ChatGPT reveals its human side

For all the incessant talk about AI-led creative swallowing up the advertising industry (including from us, here at Cubery), OpenAI’s recent launch of its new ChatGPT (GPT) campaign had a noticeably human touch. Real cameras shooting real people in warm, relatable settings formed the crux of the new tech giant’s biggest campaign yet. And it’s easy to see why.

Inspired by the ways people use the platform in their daily lives, the campaign aimed to bring this to life in a way that, according to CMO Kate Rouch, would “show [people’s] stories in ways that others can see and connect with. Our goal is for people to look at these moments and think, ‘this is for me.’”

In order to deliver on this objective, it seemed only natural to move away from existing category expectations of a cold dystopia and dry tech product demonstrations. And instead, hone in on building an emotional connection with audiences through the proven formula of warm, relatable storytelling. But more than that, these stories also needed to clearly show how the tool was so effortlessly intertwined within these moments—ensuring people didn’t just connect with the ads emotionally, but also how the product can address existing tensions in their lives.

But did it deliver on these goals and meet lofty internal and external expectations following the brand’s rapid rise into the lives of hundreds of millions? Well, we tested each of the three launch executions to see which—if any—was most effective in delivering on these campaign objectives.

While “Pull Up” (featuring a man using GPT to train for and complete his first pull up) proved the most attention-grabbing execution, it was “Road Trip” (which sees a brother surprise his sister with a scenic drive) that delivered the strongest emotional appeal. Despite the latter being received in a more passive way, the warm-hearted story of a brother and sister undertaking a surprise cross country trip kept the audience actively involved throughout, resulting in the fewest number of people tuning out across the three ads.

Also view Second-by-Second Emotion Analysis for Pull Up and Dish.

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What’s more, whereas “Pull Up” and “Dish” (where a man uses GPT to make a meal to impress his date) proved less ownable for GPT (scenarios which a quick Google search has long been the default), the planning of an extended road trip required a level of sophistication that was seen as something only GPT could assist with. As such, the brand’s presence was considerably boosted within “Road Trip”, meaning it did the best job of translating the emotion generated into meaningful brand outcomes.

With the brand and its novel capabilities more strongly tied to the narrative, “Road Trip” was not only the more effective execution at delivering branded memories for GPT, but it also better showcased how the platform delivered to people’s wants and needs in a way that competitive offerings simply can’t match. With this one-two combination in hand, “Road Trip” pulled away as the execution that we predict will pay the biggest short- and long-term dividends for the brand.

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Beyond this research providing clear learnings for creative optimization, from a media laydown perspective it also makes clear the executions that should be prioritized. More broadly, though, it simply provides a reminder of why early-stage (at the very least) or pre-launch testing is critical in gaining an outside perspective on what’s working with intended audiences, and which ideas aren’t quite hitting the mark. The fundamentals of great advertising remain as relevant today as ever, meaning the advertisers who ultimately win will be those that don’t underestimate the enduring importance of market orientation.

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