Four studies landed this week, and together they read like a Black Mirror episode with a media plan attached.
Shoppers are letting AI pick the products, no problem. But then they turn around and punish the brands that let it write the copy.
Sacramento got there first. Newsom signed SB 1050, forcing ads to disclose when a prominent performer is AI-generated.
Narration, demonstrations, and on-camera reactions are all covered. Ad industry groups lobbied for a veto and lost.
The Crew’s take: Expect this to become standard across advertising. This was just another small step.
But that could hurt your sales. New Net Conversion research finds shoppers welcome AI as a buying assistant but punish creatives that look machine-made.
We’re not sure if this is truly just because ads look machine-made, or they are just poorly made. One big issue we’ve seen is AI creatives trying to hide that they are AI… Instead of leaning into it and focusing on the storytelling.
Creators occupy the awkward middle. IAB found 56% prefer AI recommendations that cite creators, yet only 29% of Gen Z and millennials say those citations push them to buy.
Again, great for discovery. Weak at the close when it comes to AI performance.
Follow the money, and it gets bleaker. Ecommerce brands expect to spend 63 cents of every new marketing dollar on AI and cashback apps.
Just 4% think creators will be the primary shopping gateway in 2027. Cashback apps top the holiday budget list at 57%.
But is that a sign creators are less influential or that shoppers are more careful with their budget?
