AI is crucial to retail media and advertising, powering much of its success and driving efficiency. But what does AI really mean for people working in advertising and marketing; should they be worried?
The fear as to the real impact of AI on jobs was thrown into sharp focus last week. News that the addition of plugins for Anthropic’s AI platform Claude that allow it to do specific white-collar jobs sent the stock market into a spin. The move to automate tasks such as managing diaries, checking contracts and other office tasks has been viewed as so significant an impact on ‘old tech’ that many stalwarts of the tech stock world saw 10% drops in their market valuations. But could this disruption already be playing out in the advertising world – with implications both good and bad for retail media?
Facebook owner Meta’s Advantage+ AI-power ad creative tool is already capable of producing multiple ad variations almost instantly. Meta Advantage+ can rewrite ad copy and swap images to personalise campaigns for different demographics, enabling brands to reach audiences with highly relevant messaging.
For marketers and agencies, the tool offers an opportunity to test and optimise campaigns at a speed and scale previously impossible. In a retail media context is allows for the creation of ads that are constantly evolving to target users on a near individual basis ad infinitum.
According to Meta, its Advantage+ Creative uses machine learning to analyse campaign objectives, audience behaviour, and past performance data. It then produces creative combinations likely to perform best for different demographics. By testing dozens of variations automatically, the tool allows marketers to quickly identify top-performing ads without manually creating each version.
This approach not only saves time and resources but also helps ensure that campaigns are personalised, relevant, and optimised for maximum engagement across Facebook and Instagram, but sets the standard for ad creation for retail media as well.
For marketers this allows them to achieve a number of goals. For instance, it can be worked into their workflow to elevate campaigns:
- Generate multiple ad variations quickly: Use Advantage+ Creative to produce dozens of combinations of copy and visuals for different audience segments, enabling rapid testing and optimisation.
- Tailor messaging by audience: Feed the AI demographic and behavioural insights so each ad speaks directly to the target segment without manually creating every version.
- Optimise campaigns automatically: Let the tool identify top-performing combinations in real time, adjusting placements and creative to maximise engagement and conversions.
- Combine human strategy with AI output: Use AI-generated ideas as a foundation, then refine and enhance messaging, visuals, and tone to maintain brand consistency and creativity.
- Monitor performance and iterate: Track which variations drive clicks, conversions, and ROI, feeding those insights back into Advantage+ campaigns for continuous improvement.
For retail media this is an obvious boon. It is fast, tailored and adapts to demand and other external circumstances. It can also, in theory at least, also self-monitor and iterate accordingly.
As Andrew Witts from Studio 36 puts it: “AI is becoming the copywriter and graphic designer that never sleeps. Meta’s Advantage+ Creative can generate dozens of tailored ad variations in seconds, allowing marketers to test messaging, visuals, and formats across multiple audience segments without manually producing each version. For agencies and brands, this opens up opportunities to optimise campaigns faster and more efficiently than ever before.”
What impact on the industry?
It all sounds like a great idea, but just as the move to make Claude more useful has had ramifications across a range of industries, so too does this. Meta’s vision is simple; upload an image, set a budget and let the algorithm handle creative, targeting and optimisation. But the announcement has sparked a wider industry question: is AI advertising an efficiency breakthrough, or a threat to human-led marketing?
According to Louis Riat-Bonello, a Google Ads and SEO Specialist at Optisearch, the move signals how quickly AI-driven advertising is moving from experimentation to execution. “For brands and agencies alike, fully automated ads could reduce production costs, accelerate campaign launches and improve performance through real-time optimisation,” he says. “At the same time, it raises concerns about creative sameness, brand dilution, and overreliance on black-box algorithms.”
Pressure is also building for marketers around creative control, over-dependence on a single platform, prioritising speed over strategy and also data quality and accuracy. Automated systems will prioritise performance signals, which can flatten brand voice, while faster ad creation doesn’t necessarily guarantee better messaging or long-term brand equity.
Relying on a single platform to control both media and creative can also take away power.
“In marketing, emotional connection almost always outperforms a perfectly polished ad. AI is built on patterns of what has worked before, which means it can optimise, but it cannot create something truly original or culturally resonant on its own. It will only ever be as strong as the taste, intent, and strategic thinking of the person operating it,” says Riat-Bonello.
How to stay in the game
According to Witts, while the AI handles the heavy lifting, human oversight remains crucial. “We provide the strategy, define campaign objectives, and ensure the creative aligns with brand voice and audience expectations. The AI can suggest ideas, swap images, and refine copy, but it’s the combination of human insight and machine speed that drives the best results,” he says.
But how can you do this in practice? Riat-Bonello has four simple rules for helping marketers stay in control:
- Set the rules before the machine runs: Clearly define brand voice, messaging priorities, and creative guardrails, so AI executes within a framework, not on instinct
- Train AI with the right signals: High-quality first-party data gives algorithms better direction and prevents campaigns from defaulting to generic, lowest-common-denominator outputs
- Protect what only humans can do: Strategy, emotional storytelling, and brand judgement still require human oversight and cannot be automated without dilution
- Prove performance before you scale: Roll out AI-generated ads in controlled tests to ensure results align with brand goals, not just short-term efficiency
“The real opportunity is not replacing marketers, but removing repetitive execution so teams can focus on storytelling, differentiation and audience insight,” says Riat-Bonello. “As advertising becomes more automated, brands that treat AI as a tool rather than a decision-maker will be the ones that maintain control, protect their identity, and stand out in an increasingly algorithm-driven marketplace,” he adds. “The future of advertising is not about humans competing with machines, but about humans learning how to direct them effectively.”
And if marketers can get this balance right there is much to be gained from leveraging AI in retail media and other ad campaigns. It is fast, it is furious and it is highly targeted. The challenge lies in using it correctly so that it becomes a tool not a replacement for the human touch.
As Studio360’s Witt puts it: “For brands looking to stand out, the key is integration and experimentation. Use AI to produce and test multiple variations, monitor performance closely and iterate quickly based on what works. By combining Advantage+ Creative with thoughtful strategy, marketers can reach the right people with the right message, improve engagement, and maximise ROI, all while freeing teams to focus on higher-level creativity and storytelling.”
