‘If that went away, that would be horrific’: Why GenAI will help, not hinder, creatives
Communication – or lack thereof – is an issue that continues to hinder the relationship between brand marketers and creative agencies, according to one of Adobe’s top executives.
To coincide with this week’s announcement of Adobe GenStudio – “a new generative AI-first offering that will allow marketing teams to quickly plan, create, manage, activate, and measure on-brand content” – Duncan Egan, Adobe’s vice president of DX marketing, APAC and Japan, said the new innovation is a huge turning point for marketers and creatives.
Speaking to Mumbrella on ground at the 2024 Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, Egan said “oftentimes things come down to lack of communication and clarity of communication” and that the efficiency of GenStudio can change that when it launches in quarter three of this year.
“So, I think two things as I see it. So, one is particularly around having a documented brief -having it in a system of record work front so that not only you and I can see it, but the teams can see it and we can point back to it and we can say ‘Hey, I’ve got a question’ or someone else,” he said.
“The second piece is around the ability for an agency or an internal team to create new assets on brand…
“You know, as an agency or as a brand, I can now create on brand creative based on things that [have] been done in the past, right? Which is really powerful.”
GenStudio
Egan continued, saying that agencies in particular should be excited about GenStudio, as well as new features to Adobe FireFly – which seeks to help “automate content production and tailor it” to organisation’s brands – because of the “creative expertise” it provides.
“Exploration, thinking outside the box. Where a lot of times, when you talk to your team, we’re all so internally focused. We oftentimes miss the big idea, right?” he explained.
“So, I think that the collaboration and connectivity should go up, right? Because oftentimes we want it to be, but at the end of the day, there’s not enough time – ‘I don’t have this. I don’t have that.’
“And then secondarily, the ability to really work on more strategic work, as opposed to resizing an image or, you know, whatever it might be.”
Ann Rich presenting GenStudio at Adobe Summit 2024
The idea that GenAI will hinder, not help, creatives has been hotly debated for some time now. Egan, however, is adamant that this is an exciting opportunity for both creatives and marketers, and shared a conversation he had with a creative based in Silicon Valley recently on the topic.
“I said, ‘What do you think about it?’ And she said, ‘As an artist, as a creator, my original work is what I’m all about.’ You think about Leonardo da Vinci – is he going to use GenAI? No, he’s not, right?
“But she said, ‘Hey Duncan, imagine a world where, today, GenAI is based on original artwork. Imagine a world where GenAI is based on GenAI. So, there is an absolute place for the original artwork, the creators, they will always be in my mind. If that went away, that would be horrific. What it does do and what we talked about was the tedious mundane things she can be much more efficient [with], right?
“So, she can get to the part she loves to do. And I think with creatives, with marketers, that’s what we’re looking to do. Like, how do we elevate the impact of the work that we all do… I have to go create three different banner sizes in Photoshop, and I’ve got to go edit the images where we’re now talking seconds that I’m able to create, you know, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook images based on a brand and messaging, and I can translate and deploy.
“That’s really powerful, right? And some companies will do that. Other companies won’t. But I think everybody’s going to need to figure out their operating model and what they’re comfortable with.”
Mumbrella is attending this conference as a guest of Adobe. Keep an eye on mumbrella.com.au as we cover the Summit on ground in Las Vegas.
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Neil Griffiths is the editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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