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This past June, Meta set off a bomb in the marketing world when it announced that it would fully automate the advertising on its platforms by 2026. People in advertising wondered: Is this the end of ad agencies as we know it? Has the AI slopification of social media finally been fully realized? The hyperbolic reaction is understandablemaybe even justified. With 3.43 billion unique active users across its platforms around the world, and an advertising machine that brought in $47.5 billion in Q2 sales alone (up 22% over last year), Meta is an accurate bellwether for where the ad business is heading. Meta has been working for years to build a machine that is already pretty damn close to automating its entire ad system, from creative concept generation to determining whose eyeballs see the final product. Its current capabilities are good enough to give most advertising creatives the flop sweats. But now is not the time for marketers to cower in fear. The opposite, actually. This is a great moment for marketers face head-on how Meta views its relationship with creatives, agencies, and brands, as it continues to roll out new technologies and features. To help, we asked Meta ad execs to break down their strategy. Below is a detailed explainer to help you understand how Meta is thinking about its role in the advertising space, and what brands, agencies, and even consumers can do to better prepare themselves for whats to come. In this premium piece, youll learn: What Metas new AI advertising tools are and how they work, straight from the people creating them The reason why agencies will always be a part of Meta’s advertising equation Which tools are turbocharging growth for marketers, according to Helen Ma, Metas VP of product management (GenAI ad formats, video growth, creative diversification) Five key breakthroughs Earlier this month, Meta announced a slew of features to its AI-powered ad platform, including virtual try-on tech, AI-generated video for advertisers, and generative CTA (call to action) stickers to replace the common Buy Now” button. But to understand the significance of the new tools, its important to step back for a moment and dig into the technology infrastructure that powers Metas advertising system. [Image: Meta] Over the past few years, Meta has systematically rebuilt its entire ad infrastructure around AI. Each innovation builds on previous advances, creating compounding improvements in the effectiveness of ads on its platforms. (Take haircare brand Living Proof, for example, which saw an 18% boost in purchases after using Meta’s generative AI feature for ad creative, compared to using its usual campaign strategy and creative.) This all-in-one-place approach to marketing tools reduces the operational burden for advertisers while increasing their dependence on Meta’s systems. The goal for Meta is to be as embedded as possible in a brand’s overall marketing operation. Matt Steiner, Metas VP of monetization infrastructure for ranking and AI foundations, says there are essentially five key technological breakthroughs that underpin Metas AI advertising platforms. The focus is on automating and optimizing every part of the advertising process, from creative generation to targeting and performance measurement. Here’s what you need to know: Advantage Plus Shopping Campaigns: The Automated Ad ManagerInstead of advertisers needing large teams to constantly monitor their ads, analyze spreadsheets, and manually decide when to increase or decrease spending, Meta introduced Advantage Plus in 2022 to use machine learning models to do the heavy lifting. The AI constantly monitors which campaigns and audiences are performing well and automatically redirects the budget and changes the bid strategy 24 hours a day to maximize results. I think the key innovation that drives it is that machine learning models don’t get tired, Steiner says. He notes that this technology was key to Metas ad business when Apple introduced anti-tracking changes for iPhone users. Historically, Meta could track whether ads you saw on its platforms ultimately led to a purchase elsewhere, and this anti-tracking change cut off its lifeline to that information. Meta bypassed the blockage using transfer learning and combining its app data with advertisers own data on the people using its sites and making purchases. Meta Lattice: The “Shared Knowledge” SystemThis is a deep machine learning technology that allows different AI models to learn from each other. Traditionally, Meta had separate AI models predicting different user behaviors. For example, one model would predict who will click on an ad, while another would predict who would actually buy the product. Announced in 2023, Lattice utilizes transfer learning, which allows these models to share knowledge. Transfer learning is a concept where a machine learning model trained to do one task can be trained to do a second task, and its performance on the first task improves by being trained to do the second task. Generative AI for Ads Creative: The Automatic Ad DesignerThis set of tools, originally introduced in May 2024, automatically creates variations of a brands ad content across text and image backgrounds as well as entirely new images from scratch. It then optimizes them to look good and perform well on Meta platforms. This saves advertisers time by allowing them to test and learn what consumers respond to much faster than a human team could. Humans are best at coming up with novel ideas, says Steiner. They’re not really good at thinking of all variations of the word buy or sale, and thats not something people are really excited to do. So with machine learning models to automate that, they can spend their time doing the things that are uniquely human-skilled, like coming up with new ideas and really understanding why a campaign