Creativity
meets AI

Havas Life Bird & Schulte’s digital team shares
insights and experiences
By Dr. Christine Mertzlufft, text & conception

In the dynamic world of advertising, the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and creativity is becoming increasingly important. The digital team at Havas Life Bird & Schulte, which includes Christoph Rankers (Head of Digital), Nicole Reich (Social Media Manager) and Dennis Ringler (Art Director), have been integrating AI into their work for quite some time.

In recent months, the use of AI in the agency has grown exponentially. This is due in part to a cooperation between Havas and Adobe, which gives Havas Life Bird & Schulte access to Adobe’s Firefly tool. What are the requirements for working with AI? What benefits are available today and could be available in the future? The digital team at Havas Life Bird & Schulte shares their insights.

How were you prepared for and/or trained to use AI?
Christoph Rankers: At the beginning, each of us did their own research into the new technologies. We soon found ourselves discussing various trends and developments as a team and with colleagues from Berlin and Freiburg. A few months later, Havas took up the issue on a global scale and has since been supporting us with regular updates and trainings to improve our knowledge.

What tools and platforms have you already worked with?
Nicole Reich: Since we’re partners with Adobe, Firefly is my go-to tool, both in my browser and in Photoshop. The browser-based text-to-image feature has allowed us to create additional assets for various projects and retouch photos quickly and easily in Photoshop. As for texts, I sometimes use ChatGPT and recently I’ve been trying Google’s Gemini.

Dennis Ringler: I regularly use Adobe Firefly to create commercially usable graphics for external and internal projects, and DeepL for text translation. I also use Ideogram, a text-to-image generator which is similar to Adobe Firefly.

How do you use AI tools in creative and design processes?
Nicole Reich: AI tools such as Firefly and ChatGPT help me brainstorm, or when I need to make additions to existing content. Retouching photos is less timeconsuming and much easier than it used to be, which is particularly helpful for rush projects. ChatGPT and Gemini can help to write copy for internal projects, such as for our social media accounts.

Christoph Rankers: AI tools generally help make our digital campaigns and designs more efficient and effective. They also help me with content personalization and workflow automation. But most importantly, AI tools give me creative inspiration.

Dennis Ringler: I use Ideogram to create header images for our internal newsletter, such as our AfterWork newsletter. In my opinion, Ideogram is better at creating logos, typographically embedding text and generating graphics based on other commercial brands and figures. But I also use Adobe Firefly when I need to quickly visualize ideas or retouch key visuals for print and digital. I use text-to-text generators, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, DeepL and Google Gemini, to generate prompts for text-to-image generators such as Adobe Firefly and Ideogram.

AI tools help make our digital campaigns and designs more efficient and effective.

What’s your verdict at this point?

Christoph Rankers: So far, my experience with AI tools in the advertising agency has been very positive. These technologies have proven to be very valuable and have improved the way we work in a number of ways. Integrating AI into our creative processes has led to innovative solutions, helped us find new ways to communicate our messages and better reach our target groups.

Dennis Ringler: I couldn’t agree more. But when it comes to user interface and userfriendliness, many tools have room for improvement. Sometimes you have to experiment until you find the right value on the slider or the right wording to produce the desired image or text. In Adobe Firefly there is still no option to create images in a consistent style/composition/type. I would also like to be able to save a model or an object to get more perspectives from it or to put the model in different states/movements.

“AI is here to stay, just like computers were when they were first introduced.”

How do you think AI tools will be used in the future?

Dennis Ringler: AI is a game-changer, that’s for sure. It’s here to stay, just like computers were when they were first introduced. This is true for all industries, not just advertising. The range of available AI tools is currently too broad, and in the long run, one tech giant will probably get the upper hand and buy all the other tools. You have to stay on top of things, because these tools are making great leaps forward and everyone wants to be the market leader. A lot is changing and new features and tools are being added all the time, so you need to be up to date. Learning never ends!

Nicole Reich: The future looks very promising. To me, AI tools are a valuable addition to the programs we’re already using. As AI technologies continue to evolve, there will be even more ways to enhance and support our design processes. In the long run, they will add value to our work. I can’t wait to find out how artificial intelligence will evolve.

Christoph Rankers: We’re on the cusp of digital transformation. In general, I expect AI tools to become even more integrated into our workflows, helping us become even more innovative and effective. From automatically generating content to optimizing campaigns, AI will play an increasingly important role in enhancing our productivity. Working with it will drive our creative output and help us find new ways to get our message across. I’m thinking first and foremost of data-driven strategies and personalized communication. At Havas Life Bird & Schulte, we will continue to work on how to better integrate AI into our everyday workflow. I’m looking forward to being an active part of this digital transformation, applying it to our strategies and creating secure processes.

Creativity meets AI

AI tools help make our digital campaigns and designs more efficient and effective.

“AI is here to stay, just like computers were when they were first introduced.”

“We’re on the cusp of digital transformation.”

Creativity
meets AI