Dave Brown

What happens when you direct robots all day? You get better at directing humans. Creative directors used to give feedback like “keep pushing” or “just have fun.” That was a LIMITED LANGUAGE MODEL. John Hegarty said it best: with AI, every creative has to think like a creative director. I agree. And creative directing AI is also changing how I give creative direction to people. Because let’s be honest, giving clear feedback has never been our strong suit. We were trained on the older model. “Keep pushing.” “Just have fun.” “Give me 10 more ideas that, um, aren’t this.” And my personal favorite: “Just keep going.” Keep going where, exactly? Correct hemisphere at least? Many walls were dented by junior creatives attempting futile exercises in telepathy. AI won’t play that game. You can’t run the limited language model on AI. You have to be specific. And just like with a junior creative, you find out very quickly if your direction worked. When your Midjourney prompt “turkey drumstick” gives you a Turkish drum instead of meat on a bone, you don’t think “AI sucks at design.” Well, okay, you do. But then you realize the problem was your direction. AI models need the same things human creatives need but we’ve often failed to give them. Clarity, context, and a sense of what “good” looks like. Working with AI is a reminder of how iterative the creative process is. If AI still struggles to generate a man walking a dog with the right number of legs and fingers in under 500 tries, then it’s not fair to expect a junior art director to nail a concept in the first (or fifth) review. Just like with humans different models are better at different things. Some AI tools create stunning visuals but fail spelling tests. Claude is great with words but just "doesn't do" visuals. This isn’t that different from a creative department: – The junior art director who designs beautifully but misspells every email – The copywriter who channels Oscar Wilde but forgets the brand colors Whether you’re managing humans working from home or humanoids in your computer, you’re balancing strengths and weaknesses, building something greater than the sum of its parts. The next generation of creative leaders will have more experience directing AI than humans. Hopefully, what they learn from AI will make them better at directing people too. You might be wondering, “Did Ryan use AI to write this?” I consulted Claude, who suggested I tell you my feedback is now always clear and concise. Which isn’t true. But that’s on me. I had to give it context. It's something I’m working on, that I’m human, with strengths and weaknesses. Creative direction is like getting the right number of fingers on an AI hand. It should be simple, but it takes way longer than you think. It’s iterative. But when the 500th version of CCO Ryan finally nails it, Claude will be so proud. (That was Claude’s end joke. Not bad.) WHAT CREATIVE DIRECTING ROBOTS IS TEACHING ME ABOUT DIRECTING HUMANS

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Over the past year, I’ve seen firsthand how creative leaders who embrace AI aren’t just improving workflows, they’re redefining how brands connect with culture and audiences. Visiting clients in New York and spending time with incredible agencies like Code and Theory, Instrument, Kettel, and Mediacurrent really drove home a crucial point: technology alone isn’t enough. Ethics, human insight, and understanding cultural context are what make AI truly transformative. Facts: 1- Campaigns move 20–30% faster, reaching audiences where their attention truly is. 2- Teams gain bandwidth to experiment, iterate, and push creative boundaries. 3- Done responsibly, AI safeguards trust and respects culture. With $2.6 trillion in AI-driven creative value expected by 2030, those who treat AI as a true partner, not a replacement, will shape the next era of storytelling. For me, this isn’t about technology replacing the human touch; it’s about creating the space to be more human, more creative, and more impactful. 👉 Read my full perspective here: https://hubs.ly/Q03KqZWM0 #CreativeAI #Innovation #AIinMedia #DigitalArts #CampaignAcceleration #ResponsibleAI #Storytelling #EmbeddedAcceleration

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One of the (very) few benefits of being on the other side of 50 is that I can remember things younger people need to Google. Like the birth of the Internet. Or the mobile revolution. Here’s what got me thinking about this today: I stumbled across this AI generated Bic pen ad concept by Salma Aboukar. It's simple. It's clever. And it sparked a wave of other variations/ads (scroll through the thread to see them). https://lnkd.in/gWNyd75v Then David Blagojević animated it: https://lnkd.in/guvSyzDA The quality? Good enough for digital billboards, online ads, social videos, digital video - basically 95% of where eyeballs actually are. Here's the thing: These weren't "made by AI" any more than the stuff we shoot is "made" by cameras.The Bic ad was created by Salma in London. The threat this industry faces isn't being replaced by AI. It's being replaced by people like Salma and David who know how to use these tools effectively. It's normal to be scared, or skeptical of massive disruptions like the ones embodied by the work above. Over the years I’ve developed a belief that the only path forward is to make disruption work for you rather than against you... Especially if it's already happened. The agency John Elder and i started -  Supergood -  is AI native. AI is baked into just about everything we do. One might think that means that everyone who works here is an AI apostle, preaching the algorithmic gospel. The reality is that many of the folks who work here are ambivalent about AI, and we have constant debates about it. Something tells me this post is going to start another one.

