We’ve come a long way since SmarterChild.

Late last month, OpenAI released a new chatbot, ChatGPT, which can do things like write code, answer questions, and provide very specific copy using AI technology. According to OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman, the site reached 1 million users within its first five days.

Since its release, conversation has blown up on social media and in various media outlets on what the implications of this new technology could be on everything from search engines to college essays to the field of law.

Within the marketing industry, the questions seem largely the same as earlier conversations on AI image generation: What does this mean for creatives?

Not so fast (or is it?)

While some copywriters may be worried by posts and articles that indicate AI could be a cost-saving replacement for their positions, there are some caveats to consider:

• Brockman tweeted that ChatGPT is “not ready to be relied on for anything important” yet.
• The New York Times spoke with the “data scientist and professor whose work inspired the creation of ChatGPT,” who said it was not immune to mistakes.
• Search Engine Journal noted that ChatGPT “has built-in biases” and does not take into account any content or information created after 2021, among other limitations.
• A reply to a post in r/copywriting on Reddit noted that, as of now, ChatGPT can’t exactly write “humor/cheeky” copy as well but can be used as an ideation tool.

As with DALL-E 2, optimists in the industry seem to agree that rather than acting as a replacement for copywriters or content marketers altogether, ChatGPT could be a way to speed up work and potentially make it easier for them to brainstorm—similar to what experts told us earlier this year about DALL-E 2 for graphic designers.

Read the full story here.—KH

Hershey’s famous “Holiday Bells” ad is its longest-running commercial. Created in 1989 by Ogilvy & Mather, it has become a mainstay of holiday advertising; the company runs it year after year.

The iconic ad recently caught the attention of Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency and global CEO of MullenLowe Group. “Now, if the agency could get paid every year the client re-airs it...Maybe Santa will grant this wish,” Cavallo recently wrote on a LinkedIn post about the campaign.

The way that agencies are paid seems to be on her mind. Her comment came days before The Martin Agency announced that it’s adding a chief revenue officer to its ranks who will be tasked with working to reinvent “how the agency gets paid for its intellectual property,” according to Ad Age.

“[Getting paid based on hours] would lead you to think that the longer you spend, the better the idea, but that’s not always the case,” Cavallo told the trade. “If we got paid more based on the impact that an idea made instead of the hours it took to make the idea, [clients] might see things differently.”

Zoom out: Cavallo doesn’t seem to be the only one thinking about agency compensation. According to a study recently conducted by the Association of National Advertisers, “marketers are using fixed or output-based fees with increasing frequency.”

• Advertisers relying on output-based fees determine a fee “for a specific project or set of deliverables,” per the ANA, as opposed to calculating payment based on how much time an agency spent working on something.
• The study found that 53% of marketers that spend “$500 million or more per year now employ fixed or output-based fees,” a 48% increase from 2016, when just 5% of agencies did.
• The study included 101 markers representing 336 client-agency relationships.

Click here for the full story.—MS

I have a blue house with a blue window

Another day, another massive change on Twitter. After a silly initial launch, Twitter Blue is back, giving everyone the chance to buy the blue checkmark. Let’s get into it and talk about whether you or your brands should pay for Twitter Blue.

What is Twitter Blue?

It’s so hard to keep track of what features Twitter’s tossed in the Blue bucket. We’ve watched three different iterations over the last three months, and even this new one lists certain features, like 50% less ads and prioritized replies, as “coming soon.” But Twitter has already laid out some of the product. Keep reading here.—JA

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Influential: 15 trends in the influencer marketing space to keep an eye on next year.

Crystal ball: TikTok has released its annual trend forecast for marketers.

Noted: Instagram Notes are a thing now. Here’s how you can use them.

🛍 Loyalty is everything: Julie Bornstein turned that motto into millions with Sephora’s Beauty Insider program. Here’s how she did it.

If you’ve watched Stranger Things, you’ve probably noticed that Hawkins, Indiana, is hawking a lot of products these days.

Over 140 major brands and products have appeared in the series, including Nike, Coca-Cola, KFC, and (Eleven’s favorite!) Eggo. Marketing Brew’s investigative crew sat down with the masterminds behind the show’s integrations to find out how production value and nostalgia guided the Duffer brothers’ decision-making and how Netflix maximized their brand partnership potential.

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is fake?

1. Vans is driving giant van replicas of its new shoes around NYC
2. Snoop Dogg meets Snoopy in Tanqueray’s take on ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’
3. White Claw partners with Netflix for murder mystery game
4. Google unveils 3D anamorphic billboard with Ludacris in Times Square

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• More women are becoming regular podcast listeners, research says
• Brands are finding new ways to advertise in your car
• Doordash, Macy’s, and Toyota are among the brands advertising on Disney+