Jenn Creegan (Microsoft Advertising) at Advertising Week highlighted the transformative impact of generative AI on the advertising industry. Contrasting the previous year, where AI wasn’t the focal topic, this year was dominated by discussions on how generative AI can assist in shaping the future of advertising. Creegan emphasized the tool’s potential in reshaping standards, relationships, and how advertisers communicate with consumers.Illustrating the power of the technology, Creegan shared a personal anecdote about searching for a car, highlighting how complex queries can now be streamlined with AI chat interfaces, resulting in faster decision-making for consumers. She introduced a new ad experience called “compare and decide” ads, built for Bing chat, which uses the input from consumers to provide more relevant product comparisons.In addition, the use of generative AI in creating images was showcased, including its application in generating avatars for games like Starfield, a popular game title from Microsoft.Data shared indicated that users are interacting differently with searches, giving more complex information and making decisions twice as fast. Preliminary ad performance data suggested a 1.8% higher click-through rate and improved dwell times.Creegan also gave insights into how their team at Microsoft Advertising is utilizing generative AI, from creating new product names to assisting in social media campaigns. For SMB advertisers, Microsoft offers tools powered by generative AI to help in various aspects of their advertising campaigns, from crafting headlines to generating image content.Ending on an inspiring note, Creegan urged advertisers to embrace this technological revolution, emphasizing that the tools and innovations discussed are not future aspirations but present realities, paving the way for the future of advertising.

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