IBM Bringing Watson AI to Advertising and Marketing

A natural space, was one of the first areas we experimented with leveraging intelligence for the advertising enterprise.  Below is IBM's ad on the subject.   Trust emphasized.

IBM Watson Advertising
We build trust between consumers, marketers, publishers, and machines.

Our Solutions
Trusted, insight-driven solutions that can be deployed across a brand's entire marketing strategy to help drive results.

About Us
IBM Watson Advertising uses the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) technology to unlock data and insights and help marketers make better decisions.

We offer trusted, insight-driven solutions that can be deployed across a brand's entire marketing strategy to help drive results.

Enter IBM Watson
Watson is AI tech that has been designed to solve today’s data challenges and empower smarter business. It does this by understanding, reasoning and learning from all data and facilitating increasingly natural interactions with humans. .... 

Watson empowers smarter business because:

It takes a client-first approach: Clients build and train their own AI so data stays proprietary and secure

It has proven AI capabilities: Leading capabilities in language, vision, speech, emotional reasoning are based on decades of research and proven results for clients

It is open to the world: Anyone can access the APIs for a fee, and use them to develop innovative solutions .... " 

Watson Ads as Conversation

So what is a Watson Ad?   Its more like an intelligent brand conversation.  Like the idea, taking a closer look.    Any experiences out there?

The Weather Company | With Watson
The Weather Company and Watson have teamed up to bring you Now, for the first time ever, you can have an intelligent, two-way conversation with brands in an ad. Your favorite brands can help you prepare a new meal, shop for the perfect shoes, find your dream car...even relieve allergy symptoms. When you chat with Watson Ads on The Weather Channel App or weather.com, you never know where the conversation might go.  ... " 

More on Cognitive Ads.

Conversational Advertising

More on conversational Advertising, today in AdAge. This could be the first time that ads truly become a 'conversation'. See my other posts on previous experience and findings in this space.   How does this relate to Bots?

What AI Means for Intent-Based Advertising
The biggest technology players are in a mad dash to develop the smartest conversational interface. ...  " 

Watson Ads and the Retail Consumer

Some early comments in RetailWire  with discussion about Watson Ads by retail oriented tech practitioners.   See  my previous link on this, will be closely watching progress.

Will shoppers want to interact with AI ads?
The Weather Company, acquired by IBM in January, will begin rolling out digital ads that people can communicate with this fall. Powered by IBM Watson’s artificial intelligence, consumers will be able to ask questions via voice or text and receive relevant information about the product or offering.

The first companies to tap Watson ads will be Campbell Soup Company, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Unilever.

Unlike ads tied to keyword searches, Watson Ads are able to pick up the nuances of natural language. ... " 

Watson Delivers Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Ads

A new automation play in the works with a number of participants.   Note also the natural language and voice interaction components.  New channels of automated consumer interaction.  Bots are not mentioned, but this provides an opening for more complete and compelling conversations.  This could change how advertising works.

Weather Company Incorporates IBM's Watson Into New Ad Product
Bets Artificial Intelligence Will Change Advertising ... By Jeanine Poggi.

The Weather Company is placing a bet on artificial intelligence. In its first major announcement since being acquired by IBM in January, Weather Company is introducing Watson Ads, which will allow consumers to ask questions via voice and text to receive information on products or brands. ... 

While there's no dearth of data available for marketers to make informed decisions about their customers and provide more relevant messaging and experiences, Watson's ability to understand natural language, reason and learn over time may allow for greater understanding of how consumers interact with brands and their perception of products.

Unilever will be one of the first advertisers to utilize Watson Ads for its Hellmanns and Country Crock brands. With Watson, consumers can ask their phone or computer for recipe ideas based on specific ingredients. .... " 

Also reported on in the WSJ.