cliches?
What are the category table stakes?
What are the stereotypes?
SWOT analysis
Survey results analysis (eg analyzing open field responses)
As an alternative to Google
8. Writing
Subediting
Synonyms
Structuring decks, emails
Coming up with puns
Content creation for blogs and social media posts
Drafting emails
Copywriting
“A thesaurus with tone” - “write me X in this way” - “spit out some words for me”
9. Strategy activities
Workshop planning
Workshop summaries
Positioning play
A sounding board - training it to be a partner
10. Visuals
Images for decks
Images for social media content and blogs
11. Ideas, conceptualization
Speed up ideation - mash ideas together
Scamps
12. New business development
To show how fast and modern and unlike other agencies you are
To generate quick ideas and visuals
31%
United States
2%
Canada
6%
Australia
13%
United Kingdom
2%
Singapore
8. Where people are from
4%
Germany
2%
India
1%
Brazil
And from another 39 countries, including Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Ukraine, Austria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Spain, France, Ireland, and more.
AI Strategy Use Cases
If you’re using AI for strategy tasks in an interesting way and you can share what you’re doing with us, email hello@sweathead.com.
We might do a Part 2 of this deck.
Got an example to share?
AI Survey
What country are you from?
Which best describes your current situation?
Strategy training for companies with minds �of their own
• Pedagogy informed by academic research �• Award-winning subject matter experts �• Thousands of strategists trained
Make the
Your Minds
Most of
Ad break
50 Examples of how AI is used in the creative output
Large Language Models
Generative AI
Text to speech/image/video
Voice Cloning Trans-creation
Assets Manipulation
Object Recognition
Autonomous Agent
We’ve broadly categorised the �50 examples into 7 forms of A.I. usage. In some examples, multiple forms have been used to create more creative opportunities.
Lay’s India - Smart Farm
What’s the idea: �Help potato farmers in India farm more smartly
How was A.I. used:�Use of satellite imagery, remote sensory and weather forecast to provide early warnings of seasonal change
Large Language Models
Assets Manipulation
Reference/Case Study: https://www.heineken.com/sg/en/ghostgenerator
What’s the idea: �Help overworked employees to not ‘ghost’ their friends
How was A.I. used:�An online vaporising Ghost Generator was created as part of the web experience which leveraged GenAI to make people look like ghosts.
Heineken - �Ghost Generator
What’s the idea: �Snap to reveal the drama in everyday objects
How was A.I. used:�Leveraging on SnapChat’s Lens Filter that uses neural network-powdered object recognition, users could simply point at any object to reveal the hidden drama behind it, in the form of a flash fiction snippet.
Object Recognition
Checkpoint Theatre - Drama in a Snap
Reference/Case Study: https://www.dramainasnap.com/
What’s the idea: �Help people to smile freely
How was A.I. used:�Colgate used an image recognition tool to map and integrate the user’s smile into six front teeth into Colgate’s logo
Object Recognition
Colgate - �Smile Generator
What’s the idea: �Create never before seen recipes with never before mixed ingredients
How was A.I. used:�Processed historical data into Midjourney to get ten unique images that inspired 10 recipes to represent each of the last ten decades
Large Language Models
La Lechera -�Taste the A.I.
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/taste-the-a-i
What’s the idea: �Celebrate Serena William’s most significant moments in her retirement
How was A.I. used:�Harnessing machine learning and advanced AI, Nike modeled her playing style of each era from her first Grand Slam to her most recent Open. This was brought to life by vid2player through re-rendering into entirely new scenes that appeared to be ‘playing’ with each other.