will resonate with peoplethings that are not really automatable today. [Image: Meta] Andromeda: The High-Speed Ad FinderThe goal of all Meta advertising is to match the right brands ad to the right person at the time that person is most likely to click (and buy). Thanks to the new AI ad tools rolled out over the past year, the number of ads available in Metas system increased rapidly. Within a month of launching its first AI tools in 2024, more than a million advertisers used Metas generative AI tools to create more than 15 million ads. This essentially clogged the system and made it harder and slower for Meta to search through all those ads to find the few that might be relevant to any particular user. In December Metaintroduced Andromeda, a massive technical and hardware upgrade to Metas backend infrastructure that lends it up to 10,000 times more computing power. Codesigned with Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) and Nvidias Grace Hopper Superchip, Andromeda allows Metas system to handle the massive increase in demand for computing power from all the ads being created using its generative AI tools. Steiner says the result has been a dramatic improvement in the selection of relevant ads, increasing the likelihood of people finding a useful ad and ultimately driving up conversions for advertisers. According to the company, so far it has boosted conversions on Facebook mobile Feed and Reels by 4%. Generative Ads Recommendation Model (GEM): The Customer MapIntroduced in April, GEM is new AI model architecture for deciding which ad to show you, based on predicting future behavior. Just as an LLM uses sequence learning to predict the next logical item in a sequence, this does the same thing for ads. Instead of just predicting whether youll click on the next single ad, GEM tracks your entire history of ad interactions and purchases. This allows the model to recognize that you might be on several different, parallel “purchase journeys” simultaneously and react accordingly. The company says these improvements increased ad conversions by approximately 5% on Instagram and 3% on Facebook Feed and Reels in Q2. Virtual try-on [Image: Meta] Ad feeds of the future This new backbone technology is powering all the ads you see, but it’s all more or less invisible. Heres what Meta is betting on to get you buying more across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp: Virtual try-on: This is exactly what it sounds like. Meta is now testing with select advertisers the ability to see how clothing featured in an ad looks on them after they upload a photo of themselves. AI Sticker CTA (call to action): Most of the time you see an ad on Instagram, theres a generic Shop Now button at the bottom. Now brands are going to be using custom AI-generated stickers that could be a product photo or a logo graphic to add a bit more flair. We’re seeing something like 50% to 200% higher click-through rates on these AI-generated CTA stickers, because they’re fun and visually appealing and bring the product to life, says Helen Ma, Metas VP of product management. Previously announced at Cannes, this visual enhancement is now available to more advertisers globally for Facebook Stories and testing for Facebook Reels, as well as Instagram Stories and Reels. Creative generation upgrades: Meta rolled out two notable updates to its generative AI tool kit. First is an AI-generated music feature that understands the content of an ad and produces unique, custom music that reflects the product, style, and sentiment a brand wants to convey. It will also feature AI dubbing for international or multilingual audiences. The other is what Meta calls persona-based image generation, to help advertisers further personalize ads to different customers. This is like an AI vibes tool, changing the vibe of an ad to fit specific audiences. If you’re selling headphones, it can create one image that focuses on style for a fashion angle, one to highlight sound quality for audiophiles, and another that emphasizes comfort for travelers, all from the same product image. Facebook creator discovery API: This makes it easier for brands to find creators on Facebook by allowing them and third-party partners (like agencies) to search for creators using keywords. It also helps agencies and brands explore creator insights like audience demographics and average engagement rate to find the best match. Meta AI assistant-informed ads: The Meta AI digital assistant has more than 1 billion active monthly users and is available as a stand-alone app, as well as across its apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Starting December 16, the company will utilize users’ interactions with the AI assistant to inform ads and other content it shows them. Krassimir Karamfilov, Meta Advertisings VP of product, says that the number of Meta platforms, combined with billions of users, makes it impossible for individual marketers to get the most out of their ads without the help of tools like this. It’s just impossible to manually test all the potential variants, so this is why AI is just making it easier to experiment efficiently and then home in on what works, Karamfilov says. He knows that some advertisers have expressed concerns over a lack of control, but he counters that ads perform better when theyre not limited to the brands initial parameters. We see a lot of suboptimal usage of our products, he says. What were doing is all about aligning our systems to the way the advertisers measure value. Creator marketplace [Image: Meta] Enter the AI Concierge Meta isnt stopping at the ads in your feed. It sees a bigger business opportunity in helping brandsespecially small and midsize businessesutilize AI agents in their own business operations like customer service. Earlier this month, the company launched Business AI, which acts as a sales concierge to