Early results show Ally.ai capabilities could boost speed, drive team creativity and productivity

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) announced today the early results of an experimental generative AI use case with its marketing team designed to help understand the real-world impact the technology could have on campaign development and employee productivity. Using the Ally.ai platform’s large language model (LLM) chat and prompt functionality, a select group of marketers were able to reduce the time needed to produce creative campaigns and content by up to 2-3 weeks and reported an average time savings of 34%, compared to typical processes without AI. 

Additional results reported from the month-long experimental program include:

• The reduction in time needed for content creation and other marketing outputs of up to 2-3 weeks was primarily found in the early stages of the creative process in tasks such as research, first drafts and naming exercises
• The 34% time savings on tasks when using the Ally.ai interface could equate to an annual savings of almost 3,000 hours across the participant team
• More than 80 prompts developed by participants during the test had an 87% usefulness rate, showing the value of prompt engineering training for teammates and the effectiveness of outputs that could be used in assigned work
• Users also noted a prompt accuracy rate of 81%, signifying that they received the right type of content or response outputs from the Ally.ai platform to complete their assignments
• Participants also saw usefulness and accuracy in outputs when using Ally.ai for data analysis, quality controls and search engine optimization (SEO)

“The best marketing teams know the art of evolution, which includes evaluating and testing of transformative technologies,” said Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer at Ally. “The early results demonstrate how AI could enable our talent to focus on creative tasks that needed the most human involvement, while speeding up the routine efforts of our day-to-day work. We look forward to the continued exploration of generative AI and learning more about how the technology can assist our team.”  

Ally.ai, the company’s proprietary, cloud-based AI platform that serves as a secure, private bridge between enterprise-grade LLMs and Ally’s data and AI applications, launched in June 2023. The test with marketing comes on the heels of Ally’s pilot with its Customer Care and Experience group where Ally.ai was used to quickly and accurately summarize customer service calls, helping associates focus their energy on more meaningful customer interactions and reduce the time needed to service and close a customer inquiry.

Read more about Ally.ai and the Customer Care use case here.

Both use cases reflect a commitment to Ally’s core principles for the enterprise use of AI: initially focusing on use cases that support employee productivity and optimizing internal business processes; providing human intervention and controls for oversight and training; protecting against the disclosure of personal identifying information and prohibiting third party model providers from using Ally data to train their foundational models.

“The purpose of building Ally.ai in-house, and with foundational data, cloud and network infrastructure already in place, is to scale its use throughout the organization while also keeping a close eye on potential risks and opportunities for new use cases,” said Sathish Muthukrishnan, Chief Information, Data and Digital Officer at Ally. “The value that our marketing colleagues could get from Ally.ai demonstrates how important cross-functional collaboration is to the development of enterprise AI capabilities.”

Generative AI in Marketing: Supporting Productivity

In addition to the preset system prompts and security features already embedded in Ally.ai, the platform needed a place where teammates could engage with the LLM directly. Understanding that most LLMs and generative AI applications are good for summarization, content creation, ideation/brainstorming, and information analysis, Ally’s developers built an open prompt user interface (UI) for Ally.ai that would allow teammates to do two types of work: chat directly with the secured LLM and also develop specialized prompts that could be saved, used again, and shared with colleagues based on their accuracy and usefulness rates.

Teammates could change features of the platform depending on the work they did, including toggling between chat and prompt mode, adjusting prompt length as well as the model’s creative parameters and vocabulary. The participant team frequently used Ally.ai as a starting point for creative development, specifically for first drafts of advertising copy, video scripts or social media posts, or enhancing human-driven ideas that originated from brainstorms or naming exercises.

An example: the content team performed a test of Ally.ai by providing the platform with a transcript of a podcast that featured an Ally executive. The team asked the platform to create the first draft of a 750-word article for Ally’s Conversationally blog with the information provided, plus direction to incorporate the most insightful, informative and entertaining parts that would be relevant to consumers. While the Ally.ai output required editing and the finesse of Ally’s content writers and it still went through Ally’s well-established regulatory review processes, having a quick first draft done in 15 minutes helped reduce the total time needed to create and edit the blog article from four hours to just one.

“We look at Ally.ai as an assistant that will be able to help our teammates with faster and smarter project delivery, which leads to a better experience for our customers,” Brimmer said. “In several different instances, our content writers were able to use thoughtfully crafted prompts to either start up the creative process or help extend the distribution of content to new channels. Anytime we can reduce the time to publish while also letting our creatives do what they do best, that means a lot in our fast-moving, competitive environment.”

