Can ChatGPT build an entire brand?

I told you a few weeks ago to relax—ChatGPT hasn’t made social media managers obsolete just yet. That said, I’ve been curious to experiment with AI’s application as a creative aid. Considering many of these tools are free, they’re worth adding to your arsenal at every phase of the brand creative process. Think of ChatGPT as a second brain or the headcount you didn’t have in the budget.

I figured asking ChatGPT to build a brand from scratch would be the best test. Can the program come up with a brand name? Taglines? Social media post concepts? Maybe even caption copy?

Because of who I am, I also wanted the fictional product to be totally ridiculous. Glanced up from my computer at my dirty apartment…and noticed I left my boots out…and a chess board. So. Uh. Let’s make a company that creates boots out of old chess pieces. That sounds like an Instagram Stories ad waiting to happen, right?

How to use ChatGPT for general research + brainstorming assistance

Before we ask the program to accomplish anything creatively, let’s see what sort of background it can pull for us. Brand briefs never have enough info anyway, right?

I asked ChatGPT two questions: “Why do people love chess?” and “Why do people love boots?” I went surface-level by design—this is the beginning of an investigation. The results were thorough—two 800-word essays, each with five bullet points articulating what people dig about ’em.

More interestingly, when I asked ChatGPT to analyze its own results with “Which of those fit both boots and chess?” it found a tying line that I hadn’t considered. “While boots and chess are two very different things, there is one aspect that fits both - the element of style. Both boots and chess have an aesthetic appeal that can make a statement. Just as boots come in a variety of styles and can be used to add an edge or attitude to an outfit, chess has a rich history and cultural significance that make it a unique and interesting pastime. Chess sets can also be works of art in themselves, with intricate designs and beautiful materials. So, the element of style is one aspect that fits both boots and chess.”

Okay, cool. There are bits and pieces there to build on. Let's continue

Can ChatGPT give me ideas for the brand name, though?

Okay, full disclosure—I had no idea if this was gonna work. Knew it’d be a great test for the technology, but got a little nervous when I devised such a bizarre product. Lemme tell ya—ChatGPT just blew my mind. When I asked it to name the boots, its ideas were incredible.

Like, come on. Rook and Roll?! Endgame Footwear?! Legitimate names. There was no way I could pass on Knightly Footwear, though. Gave it my own tweak to Knightly Boots—love that double “o” sound. Next time you’ve got a new product or feature that needs a moniker, see what the program spits out.

Remember, you should tweak ChatGPT’s suggestions. It’s not that overly hip Brooklynite creative director with the too-small beanie—it’s a browser app. Put your touch on it.

Okay, but will ChatGPT help with tagline ideas?

Knightly Boots needs a slogan regal enough for such a brand. Because I tweaked the name myself, I gave ChatGPT the query “Let’s call the company Knightly Boots. Could you come up with five tagline ideas for the company?” (Yes, I spoke to it like a human.) The results:

1. Step up your game.

2. Unleash your inner warrior.

3. For those who make bold moves.

4. Walk with the strength of a knight.

5. Conquer any terrain in style.

Slightly generic this time around, but there’s one gem in there. I love the third option. Knightly Boots: for those who make bold moves. Yep, that’ll get it done. On to creative executions.

Surely ChatGPT can’t come up with social media ideas…right?

ChatGPT was getting a little smug, so I threw a curveball with a more specific query. I challenged the bot to generate 10 social posts ideas, but five couldn’t include a boot.

Nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s a solid list of social styles to consider when varying up your creative. Now let’s take that chess historical facts concept all the way to actual copy.

The final boss: ChatGPT-generated social copy

Okay, don’t laugh, but I complimented ChatGPT in my next query. Praise was warranted! I wanted to see if we could get some ChatLOLs, too, so I requested boot puns in tweets about chess. Because of course I did.

Golf clap. Pun corniness aside, these are pretty complex thoughts when you consider their content. That fourth option is multi-layered. Clearly no one’s told ChatGPT that hashtags are barely a thing on Twitter these days, but I am absolutely impressed with this thing.

Yeah…you really need to use ChatGPT at work

I basically just creative-directed while the AI brainstormed, concepted, copywrote, and self-edited. We didn’t even get to how the program learns from each query, adding on to each other for fully contextualized results. I could’ve said “Could you give me five more?” at any point in the process and it would’ve churned out new options. Oh, and it did all the above in SECONDS.

Play with the program, put your touch on it.