The trendiest of trends: Generative AI, holograms and AR.
By: Sofia Norelius, Sept 2023
As a Millennial at a relatively young office, my age is sneaking up on me at times. Even though I see myself as somewhat young still and pretty in tune with what is going on in this innovative world I find myself sometimes free falling into the bottomless boomer pit when it comes to new technology. As Creative Director and lover of all creativity in general I try to keep up with the latest trends and cover up those pits. At least give me the chance to choose to avoid them or let myself helplessly fall into the magical world of make-believe where AR holograms of insane campaigns have been created physically and not just manufactured in post-production and spread online for people like me to gasp at.
First of all let’s distinguish between them
- Generative AI: the use of AI to create new content, like text, images, music, audio, and videos
- Holograms create a virtual environment
- Augmented reality overlays digital information on top of real environments, in other words, creates post-production.
So, how can these three be used in the best kind of way in the brand experience industry? AI tools such as ChatGPT are used daily at Ciceron to use time efficiently, creative copy, images for decor ideas, sound bites, concepts, as a search engine and much more, and boy has it a great tool when stuck on an idea! We cannot wait for the participant admin tools to become sharp and reliable enough to simplify our processes making us make our project management even more efficient and smooth.
Holograms we have used for example in a showcase breakfast event where an Oscar Zia hologram performed for our guests, while the actual person was away on other missions. 3D hologram logos for branding have also been used frequently at events. But what has stood out in marketing and brand experience over the past few years has been the increased use of AR holograms. Where AR holograms are created in post-production to post on social media and spread as a real campaign. An example was Manchester City making a grand entrance in Tokyo. Large, futuristic, holographic cards projected on top of team buses traveling around the city looking as real as can get. Or the huge Lätta butter spread packages on top of famous buildings not to mention Jacquemus handbags as large as SUVs roaming around the streets of Paris, making a lot of us swoon in hopes of it being the real deal and googling what production company has put wheels on the bags. A positive note is that this sparks the imagination as never before, but a challenge is to physically compete with these digital experiential campaigns who has captured so many people wanting to imagine it all real.
I believe all campaigns sparking creativity, inspiration and imagination are good in the end, challenging us to think new, think big, and incorporate new technology in new, fun ways to create the best experiences and streamline our processes! 2024 - bring on more of these trendiest of trends! We are ready!
