Agencies have mixed feelings about using AI tools for product placements and influencer marketing

With these platforms, brands can make product placements far more natural-looking and scalable now — and the hope is this technology can bridge the gap in the world of product placement and simultaneously boost influencer content across channels. For example, Mirriad included its virtual product placement in 2024 TV Upfronts and worked with Cheetos to integrate its ghost pepper chips into “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” last year. South Korean ad company Inshorts last year also applied its AI digital product placement to drama “Maestra.”

So far, agencies remain divided on these new tools: Some find them promising and are curious about them because of their flexibility. Others remain cautious about costs and other aspects of adopting the tools.

“The biggest opportunity here is the flexibility and quick turnaround it provides,” said Lindsey Lehmann, director of influencer and branded content at PMG.

On the one hand, marketers are already aware of the sway that influencers can have over purchases — for instance, nearly two-thirds of consumers have bought a product after an influencer recommended it online, per creator platform Grin — and perhaps virtual product placements would take this to the next level by making influencer marketing more widely available to all types of creators and brands.

It’s why product placement and influencer company BENlabs (Branded Entertainment Network) is strategically positioning itself in this space specifically, as opposed pitching itself as an AI company like many of its competitors. Instead, BENlabs wants to focus on three core products: influencer marketing, product placement and optimization tools — which makes sense, given the company formed in 2016 through acquisitions that combined influencer agency Plaid Social Labs and product placement agency Norm Marshall & Associates.

“What we’re excited about is we think [virtual product placements for brands] can essentially create … a one plus one equals three dynamic,” said CEO Ted Sheffield. “The reality is, 10 years ago traditional TV and YouTube content maybe felt like they were in completely different universes, and those things are coming together. … Obviously people are consuming content across different mediums — so if you’re trying to reach that audience [across] product placement, influencer marketing makes a lot of sense.”

Earlier this month, BENlabs inked a partnership with virtual product placement company Mirriad to develop an in-content advertising offering. The virtual integration can be used across brand placements in streaming, movies, music videos and influencer marketing. Along with BENlabs’ access to some 15 million creators and brands like Microsoft, GM and Frito-Lay, Mirriad also brings a supplier network featuring Univision, Vevo and Influential (now owned by Publicis).

Yet AI and virtual product placement also faces adoption challenges in marketing. Currently, for instance, some brands explicitly forbid generative AI content in their contracts, said Chris Jacks, director of growth strategy at influencer agency HireInfluence. He did not specify which brands are excluding AI content, but said it was a general trend among some of them.

“As these tools become more popular, we anticipate more leniency with AI-based tools and services that enhance content,” Jacks said.

His agency is not currently receiving requests or inquiries for product placements using AI or virtual tools, according to Jacks. Instead, HireInfluence is focusing on using AI tools to add special effects and other visual elements to make creator content more appealing.

“We are in an exciting era of content creation, as these types of special effects and content enhancement used to be reserved for high-budget production or required a high degree of technical competency,” Jacks added.

Kelly Dye, vp of influencer strategy at Acorn Influence, similarly noted potential advantages to using AI to boost influencer marketing and product placement, like personalizing content (with audience data), cutting down on the costs of content creation and producing evergreen content. Dye mentioned an example of a hypothetical Mars Wrigley ad that could be featured in an influencer’s empty drawer to show the candy, tailored to the viewer’s preferences and adapted to seasonality.

But Dye cautioned that whether these AI and product placement platforms become more mainstream in advertising will ultimately depend on the content performance and ethical or authenticity concerns from brands and creators. Marketers need to avoid overly polished placements, perhaps disclose those virtual placements and potentially consider upfront costs to implement AI software. Some creators could also feel less ownership over their content, since virtual placements are done after the fact.

On the upside, some verticals that are more visually-driven, like fashion, beauty and home, could be more of a natural fit for these technologies, and might be more enticed to experiment with them, PMG’s Lehmann said.

PMG clients aren’t implementing these AI product placement tools just yet, but Lehmann indicated that there is “growing interest” in seeing how the tools can impact influencer partnerships. Lehmann expects this product placement space to grow significantly in 2025, as combining it with influencer programs can help bridge the gap between paid media and organic content.

“I see virtual product placement as a natural complement to our paid amplification influencer strategies, because it creates an additional opportunity on the organic side by integrating products seamlessly into the creator’s world,” Lehmann said.