Large Language Models
Nike - Never Done Evolving ft Serena
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.akqa.com/work/nike/never-done-evolving/
What’s the idea: �Reconnect Lay’s with Gen Z during Chinese New Year when everyone wants their fortune told
How was A.I. used:�Use of machine learning and computer vision to map scanned potato chips, and give over one million fortune combinations to people through natural language processing AI
Object Recognition
Lay’s Taiwan - Fortune Telling Chips
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �Help adults to overcome witty blues and turn speechless situations into playful ones
How was A.I. used:�Used Voice Cloning AI to recreate popular actor Farhan Akhtar’s iconic voice, to tailor personalised messages from ChatGPT
Voice Cloning Trans-Creation
Oreo -�Say It With Oreo
Large Language Models
What’s the idea: �Tap into millennial mixtape nostalgia to spark playful fun to music sharing in the digital world
How was A.I. used:�With every OREO pack bought in-store, consumers use AI technology to scan the OREO logo and gain access to a digital experience that includes sharing online ‘mixtapes’ with friends, and even creating physical mixtapes with printed Spotify codes, filled with lovely cookies and packaged in a cassette-player pack.
Voice Cloning Trans-Creation
Oreo - Press Play to Win with Oreo
Object Recognition
What’s the idea: �Make global warming visible in an artsy way
How was A.I. used:�Combined well-known landscape paintings with data about global warming, and artificial intelligence, to show how they may evolve if global warming doesn’t stop - all while respecting the style of the artists concerned.
Generative AI
WWF - �Climate Realism
What’s the idea: �Showcase the skill of female football players to combat negative biases of male fans
How was A.I. used:�From over 80 games in the French Female Football archives, Orange sourced footage and used AI techniques in film production with deepfake technology.
Asset Manipulation
Orange - �La compil’ des Bleues
What’s the idea: �Create a talking car that sells itself
How was A.I. used:�Use of pre-GPT-3 LLMs, voice cloning capabilities and text-to-speech generator to bring a car to life digitally, creating any response across a wide range of emotions that sounds like comedian Sam Taunton
Large Language Models
Honda - AI Talking Car ‘Harvey’
Voice Cloning Trans-Creation
Reference/Case Study: Harvey.Honda.com.au
Text to Speech/Image/Video
What’s the idea: �Help viewers to find shows and movies of interest to them
How was A.I. used:�Uses algorithms, complex systems and machine learning to provide a personalised experience based on a number of factors and predicted likelihood of watching
Large Language Models
Netflix - Recommendations
Reference/Case Study: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/100639
What’s the idea: �Thank 100,000 employees personally
How was A.I. used:�Publicis Sandbox GPT, OpenAI, Stability AI, 11ElevenLabs, Azure, Hey Gen to stitch multiple cutaway scenes, to jokes and greetings in multiple languages personalised at scale - more here
Large Language Models
Publicis - 100,000 New Year Wishes
Assets Manipulation
Reference/Case Study: https://lbbonline.com/news/publicis-groupe-is-thanking-100000-employees-personally-heres-how-theyve-done-it
Text to Speech/Image/Video
What’s the idea: �Bring to life Infiniti’s new pigment, Moonbow Blue, that combines shades of blue, grey, lilac and light magenta all at once
How was A.I. used:�Use of generative design and AI techniques to artistically represent the origins of the blue colour called “Moonbow” based on astronomical data from the sun, the moon and the stars.
Generative AI
Infiniti - �Project Moonshot
What’s the idea: �Create fantastical images of users in different scenarios
How was A.I. used:�With a few selfies, users can create a personalized Generative AI model and start checking out their Dreams from being a mermaid in a deep-seascape or a renaissance era royal. Dreams is based on open-source technology and each art style is made by Snap employees.
Generative AI
Snapchat - Dreams
What’s the idea: �Create digital looks which people could explore city by city
How was A.I. used:�Analysed big data of most sold sports items and machine learning to group it by country, city and streets to generate 5000 different looks - which customers had already bought one piece recently.
Large Language Models
Mercado Libre - �Real Street Style
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.oneclub.org/awards/theoneshow/-award/48117/real-street-style
What’s the idea: �Turn the streets into one giant showroom
How was A.I. used:�Leveraging advanced AI, able to identify fine configuration details across the Volvo range, people were empowered to scan Volvo’s that they passed in the streets to configure their ideal vehicle in under 60 seconds.
