Deutsch LA’s Ivan Perez-Armendariz used generative AI to deliver Snapple facts and other creative work

Ivan Perez-Armendariz, head of digital experience at Deutsch LA, helped put a puppy’s face on generative AI last year, with a campaign that stood out for PetSmart Charities. Within the ad industry, AI tools can sometimes be impersonal, even when they are designed to make marketing more personalized. Perez-Armendariz and Deutsch LA used OpenAI to infuse personalities into campaigns. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here This was best demonstrated in the “Rescue Writer” campaign for PetSmart Charities from November. Deutsch LA customized OpenAI’s ChatGPT text capabilities to write biographies for dogs in need of rescue—part of a charity effort that captured the positive potential of AI. That was just one of the practical uses of AI that helped make Perez-Armendariz Ad Age’s creative technologist of the year. In a sea of AI marketing activations, Perez-Armendariz’s campaigns exemplified how the technology reinvigorates classic advertising. The jury deliberating on this year’s chief technologist noted Perez-Armendariz’s contribution to brands and to the agency, and how the work showed the benefits of AI in advertising. AI gives consumers new ways to engage with brands and experiences. The jury was also impressed with the tangible case studies from Deutsch LA. The agency worked with iconic iced-tea brand Snapple, which is known for its cap-based factoids. Last year, Snapple used OpenAI in a campaign called “Snapple fAIct Generator,” in which Gen Z drinkers could write their own facts, and the winning trivia entrants made their way to actual Snapple bottles. It was another example of how brands are using AI activations to hand control of their brands to the next generation. Perez-Armendariz and Deutsch LA also created “Creature Cards,” an immersive art concept that was a nostalgic throwback to trading cards in which collectors used gen AI to make their own playing cards. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here

Deutsch LA’s Ivan Perez-Armendariz used generative AI to deliver Snapple facts and other creative work

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