AI in Advertising: Why 2025 will be the year of reckoning - Sandeep Goyal
Authored by Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Rediffusion.
At the start of this festive season, Coca-Cola unveiled three artificial intelligence (AI)-generated Christmas ads in the US. But these commercials faced very strong headwinds – unprecedented backlash and ridicule from both the marketing fraternity, and media. The ads suffered from common flaws in AI-generated content, including distorted visuals, unsettling facial expressions, unnatural movements, and disproportionate features, leaving viewers unimpressed.
So that brings us to the biggest debate of 2025: is AI overrated? Is it still not fully deployable commercially? And then to the larger questions – are ad agencies endangered by the tech invading the business? Will agencies befriend the new monster? And how soon, and at how much cost?
Among the three Coca Cola Christmas ads, the one that got the maximum attention was the one paying homage to the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas ads from 1995, “Holidays Are Coming”. This ad features red Coca Cola delivery trucks with Christmas lights and pictures of Santa Claus, with two shots of smiling customers, one holding a bottle of Coke. The problem was that the shots were incredibly fast, and the ad seemed to be so rushed that there was barely any time for the viewer to register what was going on. One of the reasons why consumers reacted so negatively to the ad was that Coca-Cola in the US is closely associated with the festive spirit. Coca-Cola is often credited with creating Santa Claus’ red-and-white suit (which isn’t actually true), but it did for sure help popularize the colour scheme. The ad got criticised because the truck wheels were seen gliding across the ground without spinning, one could see distorted proportions, and nonsensical shapes of Christmas lights and buildings. These new AI-made ads were created by three AI studios, which were Secret Level, Silverside AI and Wild Card. They used the generative AI models Leonardo, Luma and Runway, with a new model, Kling, brought in towards the end of production.
In India, the AI-in-advertising debate heated up through 2024. I have been in this business for well over 40 years now. I saw the metamorphosis that satellite TV triggered in 1991. Most agency folks refused to acknowledge that television had arrived. They still hung onto skills that drove press, those days the primary medium for advertising. When digital came in the early 2000s, ad agencies again turned a Nelson’s eye to the opportunity. Small, nimble digital outfits quickly outclassed the slow and slothy ‘mainline’ agencies. No one in advertising understood mobile. So that was another big opportunity missed. Then came the social media tsunami. Ad agencies neither had the skill set nor the pricing to compete. Programmatic advertising required understanding data and targeting. Most agencies ducked. And now AI is knocking at the door.
At my agency, Rediffusion, we decided to welcome AI rather than be in denial, or fight the new tech. Our Rediffusion AI Design (RAID) Studio decided to take the challenge head-on. In the past few weeks, we have unveiled commercials done purely in AI for Tata Power, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Taj Hotels and PMJ Jewels.
The creatives, even if I say so, are flawless. No glitches, unlike Coca Cola. Our ideation, scripting and detailing was fully aided by AI software. The video footage and the special effects, especially the snowfall in the Christmas narratives, took hundreds of manhours to perfect. Most importantly, we got the Indian skin tones right. And even the colour of the eyes! The music and the singing too were done on AI.
How did the Rediffusion RAID team do it? They began each project by visualising the scripts and finding stunning imagery with the help of Midjourney. Once the images were selected, each image was given life with motion design using Pika Art AI. Each frame was then brought to life through intricate motion design seamlessly assembled in Premiere Pro and After Effects. Finally, the films’ essence was perfected through colour grading on DaVinci Resolve, ensuring that every visual enhanced the warmth and festive spirit of the season. The audio of the various films was also AI generated, using Suno AI, for mood-synched music.
Honestly, six months ago, the RAID Studio team were new to the business and didn’t have much clue on how to move forward. The first (and most important) investment we made was in buying the best softwares – not cheap, but essential to the success of the project. Then came in-house training – mostly though self-use and peer contribution. And then came client encouragement to give it a shot – get started. Dr Praveer Sinha and Jyoti Bansal from Tata Power gave us a free hand and their unstinted support. Anuj Jain and Rohit Malkani of Kansai Nerolac trusted us 100%. Veetika Deoras from Taj Hotels and Disha Jain of PMJ Jewels gave us both brand briefs, and encouragement. The results are here for all to see.
Nerolac Christmas Wishing:
Nerolac New Years:
Tata Power Ad:
Taj NY Greetings:
https://youtube.com/shorts/gqYn5z4Rr9U?feature=share
PMJ Christmas Ad:
https://youtube.com/shorts/OHJXg3FbfVQ?feature=share
I am really proud that the likes of the legendary Mohammed Khan, and Prahlad Kakkar said we had done a good job with AI. In the past 10 days, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
Moral of the story: AI is fantastic. The product is outstanding. Clients love it. Experts approve of it. Pricing is attractive. Most importantly, agency folks can do it, and do it well.
This New Year message to all my friends in advertising is to embrace AI, befriend it. It is not forbidding or scary. Or difficult. Just needs inclination and a bit of hard work.
Make 2025 your Year of AI. You will be glad you did it.
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