Large Language Models
Volvo -�Street Configurator
Object Recognition
Reference/Case Study: https://www.wpp.com/en/featured/work/2022/11/famousgrey-volvos-street-configurator
What’s the idea: �Recreate an iconic lost moment in India’s cricket history
How was A.I. used:�Use of machine learning and game engines to recreate a famous cricket match that was never broadcasted - based on the game data and memories of the participants
Large Language Models
Airtel - 175 Replayed
Assets Manipulation
Reference/Case Study: https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2023/237744/airtel-175-replayed/
What’s the idea: �Using Taiwanese’s fear of god to curb illegal trash dumping, with computer vision detection.
How was A.I. used:�God-Is-Watching is a behavior recognition detector, based on AI deep learning that detects rubbish dumpers and projects a 3D holographic image of the Taoist ‘God of Land’ to deter them
Large Language Models
New Taipei City - �God Is Watching
Object Recognition
What’s the idea: �Keep meaningful Vietnamese traditions alive using the nostalgic appeal of old photos
How was A.I. used:�Magically brought old family photographs to life using deep learning artificial intelligence, making it possible to see one’s ancestors smile, blink and turn their heads and relive family memories.
Large Language Models
Mondelez - �Keep Stories Alive
Assets Manipulation
Reference/Case Study: https://www.brandinginasia.com/publicis-groupe-vietnam-wins-effie-for-keep-stories-alive-for-mondelez/
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �PepsiCo’s centralized digital platform named after the 19th-century mathematician Ada Lovelace, who wrote the world’s first-ever computer program
How was A.I. used:�Explore new product ideas, source, sort and connect million of consumers insights, increase collaboratively capabilities internally, and help make ads more effective
Large Language Models
PepsiCo - Ada
Reference/Case Study: ogle-how-pepsico-using-its-ai-tool-ada-ad-campaigns
What’s the idea: �Levi partnered with Lalaland.ai to use AI-generated models or ‘body-inclusive avatars’ with more diverse skin tones and body types.
How was A.I. used:�Lalaland is an AI-powered model studio, that seamlessly transforming your 3D designs onto lifelike avatars
However, critics said AI-generated models were a lazy way to address diversity issues, and meant that diverse models would miss out on opportunities to be hired and paid by Levi's.
Generative AI
Levi’s - Lalaland.ai (AI Gone Wrong)
What’s the idea: �Show that ketchup looks like Heinz even to AI
How was A.I. used:�Conducted an experiment using Dall-E 2, an AI image generator which creates images using billions of different reference point to draw ‘ketchup’ - resulting in pictures of what appears to be a Heinz bottle, albeit in different artistic styles
Generative AI
Heinz - A.I. Ketchup
What’s the idea: �Generate original artwork with iconic creative assets from the Coca-Cola archives
How was A.I. used:�Partnered with OpenAI to combine the capabilities of GPT-4, which produces human-like text from search engine queries, and DALL-E, which produces images based on text.
Large Language Models
Coca-Cola -�Create Real Magic
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.createrealmagic.com/
Text to Speech/Image/Video
What’s the idea: �Give festival-goers a chance to create their own shareable, 35-second music video
How was A.I. used:�Combination of creative technologies, including AI video generation, ChatGPT and real-time game engines to analyse the same prompts of preferences, but interpret them in different ways in real time to generate unique songs, artwork and video elements for each attendee.
Large Language Models
Coca-Cola -�Music AI Studio
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.eventmarketer.com/article/coke-ai-studio-personalized-engagement/
Text to Speech/Image/Video
What’s the idea: �Generate interest and conversation around Singapore’s history
How was A.I. used:�Generative AI text to image prompts such as “What if our public housing went underground in land-scarce Singapore?”, “What if drive-thru cinemas from the 70s extended into the seas?”, “What if we did not have a Merlion?”, “What if our kampong game of marbles became an Olympic sport?”
