Industry expert Zuzanna Gierlinska reflects on the importance of considering brand safety while making strides with AI.

Cannes Lions 2024 may seem like a hazy, rosé-tinted memory now, but among all the discussions on La Croisette, two key themes stood out that will define the industry in the coming year: AI and quality.

AI 

Unsurprisingly, AI dominated the discussions, panels, and presentations. From accelerating creativity and driving effectiveness to enabling better incorporation of consumer sentiment, the takeaway was clear: to gain a competitive advantage, brands need to not only lean into AI but be ready to grasp the wealth of opportunities it unlocks with both hands.

The Importance of Funding Quality Journalism

In today’s world, where misinformation is rampant, the importance of brands continuing to fund quality journalism cannot be overstated. The ‘Future of News’ panel at Stagwell Beach put this topic front and centre with a lineup featuring the CEOs of The New York Times, CNN, and Business Insider. Throughout Cannes week, there was a tide of conversation addressing how the industry tackles issues of trust, misinformation and the continued pivotal role of news content within this.

At the intersection of AI and content, I see (in big neon lights) Brand Safety.

Two Ends of the Spectrum

Brands diving into AI applications, specifically generative AI, need to have brand safety front and centre in their strategy. 

Conversely, overly rigid approaches to brand safety have negatively impacted the funding of quality journalism, as brands block news content.

Dialling Up Brand Safety

Generative AI brings the promise of enhancing content creation with greater efficiency and personalisation. However, it also poses significant risks for brands, from quality control issues, where AI can generate inaccuracies or perpetuate bias to deepfakes that can create realistic but fake videos or images of brand ambassadors or executives, spreading misinformation and damaging brand trust.

It’s therefore crucial for brands to remain up to date with AI advancements and integrate ethical considerations into their AI application strategies.

Dialling Down Blunt Techniques

Keyword block lists, a widely used approach to managing what content brands appear against, have for too long now been too broad in blocking news content at scale. As a result, there’s been significant de-investment in news publishers which ultimately harms their ability to fund quality journalism.

This was echoed by Joy Robins, NYT Global Chief Advertising Officer, who last week told AdExchanger “news avoidance is real and it’s a concerning trend,” pointing out that this “paints a picture of news as unsafe” – which not only isn’t true but is harmful to the longevity of news publishers who rely on advertising revenue.

Brand Safety vs. Brand Suitability

Brands should be encouraged to be more sophisticated in their approaches and consider brand suitability alongside their brand safety strategies. Unlike brand safety, where there are clear lines of what is and isn’t suitable (e.g., porn, hate speech), there’s more “grey area” around brand suitability. The type of content deemed suitable to advertise around can vary significantly depending on each brand's tolerance and sensitivities. So with Brand Suitability, brands need to be more considerate about the level of risk they are comfortable with.

Meta’s VP Client Council, Samantha Stetson, highlighted this need for clarity, stating, “We’ve got to slow down and really make sure that the industry is very clear on what we mean by safety, versus what we mean by suitability.” (Videoweek interview)

A considered approach is critical to ensuring brands maintain consumer trust. According to IAS, 82% of consumers say it’s important to them that the content surrounding online ads is appropriate, and 51% of consumers say they are likely to stop using a product or service of a brand whose ad appears near inappropriate content.

Fighting AI with AI

Fortunately, there is support for brands as ad tech and martech companies invest in innovation across brand safety technologies and methodologies. Verification providers like Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify are advancing their capabilities with AI, essentially arming brands with AI to fight AI.

A good example of this is DoubleVerify’s Advanced Scene Analysis, an AI-enhanced video verification capability that detects fraudulent content, helping ensure that ads appear in suitable contexts, maintaining brand safety and integrity.

Rob Blake from Channel Factory, specialists in classifying brand-safe social media, explains how AI enhancements are enabling a more sophisticated approach “the traditional one-size-fits-all strategy (for brand safety) is giving way to more tailored approaches that utilise AI for more precise targeting and message optimisation.”

The concept of leveraging AI to counter AI-generated ‘fake news’ is also resonating strongly across news corporations. As Rob Bradley, SVP, CNN International Commercial, emphasised, “it’s crucial to continue funding the ‘open web,’ especially at a time when quality, reliable journalism is so important to the functioning of democracy.” By leveraging AI to combat AI-driven threats, brands can ensure their advertisements are safe, relevant, and impactful. As AI technology continues to evolve, its role in enhancing brand safety will only become more critical.

Conclusion

The intersection of AI and content creation presents both opportunities and challenges for brand safety. While generative AI can enhance content creation and personalisation, it also poses risks that need to be managed carefully. Brands must adopt sophisticated strategies that balance both safety and suitability; close partnership with agencies is key to getting this right. Importantly as those strategies advance, so must the consideration to ensure that inadvertently news content, and through that, quality journalism isn't negatively impacted.

Ultimately the way forward will be leveraging AI to combat AI-driven threats and maintain consumer trust, brands that are already doing this should be applauded for contributing to a healthier digital ecosystem.