help take a consumer from an ad in a Meta feed all the way to purchasing a product. It acts as a personalized AI agent on Meta ads, messaging threads inside Meta platforms, and can even extend to the brands own websites. Clara Shih, VP of Business AI, says Metas clients were asking for help beyond the advertising side. Our customers have said, We want AI to not only help with product discovery and generating leads, help us all the way to closure, help us with our business operations, help us with customer support questions, Shih says. [Image: Meta] A recent MIT study reported that 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business impact, despite a collective billions invested. Shih says Business AI takes the burden of infrastructure off of companies in order to feel that impact. It’s just very hard, and a lot of companies don’t have big machine learning and AI teams where they can piece all these things together, she says. So something else that’s been really important to us is creating something that’s easy to set up and maintain. The benefit to brands is that a Meta-powered AI chatbot doesnt have to learn about a brand from scratch because so many businesses and brands have been active on Meta foryears. Shih says all of their past ads and social posts are a gold mine of tacit knowledge about a businesses within the Meta universe, giving the Business AI chatbot a lot of information to work with from the start. They don’t have to hire a consultant and pay millions of dollars to set up their chatbot. We could just look at what they’ve said and what they’ve done and what their brand is all about, she says. And just by using LLMs to mine that information, we’ve been able to create the world’s first turnkey business agent that just works because it’s them. It’s all based on what they’ve done. Its all very fun and convenient in the short term. And Metas recent earnings prove that its working. Second-quarter ad sales hit more than $47 billion, a 22% increase year over year. Every executive I spoke to emphasized that these are tools for humans to use, and that the companys relationship with agencies and creatives are crucial to any of this workingat least for now. Just keep in mind that the end game here is still full automation. As Shih put it, Mark [Zuckerberg] has talked about how in the future, the dream state for a business is to come to Meta, share their product catalog, share their business outcomes, and then we can automate the rest through a combination of Advantage Plus AI features, all as a business agent, she says. And we are getting closer and closer to that.
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E-Commerce
Long John Silver’s is known for its seafood, but it’d like to be better known for its poultry. So much so, that it just swapped the fish in its logo for a chicken. In time for national seafood month, Kentucky-based chain announced that it’s dropping the golden yellow fish illustration for a similarly styled chicken illustration. It’s also adding the words “Chicken” and “Seafood” to its lock-up. “Guests have been telling us for years that our chicken is a best-kept secret,” Long John Silver’s senior vice president of marketing and innovation Christopher Caudill said in a statement. “It’s time we let that secret out.” For now, the new logo shows up on the Long John Silver’s website and social media, and it’s expected to be on the wrap of the chain’s car at the South Point 400, a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race this Sunday in Las Vegas. [Image: Long John Silver’s] The company didn’t indicate in its announcement whether the rebrand is permanent, nor whether it will also appear in store and on signage nationwide (Long John Silver’s did not respond to a request for comment). At the very least, it’s the latest example of a promotional brand transformation. Like Maxwell House temporarily rebrading as Maxwell Apartment or Lacoste releasing a limited-edition goat logo, Long John Silver’s new chicken logo is meant to communicate a pointed message: this is a fast food restaurant that does more than crab cakes and surf clams. The rise of fast-food chicken sales Founded in 1969 and named after a pirate on Treasure Island, Long John Silver’s was designed to bring seafood to the landlocked parts of the U.S. But diners in places like Des Moines and Denver aren’t necessarily looking for fish and shrimp these daysthey are looking for chicken. Fast-food chicken sales now account for more than $53 billion in annual revenue for U.S. restaurants, according to data from Technomic, a market research firm. You can see its popularity reflected in menu items like Taco Bell’s limited-run chicken nuggets and Wendy’s new chicken tenders. To protect its turf in a time of rising competition, KFC is leaning into its origin story and mascot. For Long John Silver’s, the new look helps promote new chicken menu items, like chicken wraps and Nashville hot chicken, which the seafood the company says it’s testing at a new flagship location in Louisville, Kentucky. Chicken is “part of our heritage,” Caudill said, “so it deserves its rightful place on our logo, our menu, and our guests’ tables,” but he added that chicken is also “a big part of our future.” Previously owned by Yum! Brands, the parent company behind the chains KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s was acquired for an undisclosed sum in March 2021, according to PitchBook. Long John Silver’s has closed more than 150 restaurants in three years. With the dual focus on seafood and chicken, though, Long John Silver’s is hoping to reverse its decline by making its stores their own self-contained combination locations. For longtime customers still drawn in by its fish and shrimp, the brand will still deliver, but by casting a wider net, it’s hoping to catch some of the growing number of chicken fans too.