Generative AI
National Museum �of Singapore - �Singapore Reimagined
What’s the idea: �Puma hijacks the biggest sports event in India, without paying millions as a sponsor.
How was A.I. used:�Use of computer vision to detect the Puma logo shape on athletes diving. This integrates generative AI, which will assess the accuracy of each dive in relation to the Puma’s iconic leaping cat logo, in under a minute. The closer a participant’s image of a dive matches the PUMA logo, the greater the reward they receive.
Object Recognition
Puma - Dive
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://app.puma.com/e/PUMADiveYT
What’s the idea: �Solve human indecision over what food to order on a �delivery app.
How was A.I. used:�A variety of delicious cuisines are displayed as the front-facing camera meticulously tracks the eye’s interest using advanced algorithms, where machine learning and smart predictive AI then narrows down the options and presents the user with a list of relevant restaurants to order from.
Large Language Models
HungerStation - The Subconscious Order
What’s the idea: �Noise cancelling app that quiets the world down for people with autism
How was A.I. used:�This advanced AI selects and filters through machine learning and reduces the noises that cause panic attacks in autistic patients. Working in real-time, the app autonomously turns down the volume on fear-triggering sounds like sounds of sirens, dogs barking, fireworks - acting kind of a sound airbag.
Large Language Models
Samsung - Unfear
What’s the idea: �Delivery app Pedidos Ya tricked Argentinians into thinking that they had mistakenly been sent a delivery.
How was A.I. used:�Off the back of Argentina’s World Cup victory, Pedidos Ya leverage on data extraction tool that uses cloud-based machine learning and AI to extract data and linked to the app, to send six million push notifications informing its customers that the cup itself was on its way home.
Large Language Models
Pedidos Ya - World Cup Delivery
Reference/Case Study: �https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/cannes-lions-mobile-winners-2023
What’s the idea: �Visualise the dangerous systemic consequences of uncontrolled gout
How was A.I. used:�Open source Deforum Stable Diffusion AI Notebook with prompts that required exacting discipline, creativity, medical comprehension, and knowledge of both art history and contemporary artists.
Mathematical equations that deliver zooms, waves, and pans of the camera movement and transition.
3D futuristic illustration was used to convey the vividness of electric shocks. Original 3D designed soundtracks were carefully crafted to deliver maximum emotional impact for the viewer, recalling gout’s insidious nature, from the outside in.
Large Language Models
Horizon Therapeutics -�The Outside In Experiment
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.oneclub.org/awards/theoneshow/-award/49089/the-outside-in-experiment
What’s the idea: �Help homeless people express themselves through art to drive donations
How was A.I. used:�Hinz & Kunzt interviewed 30 homeless people, and together with them and assisted by AI created personal and emotionally loaded art pieces, which told their stories.
Generative AI
Hinz Kunzt - �The Homeless Gallery
What’s the idea: �Make reminiscence therapy accessible and practical for people �with Alzheimer's disease.
How was A.I. used:�Developed before the emergence of ChatGPT and GPT4, the AI behind ‘bAIgrapher’ was trained on over 400 of the greatest biographies. It has a fine-tuned Large Language Model (LLM)�and is an amalgam of systems working in sequence and in tandem, based on a data collection model curated and highly personalised set of data from willing sources - thus preventing hallucinations.
Large Language Models
UFCSPA - bAIgrapher (Alzheimer’s disease)
What’s the idea: �Improve the ’flow state’ of surgeons during operations amidst a shortage of surgeons
How was A.I. used:�The Lifesaving Radio is an AI-curated playlist with over 30 hours of surgery-suitable hard rock music. It is powered by Spotify’s new ’AI DJ’ (Gen AI) to analyse music - and also created a new ‘surgical team member’, AI Angus who recommends the most suitable songs for each operation.