Dig deeper on how the Ally Marketing team tested AI on the Ally Tech blog.

With the Ally.ai UI in place, Ally teammates can be trained to use it for the exploration and development of approved business use cases. The opportunity to learn more about AI and train using the platform has created a positive energy inside the company. Earlier this month, Ally hosted its second AI Day – a half-day dedicated to education and knowledge sharing around AI – with almost 1,000 teammates from multiple business units in attendance.

“You can’t escape the conversation around AI, so we are taking hold of that momentum and using it as a springboard to continue to explore new use cases that will drive AI adoption internally while supporting business goals,” Muthukrishnan said. “Right now, there are more than 100 use cases being carefully evaluated throughout the enterprise. While not all of them will pass our rigorous testing, we remain optimistic about what AI can bring to our teammates at Ally and to the financial services industry.”

For more insights from the technology team at Ally, including how the team is exploring new innovations like quantum computing and digital accessibility, visit https://ally.tech.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a financial services company with the nation’s largest all-digital bank and an industry-leading auto financing business, driven by a mission to “Do It Right” and be a relentless ally for customers and communities. The company serves more than 11 million customers through a full range of online banking services (including deposits, mortgage, point-of-sale personal lending, and credit card products) and securities brokerage and investment advisory services. The company also includes a robust corporate finance business that offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies, as well as auto financing and insurance offerings. For more information, please visit www.ally.com and follow @allyfinancial.

For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures.

For further images and news on Ally, please visit http://media.ally.com.

Contacts:
Laurie Hurst
Ally Communications (Media)
[email protected]

SOURCE Ally Financial

The largest Native American film festival on the East Coast is back, and it’s right here in Richmond. Read our preview here. Runs Friday through Sunday, Nov. 19. Tickets range from $20 weekend passes to $100 VIP passes. Tickets and more information are available: www.pocahontasreframed.com.

Peni Candra Rini, Au Fromage, and Curt Sydnor at Gallery5

Renowned Javanese singer, composer and faculty member at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Peni Candra Rini returns for another loud set at Gallery5, and will be performing new and traditional music with members of Rumput, Gamelan Raga Kusuma, and Curt Sydnor. She’s joined by Richmond newest and hottest swing band, Au Fromage, and composer Sydnor, who received a grant last year from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Tickets $12, $15 at the door. Doors are at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m.

Come rock out to the cool, dark sounds of the great late ‘70s English band, Joy Division, as performed by tribute group Unknown Pleasures. DJ Ben Speed will be spinning goth/wave/synth/new beat/EBM before and after the band. The band goes on at 10 p.m. Cost: $10. Entry is 18 and over. Runs from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. 117 N. 18th St.

Start your day our right with a drag brunch downtown. “Screamy, dreamy host” Chicki Parm takes the stage with Melanin Monroe, Venetian, and Veronica May Monroe. Ages 18 and up. Tickets range from $20 to $80. Doors at 11 a.m.

Richmond Moon Market 10th anniversary at Stone Brewing

It’s the big 10th anniversary celebration of this curated craft and wellness market that brings together artists, vendors, healers, fortune tellers, vintage gear, crystals, plants and flowers, custom skincare, craft persons, you name it. There will be live music, food and workshops running from noon to 5 p.m. Noon to 5 p.m. 4300 Williamsburg Ave. Go here for more.
https://www.rvamoonmarket.com/

Tally-ho! Get decked out in your finest tweed gear and join the ever stylish Art Deco Society of Virginia for a jaunty ride through the streets of Richmond while celebrating your favorite textile. They’ll start with a registration and hydration period beginning at 11 a.m. at Penny Lane Pub, which is where the ride will start and end. Bring your favorite “two-wheel steed.” The ride will stop for photo ops and vintage clothes before returning to Penny Lane for a snack. Free and open to the public. Rain cancels.

Redd Volkaert and Dogwood Brothers, Ramona and the Holy Smokes and Brand Franklin at Get Tight Lounge

A rare chance to see Merle Haggard’s former guitar player, Redd Volkaert, who now lives on a farm in Galax, Virginia, show off his stellar Telecaster picking. This show is free and starts at 1 p.m. All ages. Read our preview here.

The Now and Contemporary evening sales, Sotheby’s dual auctions dedicated to adjacent eras of post-war art, brought in a combined hammer total of $261.5m ($305.7m with fees) on Wednesday (15 November), within the aggregate low estimate range of $245.7m-$349.8m (calculated without fees).

