How the maker of Sensodyne and Tums is tackling fake ads and using AI

The rise of generative AI has made it easier to make all kinds of fake ads. That’s leading Haleon to adopt a digital watermarking technology not only to authenticate that its ads are real but also to show how AI figures into production and that the people and research-based claims in its ads are real. Sensodyne is Haleon’s first brand to use the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) technology, which aims to prevent the spread of misinformation. The toothpaste brand’s digital ads in the U.S. recently have featured the C2PA “Content Credentials” technology to show that dentists providing endorsements are indeed real dentists, not paid actors. Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards Join us July 23 & 24 in Boston Learn more here That’s just one of many use cases for C2PA, according to Katie Williams, U.S. chief marketing officer for Haleon, whose brands also include Advil, Centrum, Polident and Voltaren, among others. Additional use cases include battling any potential fake or spoof ads, explaining the use of generative AI when it’s used in production and helping authenticate claims. While C2PA has been around since 2021, backed by Adobe, Google, Publicis Groupe and others, it hasn’t become widely used yet. But the growing use of AI in ads is among the factors spurring interest, and Haleon’s experience suggests more brands may find it pays to adopt the technology. Most consumers want to know In the Sensodyne test, consumers could scroll over the icon in the ad to see metadata providing the information about the dentists featured, Williams said. The pilot showed an 8 percentage point increase in brand equity survey scores comparing people exposed to ads with the Content Credentials icon compared to those exposed to ads without the icon, Williams said. “That was consumers recognizing it and it helping them feel better about the content,” Williams said, adding that 75% of consumers surveyed said they want some kind of transparency indicator in ads. Ultimately, Williams also sees the C2PA icon as a marker that can help show ads really come from Haleon’s healthcare brands, eliminating the risk of misinformation or confusion from unauthorized ads or spoofs. She also said that she believes the icon can provide details that will satisfy people’s curiosity when obvious special effects are used, such as for an upcoming Tums ad, in which Haleon is using gen AI to put a larger-than-life falafel into a scene in Central Park. “When that content goes out,” she said, “we can use the icon to show it was created with this technology. It allows you to get to that level of transparency.” Williams also sees the C2PA icon as a way to provide detail and transparency about ads with study claims. A study published in January in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, led by researchers at Mass General Brigham, indicates that people 60 and older who took Centrum Silver multivitamins had slower cognitive decline than others. People in the study who took Centrum Silver regularly for three years slowed cognitive brain aging by two years. Haleon didn’t fund the research and wasn’t involved other than providing products, Williams said. She’s hoping incorporating the C2PA credential into future digital ads can help provide details and assuage any doubts, she said. “That kind of conclusive proof that this is actually doing something if I stay committed has really helped Centrum, which has been outgrowing the category ever since that and by a wide margin,” Williams said. Haleon’s overall sales in vitamins and supplements rose 11% in the first quarter and 9% in the second quarter through June 16, according to Circana data from Evercore ISI. That compared to sales that were flat to slightly down in the prior and year-ago quarters. “It’s incredibly relevant for everybody,” she said, “particularly where people aren’t really sure if something is actually working for them.” AI marketing blog How brands are using ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and other tools Read more here

How the maker of Sensodyne and Tums is tackling fake ads and using AI

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