Claude released some cute ads for Super Bowl. The ads take potshots at ChatGPT for introducing ads into the AI chats. You chuckle because you see the juxtaposition of serious AI chat advice eg “how to get along with your mom” now merged with a cougar dating site.
In so many other channels we can no longer distinguish organic content from paid, so let us assume that AI will go down that path too.
Which begs the question of why is Claude AI behaving like, say, Pepsi?
The Coke polar bear takes up Pepsi
Coke and Pepsi have a long running rivalry on which tastes better. This year Pepsi has released a Super Bowl ad where a polar bear – which is a Coke symbol – chooses Pepsi in a taste test.
When you’re selling coloured water there isn’t much to differentiate you from the rival fizz, so you focus on surround branding i.e. aspects of the product that create a perception rather than an actual functional difference. (Drill down the types of branding here.)
This can take the form of a rap star like Hanumankind awkwardly lifting a can of Thums up on stage and asking fans to “taste the thunder” (why, why, brand manager – were you not content to just have him drink it on stage!) or a polar bear choosing one as superior to the other. In either situation the communication doesn’t explain WHY one is better than the other. Because, well, it can’t.
Claude has crashed tech stocks, surely that’s a differentiator?
Recent updates from Claude allow it to do stuff that was seen as being in the realm of SaaS and IT companies. Claude Cowork enables contract reviews, data analysis, and file processing. Sort of like having an assistant that can work on local files and follow a set process. This has triggered a $285 billion global selloff in software stocks.
When you’re doing world-beating work ads talking about a rival’s B2C ads are trivializing your value and differentiation. The founders came from OpenAI so maybe the ads are a form of personal pay-back – the hero of the bulking ad looks a lot like Sam Altman of Open AI – and when you’re doing world-beating work a few cheap shots will not detract from your value 🙂 But as a smaller player in a space that inhales investments in the billions they need to communicate their core or functional value vs OpenAI or Google. They can do lifestyle ads when they have run out of actual differentiation to talk about.
Did the Indian IT stocks deserve the price crash
“Non-linear” growth, where increase in profits is not linked to increase in headcount and per-capita billing have been the holy grail for Indian IT forever. Or at least since 2000 when we talked about it at Infosys. So it isn’t like they want to keep hiring people – it has just been the easiest path to profits for the past 40 years.
The good news – for shareholders – is that the larger tech firms are using AI and engaged in enabling AI for their clients. HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, L&T Infotech, Persistent, Coforge all have a decent AI play. At the current pace of change, ability to embrace AI is an intent and a stance. Who knows what is coming next?
Trust is the key
If you’re selling to consumers, trust will become the differentiator. So taking potshots at ChatGPT’s susceptibility to being swayed by advertisers was quite clever. In B2B there are more guard-rails and oversight so predictability and reliability are a bigger piece. Claude should work on that aspect.
What about human experts – either individuals or groups of them in a brand?
The earned trust of experienced lawyers, doctors, consultants, CEOs and CMOs can now be scaled using AI. They can work with AI to
(a) ensure that an answer is indeed specific to you. The quality of an answer depends a lot on the quality of the question, and asking the right question is also an expertise.
(b) create differentiation. AI tends to give “good” answers but if everyone is doing the same thing how will you be different. For example, Claude with a 350 billion valuation can afford to do some not-so-valuable ads for $15 million, but others can’t. And even Claude shouldn’t have.
(c) check that the answer isn’t harmful. Again, this depends on the framing of the problem, but a solution could be excellent for one stakeholder but not for let’s say the world-at-large.
AI readiness is a stance
I signed up for an AI in marketing course a few months ago. I hate to say it but it is already seeming outdated in its content. But the frameworks will be helpful to understand whatever is the next new shiny object in the sky. At least I hope so 🙂
Valentine’s Day is next weekend – in case your AI overlords forgot to remind you 🙂 Ask it what you should do and see how clever the answer is – if it is, send it to me!
Have a great weekend!