5 Brands That Went Big on AI Marketing in 2024

Brands went bonkers for AI this past year, as they increasingly adopted the growing number of tools available to facilitate mundane tasks throughout the creative process and create new kinds of work.

While consumers still feel conflicted about brands use of the technology, some marketing departments have found savings by leaning on generative AI in particular.

In May, Klarna said it reduced its sales and marketing costs by 12% annually, and that AI accounted for 37%, or $10 million, of its annual cost savings. Similarly, snack giant Mondelez said in June that it has invested $100 million in AI in a bet that it could decrease its non-working media spend between 10% to 20%, or $30 million to $40 million.

But AI usage among brands hasn’t been all positive. Klarna’s investment comes at the expense of future job cuts, and brands like Coca-Cola and Toys ‘R Us have faced the wrath of creatives and cosumers who are anxious about what the rise of AI means for their jobs.

ADWEEK rounded up five brands that went big on AI marketing this year and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

1. Klarna

The Big AI moment

The Swedish buy-now-pay-later company launched 30 campaigns this year around events like Mother’s Day, Black Friday, and Back to School that were entirely generated by AI. 

AI came up with the ideas, wrote the copy, and created images to produce ads at a volume that was impossible without it. Without AI, the work would have been time-consuming or required external production and translation agencies to version ads for multiple markets.

Klarna has also partnered with AI platform Eleven Labs to use voiceovers for its global campaigns.

“We’ve removed a lot of the cumbersome, expensive, and mundane tasks of marketing,” chief marketing officer (CMO) David Sandstorm told ADWEEK in October. “Historically, we had to pay an agency or an artist to bring these ideas to life. We’ve saved millions on that ideation process alone.”

What happened next?

AI helped the fintech company reduce its sales and marketing spend by 12% last year while expanding its presence to countries like Austria.

In May, Klarna announced a $6 million decrease in image production costs as well as a 25% decrease in external agency expenses, like production, translation, CRM, and social. Overall, AI contributed $10 million to its annual cost savings

But Klarna’s warm embrace of AI also has consequences. The company said in August that it plans to lay off half of its workforce in the next few years, partly citing AI’s growing capabilities.

Lessons learned

Klarna continues to assure that its AI use is still rooted in human insight, as it found that AI still struggles with larger, more complex campaigns. For example, its holiday campaign with NBA vet Shaquille O’Neal relied heavily on human creativity.

“When it comes to our big creative campaigns, we haven’t cracked how AI can help us create an idea,” said Sandstorm.

2. JLL

The Big AI moment

At ADWEEK’s Brandweek Conference in September, JLL CMO Siddharth Taparia shared his plan to implement AI at the real estate company.

Taparia, who joined the company in 2021, said he realized AI’s potential when ChatGPT launched in late 2022. 

Since then, he’s identified AI use cases at JLL that prioritized quick wins and high-impact initiatives and set up a team of AI enthusiasts eager to build a culture around the technology.

What happened next?

In May 2023, the real estate firm introduced responsible AI guidelines. In August, it launched JLL GPT, a custom-built gen AI platform it used to pitch board members to further invest in the technology.

“Now we don’t just have their buy-in, but we also have their excitement and their enthusiasm behind us,” Taparia said at the conference.

Last month, JLL unveiled JLL Falcon, an AI platform that combines its proprietary data with generative AI “to deliver customized capabilities and practical recommendations for investors, occupiers, and building professionals,” per its site. It is one of many AI platforms the company has developed. 

Lessons learned

By developing its own AI tools, JLL is finding new ways to use AI to facilitate commercial real estate.

For example, JLL GPT has helped generate 3D leasing visualizations, calculate sustainability risks, and power investment leads.

3. Coca-Cola

The Big AI moment

Coca-Cola partnered with Silverside AI to reimagine its classic “Holidays Are Coming” ad last month.

Known for its annual holiday campaign, this year’s ad also included the brand’s Christmas Truck Tour, its second annual “The World Needs More Santas” ad, and a digital AI experience that allows people to create custom snow globe animations.

Last year, the brand used AI for its “Create Real Magic” campaign, allowing people to create digital holiday cards using generative AI.

What happened next?

According to System1’s svp of partnerships Andrew Tindall, emotional response to the ad was “overwhelmingly positive,” with a score of 5.9 in both the U.S. and U.K.

However, Coca-Cola faced scrutiny for using AI to create the ad, as many artists and creative professionals expressed concerns about creative jobs being replaced by the technology. 

The brand responded to the backlash by saying: “…We are always exploring new ways to connect with consumers and experiment with different approaches. This year, we crafted films through a collaboration of human storytellers and the power of generative AI. Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology.”

Lessons learned 

Using AI systems Stable Diffusion, Pactto, DALL-E, and ChatGPT sped up the creative process, made it more collaborative, and allowed Silverside AI to send Coca-Cola edits and updates more frequently.

The firm also discovered that it could use AI to develop custom versions of the campaign for various cities and markets.

However, keeping up with the evolving technology was a challenge, as new AI tools have launched since work on the ad began in June. Silverside AI also noted that the technology’s precision was off and the ad needed to be tweaked to match Coca-Cola’s color scheme and logo.

Coca-Cola also learned that AI usage is a touchy subject for creatives and the public alike, as people are anxious about how the technology might impact their livelihoods.

4. Toys ‘R’ Us

The Big AI moment

In June, the toy retailer debuted its AI-generated “The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us” ad featuring a child-version of its late founder Charles Lazarus.

The brand’s production arm, Toys ‘R’ Us Studios, and creative agency Native Foreign used OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora to depict Lazarus as a child along with the company’s mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe. The ad is the first brand film using the AI software.

It also used corrective VFX and an original music score.

What happened next?

Toys ‘R’ Us’ ad received mixed reactions, with some users on X liking it, others not so much.

AI video maker Allen T. pointed out discrepancies in the depictions of Lazarus throughout the ad. “Hands still need work,” he wrote in one post.  

Lessons learned

Native Foreign’s chief creative officer (CCO) Nik Kleverov said Sora allowed the team “to tell this incredible story with remarkable speed and efficiency” in just a few weeks.

Per The Wall Street Journal, Miller Olko said that the ad was less expensive, less time-consuming, and required less manpower than it would without AI.

“It was a test. I think it was successful,” she said, per NBC News. “I think there was a lot of learnings. If the opportunity arises again, and it’s the right fit, we use it but it’s one of many different things that we would do.”

5. Pedigree

The Big AI moment

In April, Pedigree used AI for its “Adoptable” campaign to promote pet adoption.

Created by New Zealand agency Colenso BBDO and production company Nexus Studios, the out-of-home (OOH) ads used machine learning models to digitally turn amateur images of real-life shelter dogs into high-quality, professional-grade photos.

What happened next?

The ad won the Outdoor Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in June, one of the festival’s top prizes.

According to Nexus Studios, Pedigree saw an increase in shelter visits in the first two weeks of the campaign, with visitors being 12% more likely to adopt when having seen the campaign. 50% of the featured dogs were adopted as well. 

Lessons learned

AI-generated ads can resonate with consumers and still win big. 

Marco Venturelli, jury president and CCO of Publicis Groupe France, said the ad used AI in support of a brand commitment, rather than using it for technology’s sake.

“[AI] was not replacing the craft, but moving the category further,” he said.