#40. Kamala and AI. What's the deal?

Also, whole lotta Media.Monking going on.

Jul 24, 2024

1. Kamala! Make this happen!

This awesomeness aside, Doug and I are curious where the gosh darn you stand on Artificial Intelligence. The vice president was appointed “AI Czar” by the president in 2023. Here is a backgrounder from Inc. that may shed some light on the subject. It was published two days ago July 22, 2024 so I expect it to be relevant.

Kamala Harris, Photo: Getty Images

2. Monking Around with the monk.moniker

Source: Monks.com

Let’s take a stroll down branding memory lane. From FWA.com, February, 2017: uncredited

“The name MediaMonks came from our love for kung fu movies and boundless belief in alliteration. It also captures our work ethic, which has been characterized by conscientiousness and other monk mores from the beginning.”

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So, in case you missed it:

Source: Monks.com 7/18/24 - Media.Monks, the operating brand of S4 Capital and leading digital-first, data-driven, advertising, marketing and technology services company, today announces streamlined and more effective offerings. They are designed to arm CEOs, CMOs and CTOs with fully integrated services, architected to drive sustainable, profitable growth and innovation across their enterprises and the tools to leverage AI and unlock cost-efficiencies accelerating transformation at scale.

Media.Monks will transition its services into two fully synchronized Practices: Marketing services and Technology services.

Starting today, Media.Monks will transition its services into two fully synchronized Practices: Marketing services and Technology services, both powered by Monks.Flow, the industry leading, AI-powered, intelligent marketing and workflow platform. These offerings will be underpinned by a consulting group that will offer end-to-end services ranging from strategy to implementation.
Effective immediately, Media.Monks also becomes simply Monks, marking a significant milestone in its evolution as a business and setting the stage for future growth and innovation beyond media.

Marketing Services:

Offering creative, content, media, social, and data-driven marketing solutions
Leverages Monks' capabilities in:
- Storytelling
- Audience engagement
- Performance marketing
Delivers outcomes that resonate with consumers and produce measurable results.

Technology Services:

Encompasses technology, user experience, product engineering, data, digital transformation, and consulting services
Focuses on:
- Building robust digital infrastructures
- Developing next-generation digital products and consumer experiences
- Implementing advanced data and analytics solutions
- Empowers clients to navigate and thrive in the digital landscape

For details moving forward visit monks.com

3. Monking Around with Adobe

The Monks and Adobe Unite to Revolutionize AI-Driven Content Creation

New Brand Model Practice leverages generative AI to streamline marketing processes, promising cost-effective and hyper-personalized brand experiences at scale

Source: Published 2:52 AM CDT, June 17, 2024 PR Newswire.

At the heart of this partnership is the launch of the Brand Model Practice, a innovative initiative that combines Adobe GenStudio's generative AI capabilities with Monks' AI-first solution, Monks.Flow. This combo creates powerful generative AI brand models designed to help marketers reduce costs, enhance creativity, build business intelligence, and maximize the impact of their marketing efforts.

The Brand Model Practice represents a significant evolution in brand management. By encoding a brand's essence into an AI-powered content supply chain, these models can intelligently generate and adapt creative assets, messaging, and customer experiences while maintaining brand authenticity. This approach goes beyond traditional brand guidelines, offering a dynamic and responsive system that ensures consistent brand identity across all touch points.

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Integration of Adobe GenStudio into Monks.Flow is set to accelerate digital transformation for enterprise clients. This seamless integration optimizes the entire content supply chain, managing data assets, image generation, and efficient processes within a plug-and-play model that easily fits into existing tech stacks. This streamlined approach allows brands to quickly harness the full potential of AI-driven solutions, fast-tracking their AI transformation journey.

Led by a cross-functional team from Monks' various practices, the Brand Model Practice combines diverse skill sets to deliver comprehensive AI solutions. This collaborative approach ensures that clients benefit from a wide range of expertise in content creation, data analysis, and technology implementation.

By leveraging these strengths alongside Adobe's technology, the collaboration aims to set new benchmarks for creativity and customization in the AI era. Ultimately, this partnership empowers brands to streamline production, increase agility, and enhance creative experiences in ways previously unattainable.

So … WTHeck does this all mean?

Without seeing this in action, potentially it would appear you can simply feed your brand's entire history into a digital black box and watch as it spits out content faster than you can say "(vapid word(s) of choice)." It's like having a thousand interns, but without the coffee runs, vaping, and awkward small talk.

Midjourney

Seems like humans are moving downstream a bit on the ”Marketing Assembly Line.” I’ll withhold judgement, but in general this appears to be the same goal for all holding company tech investments this past year.

4. AI Avatars. Meet Kevin. He thinks he’s hot sh-t.

Meet Kevin. He thinks he’s hot sh-t. He wants to discuss AI video avatars. I love Eleven Labs and their voice cloning but video cloning? I’ll read it tomorrow. Maybe you should too. It's not there yet, but soon. I believe we’re talking podcast quality here.

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