Although the two sales each performed well enough to tiptoe into their respective presale target zones, they generated only modest excitement along the way—a fitting conclusion to an autumn auction season that proved the market remains relatively soft and selective.

Counting the lone lot withdrawn from either sale—Mark Bradford’s 2006 canvas Tina (est $2.5-$3.5m)—the two auctions delivered a muscular sell-through rate of 93.8%. (The figure rises to 95.3% if the withdrawal is omitted.) Yet most of those sales were effectively minted in advance: of the 65 lots originally meant to be offered across both sales, 45 (69.2% by volume) were guaranteed a minimum price by Sotheby’s (including the withdrawn Bradford), and 36 (55.3%) were backed by third parties.

The house’s willingness to offload so much risk onto external financiers reaffirms the unease of the moment. Still, both sales produced at least a bit of heat and a few milestones amid the uncertainties.

The Now

In total, the opening segment of Sotheby’s double-header brought $46.7m ($55.2m with fees), within the original $43.7m-$60.6m expectation. (Omitting the withdrawn Bradford lot reduces the estimate range to $41.2m-$57.1m.) Of the 19 lots originally scheduled to be offered, 13 were guaranteed by the house, and 10 by third-party financiers.

The premium-inclusive sale total was 50% higher than the equivalent figure in the May 2023 edition of The Now, according to a house spokesperson. (It should be noted, however, that Sotheby’s withdrew the star lot of the spring sale, Yoshitomo Nara’s 1998 painting Haze Days, which had been estimated to sell for at least $12m.)

Wednesday evening’s iteration of The Now, centred on art created within the past 20 years, got off to a promising start by setting three consecutive artist records under the hammer. First, Brazilian abstractionist Marina Perez Simão’s untitled 2022 painting went to an online buyer on a final bid of $350,000 ($422,000 with fees), roughly triple its $120,000 high estimate and Simão’s previous auction record of $115,594 (with fees). The painting carried a financial guarantee from both Sotheby’s and a third party.

Next, six bidders pushed the Iraqi artist Mohammed Sami’s The Praying Room (2021) to a hammer price of $750,000 ($952,500 with fees), more than quadrupling the work’s $150,000 high expectation and breaking the auction ceiling set for the artist just last month at Sotheby’s London. Finally, in his auction debut, New York-based British artist Oscar yi Hou’s Mlle. Chris à central park 103rd, en automne (2019) fetched $75,000 ($95,250 with fees) against a $30,000 to $40,000 estimate.

Yet the sale’s expected star lots met more measured bidding. Many anticipated the gargantuan, fleshy Shift (1996-97), a landmark painting by the Young British Artist Jenny Saville, would shatter her own record for the most valuable work by a living woman artist at auction. Instead, it sold for $9.2m ($10.9m with fees), just over the low threshold of its $9m-$12m estimate, after less than two minutes of bidding.

A similar process played out for Kerry James Marshall’s 1992 pool scene (1992). Although it too was expected to sell for up to $12m, the bidding plateaued at its $9m low estimate, reaching $10.3m with fees.

The Saville and the Marshall were both consigned by the flamboyant Chinese entrepreneur Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei, the co-founders of Shanghai’s Long Museum. Hopes were high that the two works would perform strongly enough to at least somewhat offset the lacklustre results of an auction of 39 pieces from the couple’s holdings at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on 5 October.

That sale made HK$544.5m with fees ($69.5m), well below its presale target range of HK$745m-HK$1bn ($95.9m-$135.5m)—and neither the Saville nor the Marshall did enough to completely close that earlier gap. (A third work in The Now owned by Liu and Wang, Marlene Dumas’s Love Your Neighbour, hammered $500,000 beneath its low estimate of $5.5m, reaching $5.9m with fees.)

More successful was Julie Mehretu’s monumental Walkers With the Dawn and Morning (2008), which hammered at $9.5m ($10.7m with fees), near the upper limit of its $7m-$10m estimate. The result established a new high mark for an African-born artist at auction.

Other highlights of The Now sale included Teeter towards me (2019), by 30-year-old Jadé Fadojutimi. The painting fetched more than $1.4m ($1.8m with fees), double the midrange of its estimate, thanks to activity from seven different bidders. Jonas Wood’s Interior with Fireplace (2012) also stoked heated competition, with four would-be buyers battling for eight minutes until one prevailed with a bid of $3.5m ($4.3m with fees), comfortably above its $3m high expectation.

