Supertool: S4’s Sorrell says AI ‘more effective than a 25-year-old media buyer’

S4’s chairman Sir Martin Sorrell is optimistic about the future of AI as his advertising agency embraces it to supercharge their productivity and reach.

Sorrell said S4 had already seen an increase in viewing metrics because AI was helping employees speed up ad copywriting and aggregate data that makes it easier to hyper-personalise and target ads.

He said the company is “determined to establish the leadership position [on using AI] and leverage it”.

Sorrell was speaking as S4 reported a solid start to its first quarter with net revenue rising by nearly 7 per cent, reported revenue and net revenue were up 26.5 per cent and 28.1 per cent to £262m and £219m.

The rise was primarily driven by technology services which increased from £7.5m to £35.1m in revenue, a jump of 51.0 per cent to 368 per cent, prompting S4 to make plans to further expand its tech offering and exploration of AI in transforming digital advertising. 

The benefits of AI supertools

“Two-thirds of our clients’ budgets goes on media planning and buying,” said Sorrell, whose focus has been to use the AI ‘supertool’ to produce ads that are more “emotionally appealing or more geared towards what viewers want,” and use data to increase “maximum effectiveness of ad timing.”

To achieve this S4 have encouraged copywriting staff to use chatbots as a base to automate text, pictures and videos and automate data aggregation.

The increased automation raises concerns about the potential threat AI poses to human jobs, something many industries – including the advertising sector – are grappling with. 

Asked if S4’s adoption of AI supertools will threaten jobs at the company, Sorrel said:  “Automation poses risks all round but we don’t know what those will be. We don’t know whether AI will be a net generator or net destroyer of jobs.

“But the algorithm will be more effective than a 25-year-old media buyer.”

Sorrell’s former firm WPP, which he left in 2018, is also optimistic about AI’s potential to “amplify” the creative work of ad agencies, said chief executive Mark Read in the Financial Times. 

Sorrell said “various commentators are making early decisions on potential winners and losers,” in the ad industry. “Companies that fail to capitalise on AI tools will risk losing out.”