Amazon's new AI image generator might finally mean the end of boring ads

Creating AI lifestyle backgrounds using Amazon's advertiser AI tool

(Image credit: Amazon)

In a bid to boost ad performance, Amazon has unveiled its very own AI art generator.

It’s not quite ‘kettle and toaster set in the style of Van Gogh’ stuff. But, the new tool will let advertisers on the site generate lifestyle-led backgrounds for product shots. No more dodgy Photoshop jobs or painful plain white backgrounds.

Like all the best AI tools, the name of the game is, according to the ecom giant, maximizing impact, minimizing effort.

Creatives, campaigns, click-through rates

As users of even the best ecommerce website builders know all too well, standalone product shots set against white backgrounds don’t engage customers. So, Amazon’s latest tool effectively adds a real-world flavor to stark product shots. Not dissimilar, in intent, to Amazon’s ‘View in your room’ app feature. It’s another way for users to visualize online products in their own homes using augmented reality.

In the company’s own example, compared to standalone shots, a real-life product placed in an AI-generated kitchen in a sponsored mobile ad could see up to 40% higher click-through rates. No need for real-world locations and photography set-ups or photo editing. And, on the surface, it generates mostly realistic settings, with a quality verging on the best stock image websites.

Appealing visual assets is an area that’s proved tricky for some advertisers, Amazon said. According to its own survey, almost 75% of those running unsuccessful ad campaigns faced their biggest challenge when creating ads and choosing a creative format. Users have come to expect a certain level of polish, after all.

Streamlining content creation on the platform, advertisers should now only need to select their product to generate a set of lifestyle and brand-themed imagery. Short text prompts can be used to make changes to the images - users with experience of text-to-image generators will be on very familiar ground here. Multiple versions can also be generated for further testing and performance optimization.

Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of Amazon Ads Products and Technology, explained: "With the launch of our image generation capability, any advertiser can now use a simple tool to create unique, lifestyle creative assets that make their campaigns more compelling, and at no additional cost."

The genAI tool is rolling out to select advertisers now, with plans to expand in the future.

But before everyone gets carried away, let’s remember, this is artificially generated art we’re talking about here. As The Verge pointed out, even in Amazon’s own press release, something has gone seriously wrong with the spokes of its AI-generated fork. Perhaps something to address as the company continues to take customer feedback to improve the experience.