The Emulation Game: Part 2.
Yesterday, yammering on about what I’ve started calling the “AI emulation trap” — what happens when we not only equate original ingenuity with machine iteration, but assign them equal value.
Then came the news, sadly unsurprising, that Omnicom was ditching the DDB brand name.
You don’t need crystal balls, a sherpa, or guidance from Bullwinkel’s spirits to know what’s coming.
While it’s not a direct result of technology, AI is definitely what the arson team would call an accelerant.
So, I started looking for something positive in the middle of the tragic farce, in particular for a creative advertising path forward.
Got me thinking about a notion that was around long before I got into the business, which is saying a lot.
They called it “making the case for the product,” and it was a way to frame up the eloquent and evocative reasons someone should walk into the store and buy your rye bread, your car, your computer mainframe.
Richly emotional, impeccably reasoned, and magically imaginative, the best agencies produced the best arguments for their clients’ products, which, in turn, resulted in the best advertising
You want to see examples, check out the goodies filling the pages of Bill Bernbach’s Book (https://share.google/ANisCmez5yUxneauT) or the Book of Gossage ( https://a.co/d/8feIjyz) or, hell, what regular adland posters like George Tannenbaum, Bryan Birch, and Gregg Benedikt serve up daily.
Oddly enough, you look at how AI parses a product or service, and you find something of a connection.
AI, it seems, relies on both “authority” and credibility, proof points like experience, credentials, endorsements, and the like. All of which make up a big slice of the “head” part of the timeless head and heart equation.
Then I queried AI, is it possible to set up the ad to persuasively touch emotional headwaters while also meeting the technical mandates of Answer Engine gatekeepers?
The reply was an unqualified yes. And, not necessarily with some clunky, irritating, “pandering to the machine” suck.
“Metadata such as schema markup, microdata, and other structured formats are now standard ways for brands to feed credibility, expertise, and trust cues directly to AI systems without cluttering consumer-facing creative or messaging.”
All of which leaves us squarely in front of Yogi Berra’s fork in the road and the question: will we take it?
It’s smart to recognize we’re entering an era where LLMs are going to be separate brand personas, and attention must be paid.
It’s smarter to recognize that people will continue to be the apex customer and do the work it will take to create human-centric creative.
DDB is gone. Human hope lies ahead.
P.S. Having name-checked colleagues, only fair I provide you with links — Tannenbaum (https://adaged.blogspot.com/2025/10/eight-miscs.html); Birch (linkedin.com/in/briandavidburch); Benedikt (linkedin.com/in/greggbenedikt)