Large Language Models
Nextmedhealth - �Life Saving Radio
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �Get Gen Zs to listen to classical music
How was A.I. used:�Produced modern-day images of legendary classical musicians using generative AI that then went on Tinder as ‘profiles’
Generative AI
Tinder - �Not-so classic dates
What’s the idea: �Allow small businesses to make India's biggest celebrity – �Shah Rukh Khan – their own brand ambassador.
How was A.I. used:�The AI generative technology creates a digital avatar of Shah Rukh Khan by recreating his face and voice, one for each of the four types of shop in the Cadbury distribution network: fashion, footwear, general and electronics. The local store owners were also given a platform to create and share their own versions of Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad where he promotes their individual stores.
Assets Manipulation
Cadbury - �Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2022/235670/shah-rukh-khan-my-ad/
Voice Cloning Trans-Creation
Text to Speech/Image/Video
What’s the idea: �Make the online audience mindful of their words when speaking �to young girls by turning the very medium used to body shame �them into their first line of defense.
How was A.I. used:�Using the predictive AI technology present in smart keyboards, Dove identified users who are typing body shaming comments and delivered a thought-provoking message to them before they pressed send. This real time intervention analysed 61 million body shaming interactions across the Internet and identified three broad forms of body shaming to craft a contextual message for each form.
Large Language Models
Dove - Thumbstopping Beauty Biases
Object Recognition
Reference/Case Study: https://www.mindshareworld.com/work/dove-thumbstopping-beauty-biases
What’s the idea: �Show the capabilities of the new Renault Alaskan Outsider 4x4 in a new way: by launching a digital platform to find unexplored destinations that remains hashtag free, or in other words, to reach unhashtagged places.
How was A.I. used:�Used AI to collect pictures with active geolocation that didn’t have any hashtag linked to them
Large Language Models
Renault - Unhashtagged Places
Reference/Case Study: https://www.fabiomazia.com/unhashtagged-places
What’s the idea: �Translate the action of a basketball game into a language that blind and visually impaired fans can feel, not just listen to.
How was A.I. used:�Developed a groundbreaking, multisensorial technology that allowed fans to fully experience and commentate a game. Through data and A.I., one is able to understand and feel every gameplay moment and every movement. It also integrated tis technology into an app that uses sound, haptics, and spatial audio, specially designed for the visually impaired.
Large Language Models
Michelob Ultra - Dreamcaster
Reference/Case Study: https://www.michelobultra.com/dreamcaster
What’s the idea: �Using artworks from famous painters that may show people drinking Stella Artois for centuries
How was A.I. used:�Use of algorithm trained by history to analyse the year the artwork was painted, its geographical location, the shape of the glass being used, the colour of the liquid, and the distance between the artist and the original brewery to generate the probability that the people in the pictures are actually drinking Stella Artois
Large Language Models
Stella Artois - �The Artois Probability
What’s the idea: �Create a virtual language tutor powered by AI
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot that leverages on Machine Learning and GPT-4 to provide personalised learning, automated feedback and explanation, and language ‘testing’ with character personas
Generative AI
Duolingo - Max
Reference/Case Study: https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/
What’s the idea: �Provide young girls in STEM with mentorship and role models
How was A.I. used:�Olay has also launched the beta version of a web-based virtual chat mentor that will offer guidance and information to aspiring young girls seeking to enter the world of STEM, created with the help of successful women in different STEM fields in India to provide the user with knowledge, resources, and encouragement on their journeys.
