The ad industry’s leading creator agencies have adopted AI tools as the key to providing scalable, efficient influencer activity. But it seems marketers aren’t striking agency deals based on their AI expertise.
Despite agencies’ bids to use AI tools and solutions to distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace, brand practitioners and industry experts are skeptical of their need, and of potential “AI-washing.” Agencies including Stagwell-owned Leaders, recent Publicis Groupe acquisition Influential, WPP creator agency Obviously and independent players such as Humanz and The Cirqle each offer AI-enabled services.
GroupM influencer agency Goat, for example, uses an AI search tool called “Ibex” to find suitable creators for client campaigns. Leaders, which was acquired by Stagwell back in July and boasts Coca-Cola, Estée Lauder, and Superdry among its clients, similarly provides an “AI-powered” database of 300 million creators.
“Influencer agencies and vendors are spinning up AI features and functions quickly,” said Gartner analyst Nicole Greene in an email, noting that creator discovery, workflow and campaign optimization, and content production had emerged as typical use cases.
Thomas Walters, chief executive officer, Europe at Billion Dollar Boy, told Digiday that prospective clients often come to the agency asking how they might manage their influencer activity at a larger scale – and how they can do so efficiently. Its tool Companion, which incorporates a number of third party AI tools, is part of the agency’s answer. The agency uses it for creator discovery, campaign tracking and creative asset management. “Whatever little bells and whistles we can provide, the better,” Walters said.
It’s a typical approach among creator agencies. At Open Influence, for example, Aynsley Moffitt, director of product and growth told Digiday: “We utilize [AI] so that we can focus on the more important aspects of the campaign.”
There was a “real ambition” among clients “for things to be scaled [and] always on, which brings a need for optimizations and efficiencies,” said Sammy Albon, influencer strategy lead at PrettyGreen, an agency that works with brands such as Hasbro and Nerf.
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