After Sotheby’s auctioneer Phyllis Kao brought down the gavel to sell The Now’s final lot, a George Condo that went for $1.5m ($1.8m with fees), the auction house gave her a commemorative white glove in honour of finding buyers for all 18 lots ultimately offered in her first evening auction. (The withdrawn Bradford painting was excused from the calculus.)

The Contemporary

The second event at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, the Contemporary evening sale, felt nearly as constrained as The Now, only played out across more lots with higher price expectations (and auctioneer Oliver Barker manning the rostrum). In all, the Contemporary generated a hammer total of $214.7m ($250.5m with fees), modestly within its estimate range of $202m-$289.2m (without fees).

No lots were withdrawn from the sale, and 43 of the 46 that were offered found buyers—good for a sell-through rate of 93.5%. Sotheby’s guaranteed a minimum price for 32 of the works in the Contemporary (including an Ellsworth Kelly painting that ultimately passed at $1.7m); the house also offloaded a substantial proportion of its risk by drafting in third-party guarantors for 26 lots (56.5% by volume).

The opening lot of the auction again started strong. Junker 1 (2009-10) by Amy Sillman set a new record for the artist at auction, fetching $775,000 ($984,250 with fees). The first of the 16 works in the sale from the collection of Chara Schreyer, the late California art collector, it sold for nearly double its $400,000 low estimate. The following lot, an untitled hanging sculpture by Lee Bontecou from 1983, soared to $1.3m ($1.6m with fees) against a $600,000-$800,000 expectation.

Together, the 16 Schreyer works made $43.4m ($52.4m with fees), about one-fifth of the overall total for the Contemporary auction. The collection also contributed one of the more pulse-pounding competitions of the night, as Frank Stella’s Honduras Lottery Co. (1962) elevated above its $15m high target to make $16m ($18.7m with fees). The sale represents the artist’s second-highest price at auction to date.

The best one can say about the auction’s intended star lots, in contrast, was that they performed adequately. The most valuable work of the night, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s celebrated 1982 Self Portrait as a Heel (Part Two), sold for $39m ($42m with fees), a step below its $40m low target, after less than three minutes of bidding.

The runner-up from a price perspective, Gerhard Richter’s crimson-dominated Abstraktes Bild (1997) hammered at $27.5m ($31.9m with fees), inside its $25m-$35m estimate range (albeit toward the lower end). Sunflowers (est $20m-$30m), a 1990-91 diptych by Joan Mitchell, narrowly missed breaking the artist’s nascent auction record of $29.2m (with fees), minted one week earlier in Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York. Sunflowers went for $24m ($27.9m with fees) to a bidder in the room; the result made the painting by far the top lot from the group of works consigned to Sotheby’s this season by New York dealer John Cheim.

On the other side of the ledger, the only other two lots that failed to sell (aside from the earlier-mentioned Ellsworth Kelly) were relatively low-value: a 1990 Ed Ruscha word painting from the Schreyer collection that passed at $1.9m, and a columnar white 1962 Anne Truitt sculpture that passed at $320,000.

A different white Minimalist construction, Sol LeWitt’s Hanging Structure 24 D (1991), closed out the Contemporary sale by making $470,000 ($596,900), just above its $450,000 high target. The crowd and Sotheby’s staff hailed the final descent of Barker’s gavel with the usual round of applause. It felt more like an expression of relief than a celebration. But at the end of such a middling autumn auction cycle, it is fair to wonder how long even that sense of relief will last.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University is investing in new leaders and initiatives in arts, humanities and culture. At a time of accelerating change in and around arts and humanities, the university will expand institutional support, create stronger connections between its hallmark strengths, and drive expanded cultural engagement with local communities across the state and beyond.

These commitments represent IU’s dedication to leveraging arts and culture to advance people’s understanding of the world and revitalize communities, bolstering the university’s reach and impact as a global arts and humanities leader.

Photo by Liz Kaye, Indiana University” src=”https://news.iu.edu/live/image/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10382_20230821_WOW_First_Day_LK_247.rev.1700150200.jpg” title=”20230821 WOW First Day (LK)” srcset=”https://news.iu.edu/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10382_20230821_WOW_First_Day_LK_247.rev.1700150200.jpg 2x, https://news.iu.edu/live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10382_20230821_WOW_First_Day_LK_247.rev.1700150200.jpg 3x” data-max-w=”3200″ data-max-h=”2134″ loading=”lazy”>

New leadership positions in IU Research and at IU Bloomington will help maximize the impact of arts and humanities initiatives across IU’s campuses. Photo by Liz Kaye, Indiana University“Driven by the scholarship and creative activity of our world-renowned faculty, Indiana University’s reputation for excellence in the arts and humanities is unmatched,” IU President Pamela Whitten said. “As we build on IU’s longstanding commitments to arts and humanities research, we will help solve the world’s complex problems and foster greater understanding of humanity.”