Large Language Models
Olay - AI-Shu
Reference/Case Study: https://ai-shu.in/
What’s the idea: �Deliver interactive baking experiences for new and experienced bakers to make the ultimate chocolate chip cookie
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot Cookie Coach, Ruth, is a lifelike virtual avatar that uses natural language AI and autonomous animation to answer basic questions about the company’s Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Large Language Models
Nestle - Ruth the COOKIE COACH
Reference/Case Study: https://player.vimeo.com/video/840477085
What’s the idea: �Introducing DJ - an entirely new way to play your Spotify, powered by AI
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot combines propriety personalisation technology for music recommendation lineups, Generative AI to provide insightful facts from genre experts and dynamic AI voice platform for text to voice
Large Language Models
Spotify -�Meet your DJ
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-02-22/spotify-debuts-a-new-ai-dj-right-in-your-pocket/
What’s the idea: �An AI companion to help users learn about the crypto industry
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot is based on ChatGPT from Open AI, anchored in deep learning and data and further trained with specific case examples to improve accuracy and relevancy
Large Language Models
Crypto.com - Amy
What’s the idea: �Your creative assistant on Snapchat
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot powered by ChatGPT that can help to answer a burning trivia question, offer advice on the perfect gift for your BFF's birthday, help plan a hiking trip for a long weekend or suggest what to make for dinner.
Generative AI
Snapchat - My AI
What’s the idea: �Organize its vast knowledge base to help wealth management personnel locate relevant information.
How was A.I. used:�Partnered with Open AI to leverage on GPT-4 to provide a comprehensive search of wealth management content and parse all that insight into a far more usable and actionable format.
Large Language Models
Morgan Stanley - Internal chatbot
Reference/Case Study: https://openai.com/customer-stories/morgan-stanley
What’s the idea: �A bot to help judges, nominees, and winners of The One Show brag about their achievements
How was A.I. used:�The chatbot, ‘Brag Bot’, is based on GPT-4, with two steps to generating a humblebrag - first, choose a category of brag (such as ‘Rise-n-grind’ or ‘Dream job’), and second, select up to three styles of delivery (which include ‘Existential’ and ‘Pirate’).
Generative AI
The One Show -�Brag Bot
Reference/Case Study: https://bragbot.oneshow.org/
What’s the idea: �Inspire travellers to dream about travel in new ways
How was A.I. used:�Chatbot within the Expedia app powered by ChatGPT where users can start an open-ended conversation to get recommendations, automatically saved to a trip planner as an assistant and visualised by Gen AI with images, price ranges and guest reviews.
Also check out: Roam Around, AItinerary, Tripnotes
Large Language Models
Expedia - Travel Planning Chatbot
Autonomous Agent
10 Examples of how AI is used in strategy
Large Language Models
Generative AI
Object Recognition
Agencies have started to build their own custom GPTs as a co-pilot to assist on tasks from operations, research and insights, briefing and ideation, to testing and measurement.
What’s the idea: �Publicis is infusing a layer of AI across its platform organization to connect its enterprise knowledge under one entity: CoreAI.
How was A.I. used:�CoreAI can be used across 5 key disciplines:
Large Language Models
Publicis - CoreAI
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �Brand strategy co-pilot for strategists and engineers
How was A.I. used:�Gather audience insights, generate propositions and creative thought starts for live creative pitches and campaign briefs.
Large Language Models
Jellyfish - Strat.GPT
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �AI-powered ads database researcher
How was A.I. used:�Combines AI with vector databases encompassing 14 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew and Japanese, to shortlist winning campaign case studies from contextual and semantic search. It’s taxonomy of case studies includes brand, category, channels, audiences and results.
Large Language Models
Adaily
Reference/Case Study: https://adaily.co/
What’s the idea: �The Grammarly for marketing briefs
How was A.I. used:�Generative AI based off machine learning from marketing theory and briefing best practices to generate briefing templates within “FastDrafts”. Provides real time tailored feedback using guiding questions, and ideation springboard tools with case study bank for ideation.
Large Language Models
Briefly - AI-powered briefing platform
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.trybriefly.com/
What’s the idea: �Connected Blue Ocean Framework with ChatGPT to undertake a strategic challenge
How was A.I. used:�From value innovation and idea generation, to building the value proposition and data curves, through to mapping and sorting the ecosystem - output as PowerPoint slides. The AI was able to produce in just 60 minutes a strategy very similar yet more original than a team of Insead MBA students that took a week to put together.
