That is why we have seen so many campaigns of all kinds around an event that every four years unleashes a madness. And look, it’s not a small thing. Although there is a trend towards lower consumption of traditional television, once again there is a record on Mexican television: a National Team match is positioned as the most watched program in history.
With such audience levels at stake, ways must be found to best deliver the marketing message that helps “move the metrics” that each company has.
And the displays by adidas and Nike caught my attention: both competing brands used the so-called Deep Fake and artificial intelligence to show us “universes” that could not be seen so real. Although it seems that the technology is very advanced, the “fake” effect can still be appreciated, which can be further refined, but I think that as a start and not to “scare” us too much, it works well. In Mexico, the one who was encouraged was Jumex with a journey through the life of Rafael Márquez, formerly a FC Barcelona player and captain of the Mexican National Team.
What possibilities does this represent for the future? Many. The first thing is how videogames are going to be seen (which a lot has its origin there). The digitization of players and movements continues to advance by leaps and bounds and “gamers” increasingly demand better graphics and much more realism. Although EA Sports has been the one who has popularized this effect the most, it is also the case that other video games seek to have characters that look quite realistic. Which brings me to the first paradox of the metaverse: while Marke Zuckerberg and Meta seek to “cartoonize” the avatars in Horizon to avoid “reality disconnects,” many video games have been on a path toward as much reality simulation as possible.
Deep Fake, the combination of Deep Learning and Fake News, has been born and raised with many detractors due to the ethical implications it can have. From my point of view, this happens with every new technology, in this case it should be seen as one more tool that can be used for marketing purposes. Just as movie studios are now doing with “Volume” technology revealed with Disney-Star Wars “The Mandalorian” and taken to the next level by Netflix’s 1899. It is important that marketers and advertisers understand the implications, pros and cons of using this technology especially when it comes to storytelling.
What options come to mind? Deep Fake can be used for emotional and nostalgic pieces. A bit like what adidas did by presenting Lionel Messi at different times in his life or the aforementioned spot “Believe bears fruit” by Jumex with the “Kaiser”, Rafa Marquez.
It also occurs to me to use this technology to offer product demonstrations. Imagine that for a moment you can see yourself using a tool, or a certain “outfit”. You could try on any combination of products in stock and have a very rough vision of what you would look like. Personalization in this sense becomes key, and that is very valuable today. In this sense, we can expect very immersive experiences, especially for e-commerce stores that still find consumer resistance to certain products that require physical testing or viewing.
Amazon has already started this path by incorporating Augmented Reality (AR) with its “Virtual Try-On for Shoes” option that allows you to view, from your smartphone, what the sneakers you want to buy would look like.
And I cannot fail to mention Influencer Marketing, or a campaign with celebrities, instead of spending hours shooting photos and videos, repeating scenes or making costume changes, everything would be reduced to receiving a good amount of photos and “footage” in digital format so that later Artificial Intelligence takes care of everything. And not only that, we could “bring” influencers from the past who did not have the opportunity to live in the age of social media. Let’s imagine Bruce Lee or Johan Cruyff talking to us about current issues. The possibilities are endless.
What do you think?
