Deloitte's Heat creative agency launches AI practice
Heat, an advertising agency owned by Deloitte Digital, has launched Heat AI. The practice uses artificial intelligence to discover online trends that are predicted to grow in popularity 72 hours before they peak, with a self-reported 70% accuracy rate.
The media buying side of advertising has already enlisted artificial intelligence to make planning and buying more effective and efficient. Bain Media Lab, for example, is leveraging computer vision models to more accurately measure the quantity and quality of commercials and sponsorships. The tech places over a billion tags of metadata on TV to identify logos and product placements, while scoring size, clarity, and location.
But what if AI could be used to drive more tailored and impactful creative messaging? When you have the technological clout of Big Four firm Deloitte behind you – like Heat does – that sort of evolution is within reach.
While Heat isn’t replacing its copywriters with machines, the algorithms from its new AI practice aim to supply them with better insights into trends and keywords.
The newly launched Heat AI practice uses proprietary technology (originally developed at Deloitte Digital to assess business risk) to aggregate and analyze 100 million posts per day from 50,000 sources, such as social media, blogs, and news sites. The platform then executes 1 million predictions every half hour to identify trends and keywords that will increase in engagement – better informing creative direction and design.
"Artificial intelligence has the potential to completely reinvent the advertising industry, but until now, no one has employed AI-derived predictive insights to develop impactful, emotionally resonant creative," said Jocelyn Lee, co-head of Heat AI and specialist leader, Deloitte Consulting. "Heat AI's proprietary technology allows us to develop real-time content based on predictive insights, delivering emotionally resonant and culturally relevant content — while unleashing the power of surprise to break through an increasingly crowded landscape.
“This allows our clients to be at the forefront of trending conversations and connect with the right audiences at the right time."
According to Deloitte, Heat AI’s technology can help brands align themselves creatively with cultural moments, staying ahead of trends and resonant events with predictive technology. It’s like Minority Report, except instead of predicting future crime, they’re predicting future Twitter trending topics.
She’s got a great ad
Heat AI could, for example, predict that the so-called “plant guy” who gifted a plant to Drake and Kawhi Leonard during the Raptors NBA Championship parade would eventually go viral on Twitter. They could then place ads from relevant brands with relevant target audiences at the peak of the “cultural event.” For example, they could run an ad by Flowers.com such as “Plants for any occasion – including the Raptors parade,” and then have it targeted at the right time with the right keywords for maximum impact.
Heat AI has already been working with major brands to give them a competitive edge in the digital marketing landscape. The practice officially launched at Cannes Lions on June 19 with Facebook, the platform’s first official partner.
The practice will look to expand its offerings throughout the year, integrating additional proprietary technology.
