Serena Williams plays against herself as advertising giant uses AI

United States' Serena Williams. Photo / AP

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the world’s biggest advertising group to produce promotions including a Nike campaign where Serena Williams plays tennis against her past self.

WPP, which owns agencies including Ogilvy, GroupM and Wunderman Thompson, is using AI “really significantly” to automate both creative and production processes, according to Mark Read, its chief executive.

It comes amid a surge of interest in the new technology following the launch of ChatGPT. WPP is using the technology to customise campaigns to make them local by, for example, changing the background or removing people.

AI was also used in a recent advert for Nike that shows tennis star Serena Williams playing past versions of herself.

Another campaign for Nestlé featured an AI-generated extended version of Johannes Vermeer’s painting The Milkmaid.

Read said: “The launch of ChatGPT certainly captured our industry and indeed every industry’s imagination and I do think the application of AI to business, to the creative process and to all aspects of society is probably going to be much more fundamental than the metaverse.”

However, Read insisted that robots will never take over from the humans who come up with the ideas.

He said: “I don’t think it’s ever going to replace human judgment and creativity, but I do think that AI will be pretty fundamental to the way we work and the work we do for our clients.”WPP bought London-based AI company Satalia in 2021 and has used its technology across the business. In addition to helping with creative designs, the company also uses technology for programmatic media buying.

The comments came as WPP issued an upbeat forecast for the year ahead as brands continue to splash out on marketing despite the economic downturn. The holding group said it expects revenue to rise between 3pc and 5pc in 2023, which was ahead of analysts’ expectations.

WPP won $5.9bn ($9.4bn) of net new business in 2022, including Audible, Danone and Verizon. It retained clients including Sony Playstation, Tesco and Mars Wrigley, but lost the L’Oréal US media account and PepsiCo. Mr Read said he expected more clients to return to Twitter following an advertising exodus in the wake of Elon Musk’s troubled $44bn ($70.6) takeover.

He said: “Twitter is not a perfect platform by any means, but my own personal experience is that there seem to be fewer bots and it seems to remain just as relevant.”In recent years, WPP has looked to expand its offering to clients through partnerships with tech firms including TikTok and Snap.

It is also in the process of simplifying its sprawling business model. The group said annual cost savings reached £375m ($723m) last year, putting it “comfortably on target” to hit its goal of £600m by 2025. Silchester Institutional Investors has built up a £500m ($964m) stake in WPP, making it the third largest shareholder and fuelling speculation that it could push for changes such as a new chairman or even a break-up of the company.

Overall, WPP reported revenues of £11.8bn ($22.7bn) and pre-tax profits of £1.2bn ($2.3bn). It raised its dividend by more than 30pc to 24.4p per share.

Read added: “The continued need for major companies to build brands, sell products, reinvent and transform their business, understand their data, invest in technology and exploit the potential of AI remains, as does their need for modern partners who can help them navigate this new world.”