• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 20, 2024

Cognitiv launched its first brand campaign, a digital out-of-home (DOOH) experience using deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The theme of "more" arises from multiple third-party brand audits that included numerous interviews with clients. One of the common threads in these interviews was the desire of interviewees to do more with more time.

Many interviews, specifically with agency reps, describe being "stuck in the weeds" and as a result losing the opportunity to focus on other parts of their professional lives -- ranging from more time for strategy and creative collaboration to more time to adequately prepare for key meetings, or even the ability to respond to emails.

The company worked with Manual Labor Studio, a creative agency, to design the images featured on digital signs around New York City.

The message of “more” in the creative targeted advertisers and agency buyers.

The creative agency built eight “reclaim your brain” scenarios for the ad campaign.

Each centered on a different type of brain or way of thinking, and all were designed to allow for the creative to convey the ability to do “more” in a person’s personal and work life.

The tagline for the campaign emerged as "Reclaim Your Brain" and “What you do with your time is up to you.”

AI became a partner in the creative process, said Todd Cadley, president and CMO at Manual Labor Studio.

He said to conceive an idea for the campaign based on the word "more," which had no real reference to a visual, required assistance from humans and technology, much of it coming from Adobe’s products such as Firefly. The team added animation to bring the butterflies in the campaign to life and make the brains in the ads light up.

While AI generated the initial ideas, Cognitiv approved the process. The final product came from Manual Labor Studio.

The digital signs will run around New York City, targeting advertisers and agency buyers.

Billups, the DOOH agency, supported the campaign with outdoor billboards and provided media buying. It used machine learning and AI to better understand and predict behavior for targeting and measurement. The campaign also has a dedicated landing page.