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In the rapidly evolving world of digital advertising, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and user-generated content (UGC) is setting new standards for authenticity and engagement. In this exclusive video interview, the CEO of Uplifted, Itai Raveh, shares his expert insights on how AI is enhancing UGC video ads, creating more personalized and impactful marketing campaigns.
Dive deep into the discussion on AI's transformative role in video advertising, straight from a leading voice in the industry.
Key Insights from the Interview
AI and UGC: A Synergistic Relationship
Itai explains the dynamic interplay between AI and human creativity, highlighting how AI tools are used to refine and amplify UGC, tailoring content that resonates with diverse audiences.
The Impact of AI on Advertising Authenticity
Discover how AI technologies help maintain the authenticity of user-generated content while scaling up the production and distribution of tailored ad campaigns.
Overcoming Challenges in Modern Advertising
Hear Itai discuss the strategies Uplifted employs to navigate the challenges posed by today’s digital advertising landscape, including privacy regulations and the increasing need for ad personalization.
Future Trends in Video Advertising
Itai shares his predictions for the future of video ads, focusing on the increasing importance of integrating AI with UGC to stay ahead in a competitive market.
As the digital advertising industry continues to advance, the insights provided by thought leaders like Itai Raveh are invaluable. Understanding and utilizing the synergy between AI and UGC can significantly elevate the effectiveness of your video advertising campaigns.
Ready to see how AI and user-generated content can revolutionize your video ads?
Request a demo today and explore the innovative features and tools we offer.
Full video transcript:
Interviewer: I'm now joined by Itai from Uplifted. How are you doing today?
Itai: Good, good, thank you.
Interviewer: Did you attend the party last night, or were you playing it sensible and safe?
Itai: Yeah, good, good answer. That's the best one I've had yet. For those not familiar with Uplifted, and since we haven't talked before, could you give us a sense of what you do?
Itai: Sure. We help brands, B2C companies, and gaming applications create high-quality video ads. Our real customers, or the users of the game, go into a virtual video shoot where they can create video ads that can be used by the brands later on.
Interviewer: We're always talking about the positives as much as we can at these kinds of events, but we do have to touch on the negatives. 2023 was a bit rough for everybody, whether you're a developer or marketing your games. Some folks are saying 2024 is going to pick up, but it's a little uncertain still with lots of layoffs and everything. From your perspective, what are you hearing from your clients? Is it tough out there at the minute?
Itai: So, we're quite optimistic overall. We think that there are lots of opportunities in video advertising, especially coming from the UGC angle. We believe there is a lot of potential to actually show that authenticity in advertising exists and that we can take AI and the creativity of people together to create that effect that will help brands rise above the noise level when it comes to advertising.
Interviewer: As part of the general advertising space that you're in, you've been using ML for a while, but generative AI has also made an appearance last year. It's had somewhat of a mixed reception from people. It sounds like from what you're saying that you are engaging with that element of it. Is that true, and how do you feel is the best way to use that without it coming at a cost to human creativity?
Itai: Yes, in our domain, you know, some people say it's an art, some say it's a science. We believe that AI is not going to take over completely and humans are not going to take over completely; it's going to be a merge of both of them converging. So, we believe that human creativity can be amplified with AI and can get to a place where AI can inspire human creativity in a way to enhance whatever it is that you're doing, whether it's in advertising or elsewhere.
Interviewer: Regarding the video ads themselves, there have been so many changes in the ad models throughout the years, from banner ads all the way up to industrial and rewarded video ads and all the rest of it. Where do you feel it's at the minute? How do we break through since people are getting so used to these models the moment the video appears, you hit the X, you move on. How do you get past that these days?
Itai: We really believe, as I said earlier, that authenticity in advertising exists. If you're able to create truly authentic content—and that's where we come in and actually create content with the actual users in unscripted content—that's where you get the thumb-stopping effect. That's where you get the ability to rise above the noise level and actually get people to watch more than 3 seconds of your ad, of your messaging to the audience.
Interviewer: People are very savvy nowadays. How do you generate something that goes viral?
Itai: Nobody knows what's really going to work, but what we see is that people are shifting towards authenticity and are preferring not pixel-perfect, not the commercial content, but rather the authentic, persuasive everyday people just like me and you. I'd rather see somebody just like myself that's super authentic, that's super engaged, that I know hasn't been given a script, that I know doesn't have an entire crew behind them. That's how we feel, and we see that manifesting in the performance that we deliver to our clients.
Interviewer: I've been talking to some of the more data-focused companies about the way the data is gathered, and obviously, over the last maybe four years, we've had quite a lot of restrictions put on the kind of data you can capture, the kind of metrics you can monitor. So if you're doing your authentic kind of marketing, how do you know the authenticity is getting through? How do you track this stuff nowadays?
Itai: Good question. So with iOS 14 and privacy issues, what we see a lot of the time is that because you can't target well anymore, people are reverting back to creatives as being the mechanism to target. So if you're able to create a lot of different creatives that cater to different audiences with different hooks and different demographics, that's essentially the creative that's now going to help you target your users rather than trying to target them based on likes and so on and so forth.
Interviewer: Are you folks working exclusively through mobile, like through the app itself, through popups, or do you do any kind of cross stuff with TV or other media?
Itai: Interesting question. We're doing mobile, we're doing desktop with a lot of gaming companies where we do desktop and YouTube, and actually, one of our customers now has made a TV ad from the content that we helped create from an actual user-generated, real customer content.
Interviewer: That's something of a first, isn't it?
Itai: Yes, indeed. Looking forward to 2024, continuing what we're doing is top priority, but are there any new things that you're working on, any new elements or people you're partnering with that have gotten you excited?
Itai: We're very much looking into integrating our creative engine into the ad platform so that we can get performance data back and try building a mechanism where we have a flywheel feedback mechanism where we understand what works well and based on that we direct the users in the virtual video shoot to talk about topics or to talk about nuances that work well. That way we create a flywheel that's automatically creating kind of rampant iterations and rampant creative testing, which is super interesting because people, brands need to feed the beast and multiple cultures, multiple nuances, multiple channels, languages—you name it. The ability to create content quickly at scale that's authentic, that's data-driven end to end, that's something that we see valuable for 2024.
Interviewer: I understand you're about to run off to a talk literally in moments. What's it about?
Itai: It's about UGC and in the era of 2024.
Interviewer: As far as coming to shows like this, from your perspective, what's the benefit or the interest in coming to a kind of physical event?
Itai: It's interesting because we started serving e-commerce brands. This is the first gaming conference we're actually attending. Really, we're seeing big success in gaming overall as well as applications, lifestyle apps, and such. We love the dynamic; we love the energy—it's completely different from e-commerce. Some say we prefer that, so we'll be attending more of these.
Interviewer: Excellent. Well, we hope to see you again. Thank you very much.
Itai: Thank you very much.