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Music and culture publisher Complex Media, a part of BuzzFeed Inc., debuted a marketing activation Monday that uses generative artificial intelligence to power an interactive chatbot that produces bespoke album covers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
The landing page, produced in partnership with Sprite, reflects advertisers’ growing interest in being associated with the buzzy technology. It also demonstrates one of the ways in which media companies can tap into that desire to land direct sponsorship deals. The publisher declined to share financial specifics.
“Artificial intelligence brings a level of personalization to an experience that we know resonates with a Gen Z audience,” said Andrew Guendjoian, the head of sales for BuzzFeed Inc. “It encourages interactivity, and it looks different from the other kinds of content our users are consuming.”
More broadly, the campaign marks the latest iteration of publishers’ ongoing experimentation with generative AI, which has captured the attention of the industry due to its disruptive potential.
While publishers like G/O Media and Red Ventures have embraced it as a means of producing content, others, including BuzzFeed Inc. and Axel Springer, have vowed to use generative AI to enhance the capabilities of their workforce.
The New York Times, Dow Jones and Dotdash Meredith, meanwhile, have drawn attention to the threat the technology poses to the commercial foundation of the news industry.
While the Sprite activation represents the first time Complex Media has used generative AI in a commercial use case, parent company BuzzFeed Inc. has incorporated it into several campaigns, including a series of infinity quizzes sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro.
