Creative Strength and Thoughtful integration of AI
Jourdan Huys · June 22, 2024
creative processcreative agency
Jourdan Huys, Managing Director at Foul Mouth Creative, discusses her agency’s journey during its first year, highlighting their creative strengths and thoughtful integration of AI. She explains how AI is used primarily for research and repetitive tasks while emphasizing that human creativity and talent remain irreplaceable.
0:00 – Jourdan: I'm Jourdan Huys, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Foul Mouth Creative. We are one year into startup life and business, and we're an all female-owned creative agency with ownership in Seattle and the Denver area. Our expertise lies in high-level brand campaigns, strategy, creative concepting, 360 execution, and production for awareness, consideration, and conversion.
0:32 – Jourdan: My work extends to strategy, full concepting, 360 execution, and production on the upper end of the funnel. I specialize in every phase from awareness to conversion. My background is in brand management, and I began my career in Chicago.
0:57 – Jourdan: I started my career in Chicago and have primarily worked for small and midsize creative agencies, which gave me extensive experience in both strategy and production.
1:20 – Jourdan: Great question. My business partners and I explored all available options and believed we could create a better model. We have many ideas on working differently, protecting our work-life balance, and fostering a unique agency culture.
1:47 – Jourdan: We aim to create a distinct culture in the creative agency space. It's been an interesting ride, and after one year, I'm very positive about our direction. Our philosophy is to reserve creativity for human beings and let them connect with audiences.
2:15 – Jourdan: While AI can offer helpful shortcuts, we will not rely on it to replace the human brain’s creativity and understanding of audiences.
2:45 – Jourdan: We use AI during the discovery phase for strategy development—whether refreshing a brand or laying the foundation for a campaign. Tools like Gemini or ChatGPT help with macro-level category, consumer, and competitive research.
3:14 – Jourdan: However, relying solely on AI is risky. We always verify AI findings with primary research and thoroughly check the sources.
3:37 – Jourdan: AI serves as a labor shortcut, saving time on initial research. We also use it in the concepting phase, particularly for visualizing ideas.
4:04 – Jourdan: We specifically rely on MidJourney to visualize unique ideas that can’t be found as stock imagery. However, we do not use AI to develop concepts, scripts, or copy.
4:31 – Jourdan: I believe that for our upper funnel and psychographic creative work, AI plays a limited role. In other areas of advertising—especially for iterative tasks—AI is becoming increasingly impactful.
5:00 – Jourdan: The repetitive work required for performance creative, optimization, and A/B testing is where AI can be incredibly useful. Often, no one on the team is eager to perform these tasks, so AI fills that gap efficiently.
5:22 – Jourdan: AI handles rough, repetitive tasks, freeing us to focus on creative strategies. In areas like media buying, SEO, SEM, reporting, and analysis, AI can significantly reduce the workload.
5:51 – Jourdan: However, a challenge in our industry is that it’s increasingly hard for junior talent to break in and receive proper mentorship. AI might even accelerate this issue by replacing entry-level roles.
6:15 – Jourdan: I worry that using AI could further limit opportunities for new talent in advertising by replacing jobs with automation. This concern reinforces our commitment to prioritizing human talent.
6:39 – Jourdan: Running our own business lets us choose projects that align with our values. We won't take on work that demands excessive repetitive labor; instead, we focus on projects that emphasize strategic creativity.
7:05 – Jourdan: By concentrating on upstream strategy and creative development, we create a nurturing environment where junior talent can grow and play.
7:30 – Jourdan: We have pitched several AI-driven ideas to bring our concepts to life, and our clients showed strong interest. We even developed full digital production plans, including contingency strategies for training AI to mimic a specific brand voice.
7:59 – Jourdan: In two instances, projects were put on hold due to legal concerns regarding brand risk and safety—even with robust safeguards in place. As a result, AI hasn’t become a must-have in client calls or RFPs, and some brands now question its suitability.
8:25 – Jourdan: Brands are also questioning whether they can authentically leverage AI. For example, one small team that produces handcrafted products was uncomfortable committing fully to a tech-driven campaign after a thorough discussion.
8:49 – Jourdan: After pitching an AI-reliant idea, this client—despite being a modern, innovative brand—felt that, aside from legal risks, they couldn’t fully embrace a tech-fueled campaign.
9:13 – Jourdan: For instance, we once proposed an idea that relied on GPT’s language model to create custom, on-brand social media snippets.
9:41 – Jourdan: We set strict parameters to ensure AI avoided certain topics and conducted beta tests with our digital production partner for brand safety. Ultimately, legal teams felt that there wasn’t enough proven trial and error for such extensive exposure.
10:09 – Jourdan: Brands need assurance that even with thorough training, the AI won’t backfire or cause reputational issues. This concern led to intense debates and delayed projects.
10:33 – Jourdan: I have a friend and former colleague named Jeff who is very active in the AI space on LinkedIn. Whenever he recommends something, I explore it—he’s my AI influencer.
11:00 – Jourdan: I'm optimistic yet cautious about AI. Strict guardrails are essential, especially regarding data privacy, as this technology becomes integral to our lives and careers.
11:26 – Jourdan: There is significant potential for AI to offload menial tasks, allowing humans to focus on creativity and ideation.
11:57 – Jourdan: While I find it interesting to watch how AI evolves, I am not an early adopter. There is still much that needs to be figured out.
12:27 – Jourdan: Given recent labor disputes over talent rights—such as issues with appearance, likeness, and voice—it’s fascinating to see AI’s influence expand. That’s why we established firm boundaries from the start.
12:56 – Jourdan: In our business, we prioritize human talent across roles like on-camera, voiceover, production, and post-production. It is vital to offer human opportunities rather than replace them with AI.
