iSpot, which got its start cataloging TV commercials many years ago, has returned to its roots with a new tool called SAGE that uses agentic AI to analyze TV commercials and their effectiveness. The tool goes through a brand’s own ads (or a competitor’s ads) to determine themes and other characteristics and then provides analysis of how those factors performed. It’s meant to help agencies and brands develop better and more effective creative by providing insights into what works and what does not. By providing insights into competitive creative, it can also help brands figure out where and how to zig when everyone else is zagging. Why It Matters A Porsche designed by committee is a Toyota. I forget where I first heard that, but it’s a truism that’s stuck with me throughout my career as everyone from clients to GPTs have attempted to flatten out or take the edges off something I’d written. And while it is easy to see certain agencies using SAGE to do just that — create a Franken-ad of the best-performing elements, it is not what the product is designed for. Rather, it’s designed to help agencies strategize within a human-created framework—here is our campaign, what’s the best call-to-action, which product attributes should we emphasize, what is the emotional response, can we customize the ads for different audiences to create better outcomes—that sort of thing. It is a fascinating program too, the sort of thing you can easily lose hours playing with, as the results often defy your own expectations of what will resonate or what will confuse. As such, it should prove to be invaluable in the planning stages—what do we want to focus on, what are our competitors not focusing on. It’s also a good addition to a gut check — we think people know what X is, but do they really? Is it that they’ve never heard of it or that they think it’s something else? But the thing is, as AI advances, we are going to see more products that are able to break down something subjective, like a TV commercial or a movie script, and determine what elements align with audience expectations and preferences. And then it will tell you that it can help you write the perfect script. Which is a really bad idea because those perfect scripts are bound to fail. I know this because we’ve tried this before. Only without data. You see, Hollywood is littered with the remains of projects that had the most talented actors, the most award-winning screenwriters, the hottest directors, multimillion dollar budgets and a ton of hype… only to crash and burn because the end product did nothing for audiences. While a show based on a series of fantasy novels beloved by Dungeons and Dragons players featuring a cast of unknown European actors created by two guys who had zero experience as showrunners became a massive hit. This is not as surprising as it might seem. Creativity is, at its core, the defiance of expectations. Of showing people that they like things they didn’t think they’d like. It rarely tests well — word of mouth is key and it takes some time to catch on. But ultimately it does and suddenly there is something new and different and audiences love it and the magic that led to its success is now out in the universe, never to be harnessed or recaptured again. Ever. As in don’t even try. What You Need To Do About It If you are iSpot, take a bow. SAGE is a well-designed, well-thought out tool that is a lot of fun to play with, especially if you are in any way curious about data. (I will admit to having a blast when CEO Sean Muller took me through it. So many “what if” scenarios to explore.) If you are involved in any sort of creative project — TV commercials, TV shows, movies, microdramas — remember that these are great tools to understand audiences and to understand what else is out there. But actually creating something that breaks through? That’s got to come from you, from taking these insights and figuring out how to use them to tell a really great story. Without any guardrails. Because especially in today’s Feudal Media landscape, passion is going to beat out relevance and creating something that makes people feel should continue to be your goal. |
