An era of synthetic ads, including deep fakes, is emerging at an accelerating rate, according to Australian research published in the Journal of Advertising.
A Swinburne University of Technology study says technology will allow marketers to personalise ads to individual consumers.
Colin Campbell, an associate professor: “Imagine ads that skip the model entirely and show you wearing the clothes – something similar to the futuristic ads in the 2002 film, Minority Report.
“It’s a concept that may prove too intimidating for many consumers. There is an abundance of research that shows greater positive effects when consumers see people like them in ads.
“Brands could tailor ads by serving up a deep fake model matching your exact ethnicity, height, wearing clothes similar to what you’ve purchased previously or liked online, standing on a street near your home or workplace using data extracted from social media, retail sensors or loyalty programs.”
Traditionally, the production and distribution of advertising material has relied on human effort and analog tools.
However, technolgy advances have created digitaltools that enable advertisers to automate many processes and produce “synthetic ads” or ads with content based on automatic production and modification of data.
The research shows these personalised ads could lead to more sales and improved reputation for brands, so long as they don’t cross over into hyper customer surveillance, leading to privacy concerns and feelings of vulnerability from consumers.
Sean Sands, a professor of marketing: “Marketers will strive to create ‘authentically human’ deepfakes to seem ‘real’.
“But we also have research that suggests consumers can be more forgiving of obviously virtual influencers. Some businesses may strive to make the fact a deep fake is fake known, so their consumers may be more forgiving of their transgressions.”
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