Brandtech Group Supercharges Gen AI Marketing Platform, Pencil Pro, with Google Cloud collaboration

The Brandtech Group announces a powerful collaboration with Google Cloud, integrating their cutting-edge AI models into its industry-leading generative AI marketing platform, Pencil Pro.

With its collaboration with Google Cloud, The Brandtech Group clients will enjoy access to advanced Google Cloud models as they’re available, with the latest to generate insights, assets, predictions and optimisations in a fully integrated end-to-end workflow.

This will accelerate the rapid adoption of Pencil Pro, with three of the world’s eight biggest advertisers already using the Pencil Pro platform and generating assets using Google Cloud’s advanced generative AI models.

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This collaboration marks the latest step in a long-term partnership, starting with migrating the Pencil platform to Google Cloud to ensure scalability, security, and access to the most advanced AI technology available. Pencil will be available on Google Cloud Marketplace to continue supporting the full spectrum of 5,000 unique brands that have used the platform.

David Jones, Brandtech Group Founder and CEO: “Google are amazing partners and have been genuine pioneers in the space, integrating their cutting-edge models Imagen and Gemini, and being hosted on Google Cloud will give Pencil, and therefore our client partners, a huge competitive advantage.”

Caroline Yap, Managing Director, Global AI Business, Google Cloud: “Our collaboration with The Brandtech Group is a testament to the power of Google AI to transform marketing. Pencil Pro, with its integration of Google’s cutting-edge AI models, will help empower brands to create more engaging and effective campaigns, unlocking new levels of creativity and efficiency.”

This follows the announcement at Google Marketing Live 2024 that Pencil Pro is one of a select group of creative platforms approved for direct integration into the Google Ads asset library, making it easier than ever for Pencil Pro brands to connect with billions of customers around the world across Google’s platforms.

Rebecca Sykes, Brandtech Partner: “Client feedback from some of the world’s largest advertisers on the Google Cloud integration has been incredibly positive. The quality of Google Cloud’s Imagen model outputs continues to surprise our creative teams and deliver better assets for brands. This collaboration unlocks even greater potential for success.”

Pencil is the leading generative AI marketing platform, founded in 2018 and has made more than 1 million ads across 5,000 brands, and is powered by $1BN in media spend that has flowed through it. It is the only generative AI marketing company selected as a Most Innovative Company 2024 by Fast Company.

Will Hanschell, Pencil’s Co-Founder: “Google Cloud’s technology and collaboration has allowed us to reimagine core parts of the Pencil experience. The new user interface simplifies development and streamlines workflows, allowing users to focus on creative innovation and commercial outcomes.”

Jellyfish, the Brandtech Group’s digital marketing business, recently redesigned its creative and experience capability to create AI Studios powered by Pencil Pro. This gives Jellyfish clients access to Pencil Pro as part of its integrated media, data, content, and commerce solution.

More brands are exploring in-house AI studios, supported by Jellyfish’s unique advantage in training thousands of marketers in everything from Google Analytics to Gen AI prompting. Jellyfish was recently awarded Google Cloud Training Partner of the Year for North America.

About The Brandtech Group

The Brandtech Group is the world’s #1 digital-only marketing group and the leading global generative AI marketing company.

It was founded in June 2015 (as You & Mr Jones) by former Havas Global CEO David Jones, with the simple mission to help brands do their marketing better, faster and cheaper using technology. It was renamed The Brandtech Group in January 2022.

Today it is the largest global digital content partner for many of the world’s biggest brands and companies, often using its unique in-housing model. It works with eight of the world’s top 10 global advertisers and 49 of the world’s top 100. Clients include adidas, Banco Itaú, Danone, Google, Intuit, LVMH, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Reckitt, Renault-Nissan, PayPal, TikTok and Unilever.

Its most recent acquisition was Pencil, the only generative AI marketing company that is powered by $1BN in media spend across 4,000 brands. Typically, Pencil’s ads are 10x faster, with 2x better performance than a brand’s usual baseline. Working with the Group, Pencil launched a new tool, Pencil Pro, which is specifically designed for major global brands and has an industry-leading approach to brand safety, data ringfencing, IP ownership, copyright protection and other policies.

In addition, the Group invests in cutting-edge marketing technology companies and has been active in the AI, AR and the metaverse spaces since 2015. The Group was the very first external investor in Niantic (creators of Pokémon Go), alongside other investments such as AI Foundation (2018), Automat (AI chatbots, 2016), Elsy (AI media planning, 2016), Jivox (dynamic automated content, 2016), Crossing Minds (deep learning AI recommendation system, 2017), VidMob (automated content, 2018), CreativeX (AI-driven content optimisation, 2022), Zappar (AR, 2017),  Provenance (blockchain, 2022) and GGP (the world’s largest gaming fund).

The Group is one of the most prominent marketing industry voices on the prediction and movement to AI-driven marketing, including generative AI. It was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies 2021 by Fast Company and by CB Insights as one of the World’s Most Valuable Private Unicorns.

About Pencil

Founded in 2018, Pencil believes that generative AI will enhance the capabilities of creatives tenfold rather than replace them. To date, Pencil has produced over a million digital ads using generative AI for more than 5,000 brands. Its predictive system, trained on data from over a billion dollars in media investments, allows it to generate marketing content and predict its performance.

Pencil enables the production of content up to 16 times faster while reducing production costs by more than half. It also improves creativity and performance through predictive AI.

Pencil Pro is a version specifically designed for major global brands, offering cutting-edge features in security, data compartmentalisation, intellectual property protection, copyright protection, and integration of brand guidelines and other AI-related policies.

About Jellyfish

We’re Jellyfish, the integrated global digital marketing business. Our clients include some of the world’s most recognisable brands; Google, Netflix, Amazon, Bissell and Uber

With almost 2,000 Jellies across 38 offices worldwide, we are the unconventional global partner. We move different.

Established in 2005, Jellyfish has unparalleled expertise and certifications across Google Marketing Platforms, Google Cloud, Salesforce, Amazon, and Meta. Our love of innovation in all things digital has positioned us as the industry leader.

As a proud member of The Brandtech Group, we align ourselves with a shared mission – to redefine the boundaries of digital transformation by seamlessly integrating content, data, and media through cutting-edge technology and Generative AI.