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There is actual math behind why the riskiest thing a brand can do is be ignorable. But with the convergence of big-ass tech promising the greatest efficiency ever, paths to safety have never looked more compelling for brand marketers. Follow the path less traveled. https://lnkd.in/e_wcFJVz Sharp Ad Age piece from Mischief @ No Fixed Address Group Strategy Director Zach Kula. #creativity #marketing #risk

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I've always believed that the most impactful connections happen in the physical world—when people can try, touch, and experience products for themselves. In this new piece for WARC, coauthored with Andrew Lipsman, we unpack the rise of Experiential Retail Media: why it matters, how it works, and the role identifiability plays in creating closed-loop, in-store engagement. The future isn’t just digital. It’s physical, personal, and profoundly scalable. Link in comments #RetailMedia #ExperientialMarketing #ShopperEngagement #MeasurableMedia #Freeosk #MarketingInnovation

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Our Director of Creative Strategy rolled out a framework that has transformed how we approach creativity at Ready Set. I'm not even sure I should share this until we trademark it, but here it is. Miranda Davies created a creative matrix. Creativity has always been a blend of art and science, but Miranda's matrix tips the scales by turning creative decision-making from a gut instinct into a structured, performance-driven system. This matrix removes the subjectivity often associated with creative decisions. Instead of relying on intuition alone, it allows our team to put data behind their decisions, stay structured in their approach, and communicate more effectively with clients. (This part is way easier now since we have an approach that blends artistic vision with solid metrics). But really, this gives us a shared language for evaluating creative performance. While I can't divulge all the details, I can say that this creative matrix is setting a new standard for creative performance. Now, we can get really granular about how to produce effective content that resonates with audiences and drives real results for our clients. Hats off to you, Miranda. We're so lucky to have you.

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I’ve been working with the team at Springboards.ai for just over a year now - but I’ve known Pip Bingemann and Amy Tucker for close to two decades, as friends, collaborators, and fellow strategists. That long-standing trust and shared curiosity is exactly what powers this kind of work: bold, timely, and grounded in the belief that better questions lead to better futures. They’ve always been the kind of thinkers who don’t just keep up with change; they challenge it, shape it, and keep asking the questions that move things forward. Many of us use LLMs daily for research, for speed, for early-stage thinking. But how often do we actually stop and ask: can they think creatively? Today, that question gets a proper stress test. A global coalition of creative and marketing bodies - 4As, Advertising Council Australia, APG, D&AD,International Advertising Association, IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising), and The One Club for Creativity - led by Springboards, has just launched the first-ever creativity benchmark for LLMs. It’s designed to test the creative muscle: idea generation, lateral thinking, and the kind of problem-solving that underpins great, unexpected work. Think “Tinder for ideas” - you swipe through model responses and choose what feels strongest or most original. But this isn’t just a test. It’s a collective build. The more people who participate, the sharper the data becomes. We’re not just measuring creativity, we’re mapping it. Across industries, disciplines, and instincts. To do that, we need a broad, rigorous, and diverse set of creative minds involved. So if you’re curious which LLM thinks most like you, or if you just want to help shape the way we evaluate creative potential in this next chapter, dive in and take the test. CreativityBenchmark.ai Let’s find out what these tools are really capable of, together.

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Cultural context matters. A lot more than we often admit. In this industry, we pride ourselves on insight. But too often, I’ve seen powerful phrases used without awareness of their weight—phrases tied to real pain, history, and identity. Years ago, I watched a brand nearly air a spot with the line “building a wall,” without realizing how deeply it would hurt their Hispanic audience. No one in the room saw the problem — until one person finally spoke up. Now, a Nike campaign echoed “Never Again. Until Next Year” during Holocaust remembrance week. Maybe it wasn’t intentional. Perhaps it was a mistake. This may be a great insight for a runner, but it reminds me how easy it is to miss the mark when we don’t consider what certain words or symbols mean to different people. I’m not sharing this to call anyone out — I’ve missed things too. But here’s what I’ve learned: if we want brands to stay relevant and truly connect with people, we must work with cultural context in mind. Awareness of history, language, and lived experience isn’t just a safeguard — it’s a creative advantage. As someone who works every day at the intersection of culture and communication, I’ve seen how thoughtful nuance can transform campaigns — and how the absence of it can cause real harm. We owe it to each other, and to the communities we speak to, to do better.

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