As the television (TV) and connected TV (CTV) industry closes another turbulent year, television advertisements remain a central revenue generator for providers. The streaming video on demand (SVOD) model appears to be making way for a more financially sustainable advertisement-based video on demand (AVOD) system, and industry leaders like Netflix, Disney and Paramount are recruiting advertising partners for their AVOD platforms.
However, the cost to develop and shoot a TV commercial can still be prohibitive for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs). Considering this group accounts for over 99 percent of U.S. businesses, this represents a major economic obstacle for both sides. Fortunately, this paradigm is starting to shift, thanks to rapid advancements in creative AI and production technology.
To discuss how AI is changing the TV commercial industry, Digital Journal spoke with Alex Persky-Stern, CEO of Waymark, a video creation platform that combines multiple AI systems to generate quality TV & CTV ads in minutes, at a fraction of the cost.
Digital Journal: How is AI changing the business world right now?
Alex Persky-Stern: At a high level, remarkable things are happening. You might have heard of DALLE-2, which dominated headlines a few months ago when it broke ground in image generation. Even if you don’t keep up with AI developments, you might also have heard of Jasper, an AI-based writing tool that recently raised $125 million.
Those are just two examples, but they represent two main trends we’re seeing in the corporate world: 1. New possibilities in AI are opening up very, very quickly, and 2. There’s a willingness to direct substantial capital to seeing where those possibilities might take us.
DJ: What business problem are you trying to solve, specifically?
Persky-Stern: We’ve been designing Waymark to make video generation easier than it’s ever been. Media companies are adopting our platform to generate “spec creative.” These are 15- and 30-second videos that they present as sample ads to potential media buyers, helping local businesses overcome hurdles that prevent them from advertising. Sales teams can just type in basic information and get a customized, almost-instantly generated commercial to bring to a customer meeting.
DJ: How are you using AI to do that?
Persky-Stern: We’ve actually combined a number of AI models and techniques – natural language processing, computer vision, upscaling and text-to-speech models – in a way that allows users to work as a sort of “production team.”
A user provides their business name, location and what they want their ad to be about. Our team of AI models (supported by web scraping APIs and a proprietary language of creative components) takes that information and runs with it.
First, the platform pulls relevant data: basic business info, customer reviews, uploaded images, etc. from across the web. Then, it writes a custom script based on what it has learned, and is smart enough to layer that with images, footage, audio, and transitions that strengthen the script. It weaves all of that into a finished ad spot.
DJ: Don’t you get fairly generic results with an approach like that, without any human input?
Persky-Stern: Not at all. The mechanics of the process are the same each time, but our AI system develops a completely original commercial for each user. Because each user enters different inputs and each script is written “from scratch” when the platform runs, each video is unique, while still being on brand.
DJ: What’s to stop a tool like this from replacing entire production departments?
Persky-Stern: We really don’t see Waymark as a replacement for a full production team. We’re proud of what it can do, but there will always be a place for creatively ambitious, full-fledged video shoots and original, human-driven work. Waymark is ideal for the people who need quality creative quickly, and who wouldn’t have made it otherwise.
DJ: What is something that would surprise the average consumer about AI?
Persky-Stern: I think the speed at which AI is currently evolving can be pretty hard to wrap your head around – even when you’re involved in it.
For many years, the hype around AI outpaced the reality of what it could accomplish. There was far more marketing and talk about technological progress than proof of that progress. Now, we seem to be catching up to the kinds of possibilities we’ve been imagining.
DJ: How do you think AI will continue to develop over the next five to ten years?
Persky-Stern: It might be harder to say what corners of our life won’t be affected by AI over the next decade. AI is poised to eliminate most or all of the mundane, repetitive tasks no one wants to do, giving us all the opportunity to focus on what matters most. Everything from how we work, how we create, how we interact with the world – all of it will be (and in some cases already is) powered by AI.
DJ: What’s next for Waymark?
Persky-Stern: Right now, we’re working on making our automated video generation even stronger with enhancements to computer vision and synthetic voiceover. From there, we’ll be expanding to generating full packages of assets— with no additional work. And who knows what other cool features will be unlocked as generative AI tech continues at a really breathtaking pace.
