How 6sense is Using Gen AI to Level-Up Advertising Design

Barclay.Idsal · November 2023

The use of gen AI in graphic design has come a remarkably long way in just a few short years. Once seen mostly as curiosities, tools like DALL-E and Midjourney are today being leveraged by leading creative professionals to craft sophisticated designs.

In advertising, the impact of these tools will be (and, to an extent, already has been) nothing short of transformative.

At 6sense, our in-house Creatives Services team—which works with customers to design and optimize ABM advertising creatives—has been exploring this next frontier in design with exciting results. As an example, here’s how we helped one customer utilize compelling, brand-aligned gen AI ads to take performance to the next level.

The Power of AI Ad Creatives

When Quartix, a customer in the vehicle-tracking space, wanted to run a campaign promoting a new EV product, our team turned to Midjourney.

First, we drafted copy for the ad, emphasizing the product’s forward-looking ethos:

EV planning built for the future.
Fleet electrification made easy.
Tour EVolve

Then, using this messaging as our guide, our designer found a relevant Adobe stock image of a truck in a futuristic setting:

This image was then uploaded into Midjourney to produce multiple prompts; our designer took the best of these and modified it to include a different vehicle (Mercedes sprinter van) more relevant to the target audience. He also added that it should be in the style of the brand’s colors of green and white, knowing we could use Photoshop to further match the hex codes down the line.

PROMPT: Mercedes sprinter van driving in the night, inside a tunnel, long exposure, light trails, bright exposure, in the style of green and white, bold colors, dynamic lines, warp speed, polished concrete, 8k [resolution], [in the style of] thomas cole, high-tech futurism, captivating lighting –aspect ratio 128:85

After doing some variation-testing and panning editing, the image was cleaned up in Photoshop and paired with our copy. The resulting composition:

It was a compelling ad—but perhaps more importantly, gen AI allowed us to custom-align the ad with the customer’s value prop, geographic audience, and brand guidelines. And these differences mattered. We A/B tested this new ad creative against baseline ads to compare engagement rates and:

Our gen AI ad exceeded CTR benchmark by 58%.

We see this type of work as just the beginning. In addition to Midjourney, we’ve also been leaning more on Adobe’s amazing Firefly technology to elevate our ad creatives. Here are just a few things we’ve been able to do with these tools:

Modify existing stock imagery to match best practices—by, for instance, tweaking an image of a person to appear more inviting and friendly

Person before (frowning):

Person after (smiling):

Match design elements to customer brand guidelines
Realistically expand photo landscapes for use in full-bleed ads

Original image:

Image expanded using gen AI for use in full-bleed ad:

We can only imagine where Gen AI will allow us to go in the coming months. All we know is we can’t wait to be a part of it.

Want to get on the cutting-edge of ad design? Our team can help! Reach out to your CSM or creativeservices@6sense.com to find out how we can help you build gen AI ads that drive results.

You can also check out our general creative best practices guide here or chime in with questions on this discussion post.

AI Ads - Quartix [Gallery]

Ad Group A

Ad Group B

Ad Group C – Final Iteration

Tony · November 2023

It's inspiring to see examples, like these, of how Gen AI tools can be used to enhance human creativity. Thanks for sharing the specific steps you took.