From Wanglaoji to Zhong Xuegao, have all AI products failed?

This article starts from people's perception of the application of AI technology in daily life, and specifically analyzes the current situation and problems of food and beverage brands using AI to design and market products. The article believes that brands are still in the early stages of using AI, mainly at the design and marketing level, but AI technology has greater potential to affect the entire chain of product development. It is recommended for friends who want to understand AI in product design, brand marketing and future development directions.

People's perception of AI technology lies not only in word of mouth and media opinions, but also in its gradual integration into daily life. When a technology becomes within reach, a new era has arrived.

As we all know, the AI ​​craze sparked by ChatGPT has dragged most technology companies into a vortex of competition. Non-tech companies are also eyeing this hot spot, trying to get on the express train and make a presence in the market education in advance.

As a result, brands began to embark on the path of internal competition by using AI to package their products.

01 Is it reliable to use AI to design products?

When talking about Wanglaoji, people may think of the classic red can first, but it is obvious that the brand still wants to keep up with the trend and innovate in packaging.

On May 13, Wanglaoji announced on Weibo that it would launch the first batch of products in the beverage industry independently designed by AI with the theme of "Chinese style".

Judging from the content on Weibo, the AI-generated theme can packaging has a unified style, all of which are integrated with ink brushstrokes, combining the four seasons concepts of spring, summer, autumn and winter, as well as traditional Chinese elements such as mountains, rivers, forests, and flying birds.

It is reported that in this project, AI independently completed everything from the Chinese style concept suggestion to the style selection, and it took only half an hour to create multiple packaging works. After evaluation by the design team, the above four designs were finally retained, including a "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Jar" inspired by the "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" cultural relic in "National Treasure".

According to the official statement, this time the goal is to "explore the use of AI in assisting brands in exploring creative ideas, improving product development efficiency, and serving the diverse needs of users."

From this perspective, AI has indeed completed its mission - the work fits the "Chinese style" theme and has made innovations in packaging; the work is quickly generated by direct input of instructions by Party A, which saves some of the cost of demand communication and the time cost of drawing, and improves efficiency; it integrates the diverse needs of users and can meet their needs more accurately.

But in addition to the positive reviews, there are also voices of doubt, such as the low design level, mismatch between fonts and background, and rough look and feel.

Coincidentally, on April 29, Yili unlocked 6 special milk packaging pictures on Weibo and stated that "this packaging is designed with the assistance of AI."

The six packaging images are marked with the AI ​​design keywords used, which makes people feel that AI is indeed seriously meeting needs.

Under the keywords of technology, oriental aesthetics, and natural vitality, the AI-generated packaging has different theme colors, and echoes the theme through mechanical patterns, auspicious cloud patterns, and freely growing flower vines.

The packaging corresponding to the three keywords of futuristic, childlike and minimalist is also noteworthy, such as the hardcore, irregular can body of the cartoon cow and the pure white fluid pattern that returns to the essence, all of which have a certain theme.

But milk is a product that needs to be owned by users. Looking closely at these six designs, there are probably not many that can truly break away from the concept posters. Even in the theme poster of oriental aesthetics, the bottle on the right seems to be "broken" and cannot be presented as a packaging work.

Therefore, Yili’s AI-designed packaging has also received some negative reviews such as cold and weird.

Before Wanglaoji and Yili, Zhong Xuegao had used AI to create something new and officially announced its own "AI ice cream" on Weibo.

According to the official blog of Zhong Xue Gao, the name, packaging, flavor and concept of the new ice cream series "Sa'Saa" were all designed by AI. The brand also used real scenes and AI-generated styles in the promotional video to cross-reflect the sense of technology, which is full of gimmicks.

However, unlike the excitement at the time of the official announcement, after the product was launched, everyone's attention returned to the price of the ice cream, and they were not willing to pay for the 3.5 yuan popsicle. Some even believed that AI-designed packaging meant that costs could be further reduced and the price should be more sincere.

It can be seen that when brands use AI design as a gimmick, users will just watch the fun, and the final focus will return to the product itself.

02 AI is unlikely to be a life-saving straw for marketing

At this stage, AI technology is more focused on the marketing level for brands, and it is still difficult to rely on AI to independently create breakthrough products that can be implemented.

At the marketing level, domestic brands are mostly divided into two factions.

Some people only use AI technology to innovate packaging design, and even do not implement it, just want to use AI to increase their presence. This has led to polarized user feedback, with some praising the design for its good looks, while others think it lacks "human touch" and is cold and rough.

The other group hopes that AI can boost their marketing, so they are boldly trying in all aspects. For example, just last May 20th, Wanglaoji and Baidu invited famous teachers to guide them, letting the Wenxin model learn the college entrance examination test points, question types and other content for the past ten years, and intelligently generated the first set of "college entrance examination AI simulation papers" in history.

Although many netizens believe that piecing together test questions is not enough to show the level of AI, the topic #AI gave birth to the first set of college entrance examination simulation papers# has been read 6501.8W times, which has created marketing momentum.

It can be seen that AI technology is like a double-edged sword for brands. On one hand, it is the strongest aid to creativity and efficiency, but on the other hand, it causes an acceptance gap due to the lack of human emotions, and even leads to the "uncanny valley effect" that backfires on its own image.

It is worth mentioning that the current application of AI by brands is still in its infancy. In fact, there are more possibilities for the impact of AI technology on the entire product production chain:

The first is the product development stage, where AI technology is used to conduct big data analysis to fully understand market trends, user needs and feedback, and other information.

For example, Nestlé has used AI to analyze data from social media and digital resources to develop Dalgona coffee blends and Nesvitaplant probiotic health products, "which is expected to allow developers to track and test consumers' views on new products when they interact with consumers in the virtual world or Web3 space."

The second is the product design stage, using AI technology to provide richer inspiration and more efficient output tools.

Snack brand "Food Test Room" used AI to design five product packaging for its new product "Vegetable Garden Cake", which has been officially sold through online channels. According to public media reports, "Food Test Room" only took two or three hours to confirm the AI ​​design plan. Without using PS tools, the artist completed the adjustment and layout requirements of the product packaging based on simple text input and a 100-word description.

The last stage is product storage and after-sales stage, where AI technology is used for warehouse logistics management, user feedback data analysis and processing, customer service docking, etc., to improve the efficiency of product upgrades and iterations.

In summary, AI can indeed add a considerable amount of value to brands, but it is still far from replacing human jobs. Judging from the current AI design results, human creativity and calibration are indispensable. In other words, AI is just a tool, and how to use it is the key. If used well, it can reduce costs and increase efficiency, but if used incorrectly, it may cause traffic backlash.

Amid the AI ​​craze, brands may be unable to control their application of AI technology.

According to data from third-party agency Mordor lntelligence, the AI ​​in the food and beverage market was valued at US$3.07 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US$29.94 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 45.77%.

Obviously, in future competition, Wanglaoji will not be the last brand to strike while the iron is hot for marketing, and Zhong Xuegao will not be the only brand to launch AI-created products. The next brand to leverage AI is already on the way.

Author: Chen Chumu

Source: WeChat public account "Weiguojiang (ID: wjam123456)"