With the fast advance of AI tools across all avenues of game development bringing a frequent stream of new features - be they generative art services, live chat translators or even music makers - mobile tech company AppLovin is now encouraging ad creative makers to "start exploring" what's possible.
Whether you’re a game dev or an advertiser, success in the current landscape seems to be increasingly reliant on keeping up with AI tools and tech - and these tools change daily. AppLovin’s second Performance-Driven Ad Trends report suggests ad creative makers especially should evolve together with the new tech "so you’re leading the pack, rather than chasing the herd".
Enhancing efficiency
SparkLabs, the in-house creative team at AppLovin, provided a reference point based on its use of AI in ad creatives through 2023 using data collected from over 10,000 ad creatives, 33.1 billion clicks and 412 million installs. Now, the evidence has come together to indicate that the use of this tech has become a significant part of creative output - bolstering productivity and enabling a culture where exploration is more important than technical expertise.
In fact, with AI on board, SparkLabs’ production nearly tripled in 2023 over 2022, and saved 1,600 hours in SparkLabs’ creative processes.
A whole team using AI instead of segregated individuals is also beneficial, AppLovin suggests, but there should still be a "human presence" throughout, including within the ads themselves - whether live action or an avatar - to connect with consumers. Humans and humanised characters appeared in 66% of SparkLabs' "creative wins" in 2023, after all.
"By design, campaigns are optimised for different metrics, and our ad optimiser scales creatives based on many variables," the report adds. "Therefore, the top performer may not have the best numbers for every metric, including but not limited to CTR, IR, ROI, ROAS, etc."
But one especially useful feature applicable to many an ad creative in the gaming space is content-aware fill - a part of generative AI tools that helps with making backgrounds, thereby reducing time spent making said creatives.
"Embracing AI expands the potential of creatives. The technologies continue to evolve, but we’ve found a huge opportunity to benefit from many different AI tools right now," said AppLovin CMO Katie Jansen.
"We’ve seen that it is key to foster a culture that inspires creative teams to explore and adopt these technologies in order to improve efficiencies, continue to push creative boundaries and improve results for our customers."
The full Performance-Driven Ad Trends 2024 report explores ad creative strategies more deeply, using SparkLabs as a reference point.