Large Language Models
Insead - Blue Ocean �AI Strategist
Reference/Case Study: https://hbr.org/2023/11/can-genai-do-strategy
What’s the idea: �Train an OpenAI GPT to improve scenario planning from scenario creation to narrative exploration to strategy generation.
How was A.I. used:�For scenario creation, the GPT was tasked with identifying and ranking key business concerns and risks to generate key trends that were categorised into potential scenarios based on probability and impact.
To create a narrative scenario and add richness to the baseline scenario, the GPT was prompted to examine different aspects and nuances of the scenario.
Following which, they asked the GPT to generate appropriate strategies based on the scenario narrative it had created.
Large Language Models
What If, What Now - Scenario Planning GPT
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-md4aQ7R6M-whatif-whatnow
What’s the idea: �Using LLMs to generate insights from 2024 trend reports
How was A.I. used:�Trend reports were uploaded to GPTs like Open AI and Google Bard and trained with multiple prompts to review all the reports and extract curated results
Large Language Models
Trends GPT
Generative AI
What’s the idea: �Produce paid social ads faster at scale
How was A.I. used:�Built on LLMs from Open AI to generate multiple channel-ready ads and copy by looking at a brand’s objectives, assets and preferences. Based on machine learning, it is able to provide a predicted success rate for each iteration - cross analysed with real uplift measurement in performance.
Large Language Models
Brandtech Group - Pencil
Generative AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.trypencil.com/
What’s the idea: �AI-powered technology for creative excellence at scale
How was A.I. used:�Based off a repository of digital image and video content and corresponding performance data for statistical validation and platform-specific creative best practices to measure an ad’s digital suitability - known as a Creative Quality Score (CQS). CQS serves as a barometer to track if the thousands of ads and assets are fit for the various digital platforms they were intended for.
Large Language Models
Creative X
Reference/Case Study: https://www.creativex.com/
What’s the idea: �Creative testing at scale
How was A.I. used:�Uses the front-facing camera of opted-in viewers to capture their attention levels, facial expressions and behavioral actions (skip, scroll, swipe), as they view the ads on their device. This data is used to train the machine learning model to predict the likely human response to ads based off metadata, contextual matching and analytics engines, and can be embedded within apps.
Large Language Models
Realeyes - Vision AI
Reference/Case Study: https://www.realeyesit.com/
Object Recognition
Is AI hype slowly being tempered by reality?
We know you so we know the reaction of many of you to this deck is this: “Oh, thank goodness. I thought everybody was much farther ahead.”
Our plea to you is to keep your creative spirit alive and your strategy skills developing. If you can easily outsource a lot of your job to a machine then everyone can so why would you keep a job?
Humans tend to go to the edge of things then keep going. So enjoy your edging time with AI. We know you’ll be able to go farther.
And, yes, we know what edging is.
Conclusion
Appendix
AI Survey
03 - How often do you use AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Bard or Copilot?
04 - To what degree has your company formally adopted AI?
AI Survey
05 - Which of the below are formally in place at your company?
06 - What access to AI tools do you have?
AI Survey
07 - How do you feel towards AI? (Choose as many as you like)
08 - Which aspects of AI are you concerned about?
AI Survey
09 - Why do you use AI?
10 - What do you use AI for?
AI Survey
11 - What frustrates you about using AI?
12 - “AI is currently making artists/creatives less relevant.”
AI Survey
13 - “AI will eventually make my job redundant.”
14 - “I am able to distinguish between an AI and human response/product.”
15 - “AI will improve the workplace”
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The fundamentals of strategy aren’t just a step along the way—they are the way.
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Our fourth annual strategy conference is focused on what strategists need to thrive today—mastering the top fundamental skills. You’ll learn directly from top strategists and get hands-on experience in 22-minute sessions designed to help you grow.
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