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E-Commerce
Hours after Princess Diana gave birth, she walked out onto the steps of the Lindo Wing, the private maternity ward of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, where she was met with photographers from around the world. As she introduced Prince William, then a couple years later, Prince Harry, she looked radiant, with flawless makeup and flowing gowns. It was a portrait of maternal serenity. It’s a beautiful image, one that captures many magical aspects the hours after giving birth. But it is far from the full picture for the roughly 140 million women who enter postpartum every year. It likely did not even capture what Diana herself was feeling on those steps. “There’s a duality in those moments,” says Chelsea Hirschhorn, founder and CEO of Frida, a company that makes products for postpartum mothers and newborns. “You’re proud of what you’ve just accomplished and excited to enter this next chapter of life. But you’re exhausted, broken, hurting, and in pain.” Prince Charles and Princess Diana leaving the Lindo Wing, at St. Mary’s Hospital after the birth of Prince William. June, 1982. [Photo: PA Images/Getty Images] Today, at the Lindo Wing, Frida unveils a sculpture it has commissioned by the British artist Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark that portrays a postpartum woman. Hirschhorn’s goal was to capture the complexity of women’s experience after giving birth, complicating the sanitized image the world has come to expect in this setting. The seven-foot-tall monument, entitled “Mother Vérité” (French for “truth”) is based on 3D scans of eight women from diverse backgrounds, and aims to realistically capture scars, swelling, and curves. The statue will travel around Europe and the United States over the next months, ending up at Art Basel, Miami in December. [Photo: Frida] Over the last few years, Frida has pivoted from a brand that creates products for newborns (like snot suckers for their stuffed noses) to solutions for postpartum women (like kits that reduce swelling when mammary glands get infected). Hirschhorn believes that many companies avoid tackling postpartum problems because they seem so taboo and unglamorous. So she’s been on a mission to help demystify the experience by starting cultural conversations about it. In 2019, Hirschhorn wrote an open letter to Meghan Markle in the New York Times, asking her to skip the traditional postpartum photo, delineating all the painful experiences women face after giving birth. In the end, after the birth of her firstborn son Archie, she did do a photo, but notably wore a dress that revealed her protruding postpartum belly, a move that Vanity Fair called subtly radical. Hirschhorn was eager to continue the conversation, and it occurred to her that a public monument of a postpartum woman could be a way to tell this story. Only 4% of statues in London depict women, according to a study by the organization Art U.K. Meanwhile, 8% depict animals, while 79% depict men. “You can only honor what you can see,” says Hirschhorn. “How can we value the work that women, and mothers do, if it is truly invisible to society?” Chelsea Hirschhorn & Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark [Photo: Frida] Hirschhorn commissioned the monument from D’Clark, a well-known digital sculptor whose work has been shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. D’Clark used 3D scanning machines to capture the bodies of eight women at different stages of their postpartum journey. The final sculpture, which took roughly two months to create, portrays a woman cradling her newborn and wearing nothing but postpartum underwear. Her belly is covered in stretch marks and bulges. [Photo: Frida] D’Clark chose to make the sculpture out of bronze, which accentuates creases and folds on the skin. “Some of my favorite details of the piece [are] the linea nigra, messy bun, and the texture of Frida’s postpartum pants, which became an iconic marker of this collaboration,” D’Clark says. Hirschhorn was particularly moved by the stance that the woman in the statue is taking, with one hand on her hip. “There’s a coexistence of strength and fragility,” she says. “Her fingers are facing forward in a position of confidence and surety, or perhaps exhaustion.” [Photo: Frida] Mother Vérité now stands at the steps of the Lindo Wing in the same spot where Princess Diana stood, reflecting another aspect of the postpartum experience. “We’re not denigrating the experience of announcing a birth in this way,” Hirschhorn clarifies. “But we’re juxtaposing it with a slightly more authentic and realistic portrayal of a woman’s physical transition into motherhood.” For D’Clark, it’s important that the statue is displayed publicly, alongside the many statues that grace London. “Public project and powerful storytelling are vital to visualizing overlooked narratives and building empathy in our cities,” she says.
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E-Commerce
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