Most of the year, the advertising industry barely registers in the world at large. But that changes as we head into the festive season. Indeed, the first Christmas TV ads increasingly mark the start of this season and conversations about ad creative enter the mainstream. Pretty much everyone has a view on the year’s John Lewis ad as it makes headlines across both traditional and social media.

With this in mind, there’s no better time to focus in on advertising creative – the state of play and where it’s headed.

In this episode of Waypointers, partner Matt Lacey is joined by Stephen Barnes, co-founder of Collective. Stephen is brilliantly placed to talk about the future of advertising creative because he and his team are pushing the boundaries, using technology to radically change the way ads are made. Pioneering the use of digital twins, he’s not only allowing global brands to do much more with less – some may decide never to run a photoshoot ever again – but he’s also allowing them to do “creativity at the speed of thought” trying out new ideas in real time in ways that would be impossible on a traditional set.

From days to minutes

Stephen talks about the “jaw drop” moments as clients and creatives see for themselves how what would have been time-consuming, resource-heavy changes to ad campaigns can be executed during a short phone call.  A change in season, from summer to winter, no problem. Changing the sponsor names on a moving property, as easy as pie. Positioning a bottle so that the midday sun’s rays hit it in a completely life-like way, job done.

AI plus digital twins

He talks about the limitations of AI when it comes to making ads, but how when you combine the capabilities AI with a library of digital twins for any given brand asset, then that is truly transformative.  Our industry has been slow on the uptake when it comes to some of this game-changing technology. Vested interests in continuing old practices, yes? But we are on the cusp of something very exciting.

For more on how technology is going to change the way ads are made, plus Stephen’s take on this year’s Christmas TV ads, listen to this episode of Waypointers by selecting the link.

If you want to see for yourself how Collective uses technology, take a look here.