To spearhead these efforts across multiple schools and campuses, IU has created two new leadership positions, one in IU Research and the other on the IU Bloomington campus. Together, they will help shape university and campus-wide strategy to maximize the impact of arts and humanities initiatives and research across IU’s world-class schools, including the Jacobs School of Music, the Herron School of Art & Design, and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design; IU’s extensive humanities programs; and IU’s world-renowned museums, galleries and libraries, including the Eskenazi Museum of Art and Lilly Library.

Ed Dallis-Comentale was named assistant vice president for arts and humanities research, effective Nov. 13. In his new role, Dallis-Comentale serves as the chief arts and humanities research officer for all of IU’s campuses. Most recently, he served as director of both the Arts and Humanities Council at IU Bloomington and the Gayle Karch Cook Center for Public Arts and Humanities, and as strategic advisor for arts and humanities to the vice president for research.

Ed Dallis-Comentale has been named assistant vice president for arts and humanities research.“Research and creativity are crucial avenues to understand and address the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities of our day,” said Russell Mumper, vice president for research. “I am confident that Ed’s leadership in this new role will catalyze new engagement of arts and humanities to grow research discovery, creative activity and translation of novel ideas into tangible impacts.”

As a member of the leadership team for IU Research and reporting to the associate vice president for research development, Dallis-Comentale will drive expansion of the already thriving arts and humanities ecosystem across IU, increasing external funding and partnerships, and building interdisciplinary research teams in support of the IU 2030 strategic plan.

To support this university-wide work, IU Research is also making several other strategic new and expanded investments, including overseeing the recently expanded Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellows Program and bolstering the Public Arts and Humanities Project. It has also launched the new Arts and Humanities Futures program, an initiative that will unite researchers from a broad scope of disciplines and create leading “think tanks” to address contemporary issues and inspire new ideas and innovations related to artificial intelligence, ecological resilience, Indigenous cultures and communities.

Additionally, IU Research will expand access to the Eastman Residency for the Arts and Humanities, which supports IU faculty by providing creative residencies on the IU-owned Eastman property on Martha’s Vineyard.

In conjunction with Dallis-Comentale’s appointment, and following consultation with academic deans and the IU Bloomington Arts & Humanities Council, IU Bloomington will launch a national search for a dynamic and visionary faculty innovator to serve as the senior campus-wide leader for arts and humanities.

Reporting to the IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president, this new senior leadership position for arts and humanities will collaborate across IU’s rich arts and cultural landscape to bring forward a comprehensive, future-facing vision and plan for arts and humanities on the campus.

Photo by James Brosher, Indiana University” src=”https://news.iu.edu/live/image/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10381_20231005_FirstThursdays_JB_1014.rev.1700148700.jpg” title=”First Thursdays Festival” srcset=”https://news.iu.edu/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10381_20231005_FirstThursdays_JB_1014.rev.1700148700.jpg 2x, https://news.iu.edu/live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/height/333/10381_20231005_FirstThursdays_JB_1014.rev.1700148700.jpg 3x” data-max-w=”3200″ data-max-h=”2133″ loading=”lazy”>

The IU Soul Revue performs during the First Thursdays Festival in the IU Auditorium at IU Bloomington. Photo by James Brosher, Indiana UniversityThese efforts will include increasing student and community engagement with IU Bloomington’s extraordinary offerings in arts and humanities; fostering new creative collaborations with cultural institutions and community organizations; and growing visibility and recognition for IU Bloomington’s local and global leadership in arts and humanities broadly.

“It is so often through engagement with the arts and humanities that we learn to question our assumptions, probe the contexts in which we live and dare to design transformative systems and objects,” said Rahul Shrivastav, IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president. “And this new leader will have the opportunity to steward those activities across the breadth of our campus’s schools and units, as well as in our engagements with stakeholders.”

Details regarding a search advisory committee and timeline will be shared in the coming days, along with interim leadership for the Bloomington Arts and Humanities Council and the Gayle Karch Cook Center for Public Arts and Humanities while the search progresses.

