MAD//Fest + Frontify’s Augmented Creativity report spotlights brands that seamlessly merge AI with the human touch to produce brilliant campaigns. Here’s how Coke does it.

There’s no denying it, AI is fast becoming a core part of the creative process. 

In fact, more than half of brand marketers (57.5%) now use it to generate content and creative campaign ideas, according to Marketing Week’s 2025 Language of Effectiveness research.

However, in a world awash with so-called AI slop, the human touch is more important than ever. Marketers need to protect our brands and make sure the technology’s output is aligned with our message and positioning.

The new normal will see creatives using AI as a creative collaborator, a true partner in co-creation. MAD//Fest + Frontify’s FREE Augmented Creativity report explores the brands that are doing just that.

Here’s how Coca-Cola does it.

Coca-Cola has become an advertising AI trailblazer, using partnerships with specialists such as OpenAI to experiment and innovate. It not only creates personalised quick-fire content, it has also released AI-generated ads.

One of its most lauded AI campaigns was one of its first - and it was a true partnership of AI and humans. 

Back in 2023, the brand invited digital creatives to generate original artwork using iconic creative assets from its archives in its ‘Create Real Magic’ campaign.

The brand made its branded assets including its distinctive contour bottle, famous version of Santa and Spencerian script logo available online for people to use as a canvas for AI-powered experimentation and creative iteration on a platform built by OpenAI and Bain & Company.

It was the first platform to combine GPT-4, which produced human-like text from search engine queries, and DALL-E, which created images based on text.

Artists then submitted their work with a select few chosen to be featured on Coke’s digital billboards in New York’s Times Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus.

Pratik Thakar, Global Head of Creative Strategy and Integrated Content at Coca-Cola said: “It’s an experiment to see where co-creation can take us. We’re moving at the speed of culture with an innovative program that’s very tangible for the creative community.”

The campaign formed part of Coca‑Cola’s 'Real Magic' global brand platform, which is rooted in the idea that magic lives in unexpected moments of connection that elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. 

“Real artists, actual humans, are using AI technology, which is algorithmic and mathematical, to create an output that’s truly magical,” Thakar said.

Thousands of submissions poured in with Coca-Cola showcasing many of them on billboards. It generated global engagement, and opened a much broader conversation about how generative AI can be used in creative, positioning Coke as a pioneer.

Read the FREE Augmented Creativity to discover how more brands, including Nike, Unilever + L'Oréal, have created brilliant campaigns by merging the best of technology with the best of humanity.

DOWNLOAD THE AUGMENTED CREATIVITY REPORT