Over the past few months, our clients in all parts of the country have seen a surge in the number of customers who are providing AI-generated mock-ups during the creative production phase. In most cases, the customer offers the mock-up for inspiration, looking to the OOH professionals for direction. In some cases, advertisers are asking that their AI designs be used or posted as the published design. There are both benefits and challenges to this developing dynamic. Here are my two cents, along with some recommendations.
Benefits of AI-generated out of home ads
1. Customer mock-ups, whether AI-generated or not, can be helpful for giving us a sense of the customer’s vision for the billboard. The adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies, and, sometimes, the mock-up “says” it better than the customer’s written description could describe it. In that sense, the mock-up can help illuminate a concept.
2. AI-generated mock-ups can help identify the exact language, text, or tagline that the customer proposes (or insists upon).
3. AI-generated mock-ups can help get a reluctant or “too busy to talk right now” customer involved in the process of actually getting the creative accomplished and published.
Challenges of AI-generated out of home ads
1. Take to heart the observation that just because AI spits out a design does not make it a good design. You and your customer should resist the temptation to believe that an AI-generated design must be good simply because AI produced it. You may hear your customer say something like, “This is what AI said to use.” Your judgment and experience as an OOH industry professional trumps whatever AI suggests. You know garbage when you see it, and, respectfully, AI is often a “garbage in, garbage out” equation.
2. I have yet to see an AI-generated billboard mock-up that was ready to publish, as received from the customer. They are universally the wrong aspect ratio, size, or resolution. Or, they contain misspellings or oddities that make them unusable. Think extra body parts and entirely too many trinkets and tokens thrown in for “decoration.” Indeed, one AI platform routinely seems to make its billboard mock-ups look post-apocalyptic, as if the scene survived Mad Max and the Thunderdome – the face of the billboard still smoking from the assault and smoldering ashes. Don’t count on any customer-produced AI-generated mock-up being ready to publish.
3. Another pitfall is that, by the time you and I see it, your customer has, perhaps, invested substantial, late-night time and energy into their AI-generated mock-up and made it their “baby,” likely having no understanding of the actual specifications needed or what makes for a compelling billboard ad. They become wedded to their design. As we know, divorce can be painful. This can create, and in some instances has created, tension between the customer’s expectations and the recommendations that you and I offer.
4. The net effect of these challenges is that AI can become the master, rather than a useful tool that makes for a better outcome. Tools like AI design programs, as helpful as they are, work best in the hands of a skilled craftsman.
Recommendations for AI generated out of home ads
While every circumstance and relationship is as unique as a fingerprint, I find the following helpful in many situations:
1. If your customer is not offering to make an AI mock-up – if they are silent on the subject – don’t go out of your way to encourage it. Better than an AI mock-up are answers to the classic questions like, “What is your goal for this campaign?” or “What message are you trying to convey to potential customers?” In other words, have meaningful conversations about the design.
2. For customers who’ve already made an AI-generated mock-up, welcome it with the caveat that you and your designer will take it into consideration, explaining that our collective desire is to supply a design that’s in the customer’s best interest, which advances their goals, and which meets the specifications of the billboard the customer is purchasing.
3. Always bear in mind that static billboards are designed in high resolution using high-resolution logos, photos, and other elements. An AI-generated mock-up in resolution meant for a phone screen is only useful as inspiration for a static billboard.
4. For customers who’ve made it a personal life goal to supply you with an AI-generated file to publish, who’ve rejected your recommendations and the designer’s, offer to provide them the pixel dimensions, necessary resolution, and other specifications for the billboard. At a minimum, the design has to fit the billboard.
5. Last, make every interaction with the customer more about the relationship than about the creative. When the customer is convinced that you care more about their goals than you do about getting account tasks off your to-do list, you’ve got a good thing going.
Chad B. Hess heads up Billboard Graphic Design services at Brown Dog Outdoor Billboard Management & Design and has created thousands of published OOH designs. At Brown Dog, Chad and his wife, Tracey, bring 16 years of combined experience together to serve independent billboard and OOH operators.
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