IU Bloomington has also committed funding for new faculty hires in arts, humanities and cultural areas, including music business, songwriting and videogame composition. The campus has begun arts-connected renovations that have so far included updates in the Jacobs School of Music’s Recital Hall, Ford Hall and Auer Hall.

Supported by dedicated arts and humanities leadership and through these initiatives and investments, IU will increase participation in artistic and cultural activities and curricular offerings, further develop new and innovative approaches in arts and culture, and grow IU’s connections locally and globally.

What they are saying:

Chris Liu, associate vice president for research development: “Bringing together experts in the arts and humanities and other disciplines across IU’s campuses will lead to new, transformational, large-scale research that has the power to change mindsets, culture and society. I’m excited to work with Ed in supporting faculty research and creative activities across IU’s campuses.”

Rick Van Kooten, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences: “The arts and humanities play pivotal roles in shaping IU Bloomington students’ education and enriching their experiences both inside and outside the classroom, equipping our graduates with knowledge and skills that prepare them to lead meaningful lives and pursue rewarding careers. In addition, the wider IU community, the state and society benefit from the leading-edge research, creative activity and teaching in these disciplines by our preeminent faculty in the College. I commend this continued commitment to and investment in the arts and humanities that are the heart and soul of our university.”

Abra K. Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean of the Jacobs School of Music: “We are delighted that the university and campus are investing in the arts and humanities in substantive ways and look forward to how this will strengthen existing partnerships and build new collaborations. Jacobs will be greatly enhanced by new faculty and opportunities to broaden our programs and respond to market trends in music higher education for the future.”

Peg Faimon, founding dean of the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design: “The Eskenazi School is excited for these new investments and the potential for new initiatives and collaborations across Indiana University and on the Bloomington campus. We look forward to enhancing the lives of our students, faculty, staff and the community.”

Greg Hull, dean of the Herron School of Art & Design: “IU has long been a driver of creative innovation in Indiana, which is evident in our state’s public art spaces, galleries, architecture, music, theaters, businesses and more. Reinforcing the value our university places on the arts and humanities and building upon the robust opportunities IU offers across its campuses will lead to continual advancements that benefit our state and beyond.”

‘Do It Right’ with AI: Ally creators experiment with generative AI in marketing test case

Arts and entertainment  |  UW Notebook

November 16, 2023

This week, attend the Baroque Ensemble led by Tekla Cunningham, head to the Duwamish November Native Art Market, engage in a discussion on P. Sainath’s book: The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom, and more.

November 19, 3:00pm | Baroque Ensemble, Brechemin Auditorium

Tekla Cunningham, Artist in Residence and Director for the UW Baroque Ensemble, leads the Baroque Ensemble to perform the “Baroque Pearls from Venice,” a program of works by Merula, Castello, Rosenmüller, Marini, Uccellini, as well as a fully improvised Passamezzo Antico in this end-of-quarter concert.

Free | More info

November 21, 4:00 – 6:00pm | Book Talk with Elliott Prasse-Freeman | Rights Refused: Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar, Thomson Hall

In this book, Elliott Prasse-Freeman documents grassroots political activists who advocate for workers and peasants across Burma, covering not only the so-called “democratic transition” from 2011-2021, but also the February 2021 military coup that ended that experiment and the ongoing mass uprising against it.

Elliot Prasse-Freeman is the Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore.

Free | More info & Registration

November 21, 4:00pm | Voice Division Recital, Brechemin Auditorium

Students of Thomas Harper, Associate Professor of Voice, and Carrie Shaw, Artist In Residence for the Voice Program, perform works from the vocal repertoire.

Free | More info

November 24 – 26, 10:00am – 7:00pm | Duwamish November Native Art Market 2023, Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center

Come to the November Native Art Market to support native artists and food vendors on site.

Free | More info

November 28, 7:30pm | Concert and Campus Bands: Sonic Luminescence, Meany Hall

The UW Concert and Campus Bands, led by Roger Wu Fu and David Stewart, present “Sonic Luminescence,” performing music by Julie Giroux, Frank Ticheli, David Maslanka, Eric Whitacre, and others.

Buy Tickets | More info & Tickets

November 29, 10:30am | Guest Artist Master Class: Atar Arad, viola, Brechemin Auditorium 

Viola students of Melia Watras perform for renowned violist Atar Arad, longtime professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Arad will also give a talk, “A Tiger in the Room,” about dealing with stage fright. 