13:24 – Jourdan: While AI can deliver cost-effective results, it’s crucial to assign it only roles that do not compromise the creative strengths of human talent. [Music]
0:00 – Jourdan: I'm Jourdan Huys, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Foul Mouth Creative. We are one year into startup life and business, and we're an all female-owned creative agency with ownership in Seattle and the Denver area. Our expertise lies in high-level brand campaigns, strategy, creative concepting, 360 execution, and production for awareness, consideration, and conversion.
0:32 – Jourdan: My work extends to strategy, full concepting, 360 execution, and production on the upper end of the funnel. I specialize in every phase from awareness to conversion. My background is in brand management, and I began my career in Chicago.
0:57 – Jourdan: I started my career in Chicago and have primarily worked for small and midsize creative agencies, which gave me extensive experience in both strategy and production.
1:20 – Jourdan: Great question. My business partners and I explored all available options and believed we could create a better model. We have many ideas on working differently, protecting our work-life balance, and fostering a unique agency culture.
1:47 – Jourdan: We aim to create a distinct culture in the creative agency space. It's been an interesting ride, and after one year, I'm very positive about our direction. Our philosophy is to reserve creativity for human beings and let them connect with audiences.
2:15 – Jourdan: While AI can offer helpful shortcuts, we will not rely on it to replace the human brain’s creativity and understanding of audiences.
2:45 – Jourdan: We use AI during the discovery phase for strategy development—whether refreshing a brand or laying the foundation for a campaign. Tools like Gemini or ChatGPT help with macro-level category, consumer, and competitive research.
3:14 – Jourdan: However, relying solely on AI is risky. We always verify AI findings with primary research and thoroughly check the sources.
3:37 – Jourdan: AI serves as a labor shortcut, saving time on initial research. We also use it in the concepting phase, particularly for visualizing ideas.
4:04 – Jourdan: We specifically rely on MidJourney to visualize unique ideas that can’t be found as stock imagery. However, we do not use AI to develop concepts, scripts, or copy.
4:31 – Jourdan: I believe that for our upper funnel and psychographic creative work, AI plays a limited role. In other areas of advertising—especially for iterative tasks—AI is becoming increasingly impactful.
5:00 – Jourdan: The repetitive work required for performance creative, optimization, and A/B testing is where AI can be incredibly useful. Often, no one on the team is eager to perform these tasks, so AI fills that gap efficiently.
5:22 – Jourdan: AI handles rough, repetitive tasks, freeing us to focus on creative strategies. In areas like media buying, SEO, SEM, reporting, and analysis, AI can significantly reduce the workload.
5:51 – Jourdan: However, a challenge in our industry is that it’s increasingly hard for junior talent to break in and receive proper mentorship. AI might even accelerate this issue by replacing entry-level roles.
6:15 – Jourdan: I worry that using AI could further limit opportunities for new talent in advertising by replacing jobs with automation. This concern reinforces our commitment to prioritizing human talent.
6:39 – Jourdan: Running our own business lets us choose projects that align with our values. We won't take on work that demands excessive repetitive labor; instead, we focus on projects that emphasize strategic creativity.
7:05 – Jourdan: By concentrating on upstream strategy and creative development, we create a nurturing environment where junior talent can grow and play.
7:30 – Jourdan: We have pitched several AI-driven ideas to bring our concepts to life, and our clients showed strong interest. We even developed full digital production plans, including contingency strategies for training AI to mimic a specific brand voice.
7:59 – Jourdan: In two instances, projects were put on hold due to legal concerns regarding brand risk and safety—even with robust safeguards in place. As a result, AI hasn’t become a must-have in client calls or RFPs, and some brands now question its suitability.
8:25 – Jourdan: Brands are also questioning whether they can authentically leverage AI. For example, one small team that produces handcrafted products was uncomfortable committing fully to a tech-driven campaign after a thorough discussion.
8:49 – Jourdan: After pitching an AI-reliant idea, this client—despite being a modern, innovative brand—felt that, aside from legal risks, they couldn’t fully embrace a tech-fueled campaign.
9:13 – Jourdan: For instance, we once proposed an idea that relied on GPT’s language model to create custom, on-brand social media snippets.
9:41 – Jourdan: We set strict parameters to ensure AI avoided certain topics and conducted beta tests with our digital production partner for brand safety. Ultimately, legal teams felt that there wasn’t enough proven trial and error for such extensive exposure.
10:09 – Jourdan: Brands need assurance that even with thorough training, the AI won’t backfire or cause reputational issues. This concern led to intense debates and delayed projects.
10:33 – Jourdan: I have a friend and former colleague named Jeff who is very active in the AI space on LinkedIn. Whenever he recommends something, I explore it—he’s my AI influencer.
11:00 – Jourdan: I'm optimistic yet cautious about AI. Strict guardrails are essential, especially regarding data privacy, as this technology becomes integral to our lives and careers.
11:26 – Jourdan: There is significant potential for AI to offload menial tasks, allowing humans to focus on creativity and ideation.
11:57 – Jourdan: While I find it interesting to watch how AI evolves, I am not an early adopter. There is still much that needs to be figured out.
12:27 – Jourdan: Given recent labor disputes over talent rights—such as issues with appearance, likeness, and voice—it’s fascinating to see AI’s influence expand. That’s why we established firm boundaries from the start.
12:56 – Jourdan: In our business, we prioritize human talent across roles like on-camera, voiceover, production, and post-production. It is vital to offer human opportunities rather than replace them with AI.
13:24 – Jourdan: While AI can deliver cost-effective results, it’s crucial to assign it only roles that do not compromise the creative strengths of human talent. [Music]