AI Advertising: Classic IPs for Viral Engagement & Brand Gro

As AI systems move beyond text generation, their capacity for visual storytelling is transforming commercial marketing. Human filming often faces limitations in equipment, venues, and cost, but AI can actualize imaginative concepts, leading to a proliferation of creative adaptations. toolmesh.ai has reviewed several recent AI-driven marketing and promotional campaigns, analyzing their effectiveness in captivating audiences and attracting brand investment.

Highlights

AI-generated content is increasingly entering the commercial marketing sector, particularly through the reimagining of classic intellectual properties (IPs). These campaigns demonstrate how AI can overcome traditional production constraints, enabling fantastical scenarios and novel narratives at a lower cost. The integration of familiar characters and stories with modern brand messaging has proven highly effective in generating viral engagement and brand recognition.

Context

The core appeal of AI advertising lies in its ability to bring imaginative ideas to life and seamlessly integrate brand messaging into compelling narratives. Classic content, with its inherent public recognition and emotional resonance, serves as a fertile ground for AI adaptations. By leveraging AI, brands can circumvent the high costs associated with traditional scene recreation and character portrayal, allowing for creative freedom that was previously unattainable. This combination of "low cost + high sentiment" makes AI-adapted content attractive to brands and engaging for audiences, who often become spontaneous disseminators of the content.

Key Campaigns and Their Impact

Several campaigns illustrate the power of AI in advertising:

Classical Celebrity Crossover: Guming x Newton & Van Gogh

Douyin blogger "E Mantou" (Hungry Steamed Bun), with 1.162 million followers, utilizes AI to feature historical figures like Van Gogh, Newton, Mona Lisa, and Einstein in modern contexts. One notable example is a Guming brand advertisement released on September 24, which garnered over 1 million likes and shares.

The video depicts Beethoven creating music, a dairy cow transforming into a "trendy person" riding a motorcycle to a Guming store to highlight "premium fresh milk for fresh milk lattes." Subsequently, Newton, struck by an apple, is propelled into the clouds, leading to a seamless transition to Guming's Light Coconut Latte, emphasizing its "cloud-like lightness" and low-fat coconut cloud topping. The scene then shifts to Van Gogh as a barista, struggling to perfect coffee for the Girl with a Pearl Earring, underscoring the brand's "freshly ground coffee beans" advantage.

These historical figures, despite their original disconnect from modern beverages, become traffic magnets due to their inherent recognition when reimagined by AI. The narratives subtly align with brand characteristics, reinforcing product features like premium fresh milk, creamy coconut cloud, and freshly ground coffee beans.

Fairy Tale IP Adaptations: Quan You x "Sleeping Beauty"

Douyin blogger "Xin'er Jie Shizun," with 3 million followers, employs actors and AI to creatively adapt classic fairy tales. In an AI video adapting "Sleeping Beauty," released on November 7, the blogger integrated the ancient tale with the brand needs of Quan You Mattresses.

The video, titled "Do You Want to Form a Group with Me?", received 1.43 million shares. It subverts the traditional "Sleeping Beauty" narrative: after the prince's kiss, he also falls asleep. A "sleeping human bridge" forms, extending into outer space, leading to an alien leader from "Insomnia Star" accidentally waking Sleeping Beauty. The plot then involves a rebellion and Sleeping Beauty leading 100,000 soldiers to rescue her husband. Quan You Mattresses appear as a "sleep aid," facilitating the human bridge and enabling the princess to rescue the prince by putting the "Insomnia Star" people to sleep with mattresses.

This fantastical plot allowed for the exposure of Quan You Mattresses, enabling viewers to unconsciously recall the product's advantages. The brand actively engaged with comments, further converting the viral popularity into brand awareness.

Magical Alterations of Classic Film and Television Works: CF Mobile Game x "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"

Blogger "Antimisu," with nearly 600,000 followers on Douyin, specializes in AI adaptations of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." On November 7, "Antimisu" released "Unofficial History of the Three Kingdoms - Northern Expedition, Starting with a King 81," an advertisement for the 10th anniversary of the CF Mobile Game.

This video, which garnered over 200,000 likes, features an imaginative plot where Zhuge Liang attempts to exchange a mysterious item for grain with Sima Yi. Modern high-speed trains traverse ancient cities, and Zhuge Liang drives a tractor filled with firearms. Sima Yi reveals a "Thunder God" gun, while Zhuge Liang presents a "Gun Oil Warrior." After humorous banter, Sima Yi attempts to renege on the deal, but the Shu army appears, armed with "King 81" guns, turning the tide.

AI facilitates a seamless fusion of time and space, allowing modern weapons and transportation to collide with ancient plots without the need for extensive physical sets or extras. The concluding line, "Shu Kingdom participates in CFM's 10th-anniversary event, everyone gets a King 81," directly links the plot's climax with the brand event, effectively engaging "Three Kingdoms" enthusiasts and game players.

Outlook

Looking ahead, AI is breathing new life into classic content, transforming it from archival material into a dynamic resource for modern commerce. The ability to generate imaginative plots—such as emperors delivering takeout or painters making coffee—at a low cost positions AI as a significant tool for future advertising strategies.