Free | RSVP & More info

November 29, 4:00pm | Garrick Ohlsson Residency: Panel Discussion, Brechemin Auditorium

The internationally esteemed concert pianist Garrick Ohlsson takes part in a public panel discussion during a three-day residency at the UW School of Music.

Free | More info

November 29, 7:30 pm | Percussion Ensemble: Ionisation, Meany Hall

The UW Percussion Ensemble, led by Director Bonnie Whiting, explores early 1930s percussion repertoire in its program Ionisation, reimagining Edgard Varèse’s iconic early percussion work with the Afrocubanismo pioneer Amadeo Roldán’s Ritmicas as well as music by James Tenney, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Nick Hubble.

Buy Tickets | More info & Tickets

November 30, 5:00 – 6:30pm | LECTURE | P. Sainath | The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom, Kane Hall

Join the South Asia Center for a discussion with acclaimed journalist P. Sainath, who will discuss his new book: The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom. The book features millions of ordinary people living in India – farmers, laborers, homemakers, forest produce gatherers, artisans, and others – that stood up to the British. Dive deep into the difference between freedom and independence through the voices of these people in P. Sainath’s book.

P. Sainath is the Founder Editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), an outcome of his three decades-plus experience in journalism. PARI aims to report and record the two-thirds of India’s population that were hidden from corporate media.

Free | More info & Registration

November 30, 6:30pm | “Twenty Dreams”: Fall 2023 Katz Distinguished Lecture, Husky Union Building

Katherine McKittrick will present new work that highlights anti-colonial methodologies and addresses some limitations and possibilities of theorizing climate catastrophe and ecocide alongside race and racism. McKittrick’s thinking is propelled by methodological clues and analytical frames that tend to equate environmental toxicities with (degraded) blackness. McKittrick will also center pedagogy and draw attention to how black livingness is not a concept, per se, but a set of actions that teach people how to theorize the environs anew.

The Katz Distinguished Lectures in the Humanities Series recognizes scholars in the humanities and emphasizes the role of the humanities in liberal education.

Free | More info

October – November | “Ways of Knowing” Podcast: Episode 6

“Ways of Knowing” is an eight-episode podcast connecting humanities research with current events and issues. In this week’s episode, Diana Ruíz discusses how the same images can be used on both sides of the same debate. In this case, pro- and anti-immigration. Ruíz, assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the UW, describes how the photos evoked empathy and assistance for humanitarian organizations, but were also used to promote support for vigilante groups by inducing fear.

This season features faculty from the UW College of Arts & Sciences as they explore race, immigration, history, the natural world—even comic books. Each episode analyzes a work, or an idea, and provides additional resources for learning more.

More info

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu)

Tag(s): Center for Southeast Asia & its Diasporas • Department of American Indian Studies • Department of Asian Languages & Literature • Department of Cinema & Media Studies • School of Music • Simpson Center for the Humanities • South Asia Center

Authored by – Sumit Gupta, Founder The Viral Pitch

Businesses now use influencer marketing as an important means to advertise their products and offerings to a larger audience. It is an effective strategy to connect with your target market, increase brand recognition, and boost sales. However, negotiating and knowing how to create win-win agreements is essential to the success of an influencer campaign. Given the continued rise in influencer quotes across the majority of platforms, negotiating skills are more important than ever. Marketers today are required to have a negotiating plan in place before initiating a contract and to be fully informed of every factor that goes into determining pricing that benefits both parties. Negotiating with influencers can be difficult, but with the appropriate strategy, it can be advantageous for everyone involved.

Here’s a look at some suggestions and tips to keep in mind before beginning your next influencer negotiation-

Know Your Goals

It’s critical to define your campaign’s objectives, before connecting with influencers, whether they are enhanced brand recognition, more sales, or increased engagement. Know about your actual budget and have an appropriate number in mind when negotiating a flat charge and stay within it. Additionally, it’s crucial to be open to end the conversation politely if it becomes obvious that coming to a mutually advantageous agreement on budget with your chosen influencer is not possible while keeping your campaign objectives in mind. This strategy, based on understanding your goals, will not only assist you in choosing the appropriate influencers but also provide you the power to forge partnerships that are in line with your campaign objectives.

Matching with the right set of Influencers

Like businesses, influencers have unique purposes, goals & niche as well. Thus, understanding the niche & goal of an influencer and what they hope to gain from the partnership is essential to starting meaningful discussions. Moreover, learning more about their former partnerships has a dual purpose. First, it provides insightful information about their knowledge & reach in the industry. It is possible to judge someone’s competence and credibility by looking at the kinds of projects & content they have worked on, which can help you make a better-informed choice. Second, it reveals how other brands feel about them, demonstrating their capacity to forge fruitful partnerships. With this deep understanding at your fingertips, you can effectively improve your negotiation technique to ensure that their aims and your campaign goals are compatible.

Being Transparent

Transparent communication is essential for creating effective influencer partnerships. It’s important to be upfront about your requirements and possible contributions. If a creator’s price is out of your price range, think about adjusting campaign requirements to reach a solution that works. Additionally, a creator can be open to lowering their cost if you’re prepared to investigate shorter collaborations or fewer deliverables while still fulfilling campaign goals. Especially when a brand’s eager to work with a particular influencer, adjusting deliverables might be a smart move in scenarios with fixed or stringent influencer contracts. This strategy promotes trust, which enhances the negotiation process for a win-win result.

Offer Value

Since multiple firms approach influencers every day, it is critical to provide them with value and some additional perks if you want to stand out. Think about what you can provide the influencer that will be advantageous to them, such as visibility to your audience, a monetary incentive, or complimentary services or products. To provide the influencer with something special and appealing, be creative & logical, and think outside the box. If you’re extremely close to finalizing the partnership but are still struggling to get over the hurdle, a thoughtful gift can be all it requires.

Monitor and Evaluate the Outcomes

For future collaborations to be shaped, careful evaluation of influencer content performance is essential in the final stage. In accordance with your marketing standards and objectives, this means carefully reviewing reach, engagement, conversions, and ROI. To identify success reasons and areas for improvement, it is equally important to ask for feedback from influencers as well. Additionally, this step includes encouraging collaboration by talking with influencers about potential execution ideas that are founded in their individual styles. This strategy allows for developing relationships that successfully utilize influencer creativity while also assessing prior performance. To ensure that future collaborations are not just transactions but instead value-rich, co-creative endeavours, these careful evaluations serve as the basis for decisions about whether to move forward with them.

Mastering the Art of Negotiation!

It takes a personalized approach, willingness to listen as well as compromise, and experience to negotiate with influencers. Negotiating influencer quotes might be intimidating, but if you have a plan in place and the appropriate resources at your fingertips, you should be able to close the deal. Furthermore, it is essential to be transparent, provide value, know the objectives, and comprehend those of the influencer, then negotiate. Additionally, stick to your spending plan and don’t be shy about doing a little negotiating. Be self-assured, first and foremost, in your brand. Thus, with a well-thought-out plan and a firm belief in your brand, you can form connections that not only help your company but also the influencers you work with, resulting in a win-win situation for all parties.

One program called Intersections brings together musicians from around the region and the world to share their art by exploring both cultural musical traditions and avant-garde counterpoints. Previous Intersections performers have included a trio of world renowned pianists and virtuoso tabla player, Samir Chatterjee.

“Since the Intersections Concert series launched in 2023, there have been several sell-out shows as well as several endearing reviews by our local music industry. The community support has been quite rewarding and I look forward to an innovative season ahead!” said Waltz.

There’s also the complementary series, Intersecciones. 

“It’s an exploration of arts and culture through a binational lens,” said Waltz. “The Intersecciones series highlights writers, singers and artists from across Mexico with the goal of presenting the diaspora of Mexican arts, culture, life, and history”

Park & Market is also home to nearly 30 resident partners such as the Burnham Center for Community Advancement, The San Diego Regional Economic Development Council, the County of San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce, World Design Capital, Digital Gym Cinema, and more.

“Part of the mission of Park & Market is to help incubate and amplify great work happening around the community,” Waltz said of the resident partners. 

Furthermore, Park & Market is home to an art gallery that often features exhibitions with a focus on cultural diversity. The building is also the site of educational programs, offering classes and workshops hosted by the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies in the areas of Arts and Humanities, Business and leadership, Corporate Education and Custom Training, Digital Arts, Education, Engineering, Environment & Sustainability, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Pre-College, and much more.

By connecting with audiences from various backgrounds, the series and its venue hope to contribute to a more informed and engaged society, fostering positive change in the San Diego region and beyond.
 

To learn more about The Helen Edison Lecture Series, visit the UC San Diego Extended Studies Helen Edison Lecture Series page. 

Reserve your tickets for the Helen Edison Lecture Series event featuring Matthew Desmond on December 14.

Learn more about Park & Market: https://parkandmarket.ucsd.edu/