From Recruitment Game to Brand Communication

Exciting projects honored at the first AI Communication Awards.

submitted by Ziehl-Abegg
photos by Ufuk Arslan for Ziehl-Abegg

AI as a tool for use in the podcast jungle, the Escape Recruitment game and a creative assignment for Instagram: These are the winning projects at the first AI Communication Awards, organized by Ziehl-Abegg SE on July 2 at the DeSi restaurant in Kupferzell, Germany. One student also examined how AI influences brand communication. “As with all technologies of the future, the use of AI also needs pioneers and inspirational examples that embolden others to act,” Minister of Economic Affairs for Baden-Württemberg Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut said during the event. “This has truly been achieved with today’s award-winning projects.”

The awards ceremony was not only a celebration of the winners, but also an opportunity for networking and an exchange of ideas, as the event was embedded in the second Social Media Days, in turn resulting in additional synergies and networking opportunities. At the Social Media Days event, 140 experts from companies, government departments and organizations from the three central European countries of Germany (D), Austria (A) and Switzerland (CH) (the DACH region) met in Hohenlohe to learn about and exchange ideas on the use of AI in communication and current trends in digital marketing. The event was organized, once again, by Ziehl-Abegg.

At the event, 140 experts from companies, government departments and organizations from the DACH region met in Hohenlohe to learn about and exchange ideas on the use of AI in communication and current trends in digital marketing.

Many people and companies still have qualms about the use of AI, observed Ziehl-Abegg CEO Dr. Marc Wucherer. “We want to provide encouragement and to demonstrate prime examples of solutions in which AI is used in communication,” he said. After all, communication is well suited for the use of AI, he added.

For a number of years, Ziehl-Abegg has been seen as a trendsetter in the area of corporate communications on TikTok and with e-sports. “This experience shows how important it is to address new issues at an early stage,” said Wucherer. “In the years ahead, the AI heart of Europe will beat increasingly louder in Heilbronn at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI),” he stated. “The award, therefore, proves an ideal fit for the Heilbronn-Franconia region.”

The range of award-winning solutions shows just how versatile AI can be in generating real added value for companies, emphasized jury Chairman Johannes Keller. Keller manages approximately 50 technical AI experts at appliedAI, Europe’s largest initiative for the application of trusted AI technology in companies. AppliedAI has been operating as a joint venture between UnternehmerTUM (a non-profit company run by Susanne Klatten) and the Heilbronn-based IPAI since 2022.

Hoffmeister-Kraut emphasized the basic approach:

“AI as a basic technology has been adopted by various industrial sectors for some time now. In this context, we need an approach that focuses on the opportunities of AI for the world of business and employment and, at the same time, looks for solutions to the challenges posed by this technology.”

Exploiting the potential of AI therefore means dealing with the possibilities of using AI in an active way. This is especially true for creative areas such as marketing and communication, she said. Congratulating all the award winners, she said, “with the AI Communication Awards, Ziehl-Abegg is sending out a clear signal with this groundbreaking initiative.”

The Winners

Prizes were awarded in four categories:

1. Creative/Interactive Application. Escape Game/Volksbank Bühl.
   • An online Escape Game for a Volksbank Bühl event with influencer Bob Blume. Volksbank Bühl planned an event with Blume to give a lecture on AI at a school, giving the students a chance to win up to EUR555 (US$601) for their class fund. Participation by young people in typical competitions at previous events had been low. The question became how to spark their interest in actively participating in a competition. Immediately after the lecture, the students had 30 min for an online Escape Game. The content of the lecture was enhanced in a fun way through interactive storytelling and the use of AI puzzles. Anyone who successfully solved the game gained automatic qualification for the competition. This activity was not only entertaining, but also motivated students to play an active part in the event and apply their knowledge. The implementation of AI played a crucial role in the development of the Escape Game. A significant portion of the content, including graphics, dialogue and photos, was created with the help of AI. The versatile application of AI enhanced the Escape Game and made a significant contribution to creating an exciting gaming experience.
2. Marketing/Communication Strategy.
   • Revolution in B2B Marketing: Achieving success on Instagram with AI and Creativity/Rational AG. Rational AG, a market leader in the field of professional cooking systems, revolutionized its Instagram marketing with AI tools without having to increase the budget. This is an example of how technology and creativity can also be used in the B2B sector to achieve outstanding success in the field of communication. The objective was for the Rational Instagram channel to reach new heights in the 2023 financial year while keeping to the same budget, with production remaining in-house. The challenge was clearly defined: to improve performance using the same resources. The company has integrated AI into the social media team — not as just a tool but as a new team member. “AI is our digital ally, a loyal colleague that helps us to make more efficient and creative use of our time, from developing a new strategy to community management support. AI is our additional, new brain, enabling us to achieve peak performance despite limited resources,” writes Rational. The results are clearly backed by the numbers: more than 35,000 new followers, representing a growth of 87% (compared to the previous year); an additional 270 new videos and a 120% increase in views, as well as a 44% increase in engagement on the channel. Thanks to the intelligent use of AI, Rational has achieved time savings of more than 25% compared to the previous process.
3. AI Products/Platform Solutions.
   • PodMon penetrates the Podcast jungle/SMA Development GmbH. The decentralized, fragmented world of podcasting makes it difficult to find relevant content. With PodMon, users are able to find relevant snippets without having to listen for an extended period of time. PodMon analyzes topics and trends so that everyone can quickly find suitable content. AI-based podcast content monitoring provides real-time contextual analysis at the episode level, down to the very second; it also offers podcast market analyses of key topics and trends in more than 80,000 podcasts and enables insights and contextual data for advertisers for improved context-sensitive ad placement. It offers podcast selection, brand fit and brand safety analyses for companies.
4. Students.
   • How AI is Changing the Rules of the Game in Brand Communication/Mario Mirschberger. In his master’s thesis, Mirschberger examined how AI technologies can be integrated into the fundamental components of brand development processes to provide effective and efficient support for these processes. His findings: AI technologies have significant potential in brand management and offer new insights and efficiency gains. Brands can also be effectively developed using AI with minimal human intervention. Ultimately, there is no significant difference in societal perception between AI-generated brands and those developed by traditional agencies. The award in the student category came with prize money of EUR2,000 (US$2,165). 

Jury of Experts

The jury comprised leading figures in the fields of AI, digitalization and marketing. The jury was chaired by Johannes Keller of appliedAI. It included experts in AI/digitalization: Prof. Dr. Seon-Su Kim (Cooperative State University Baden-Württemberg), Prof. Dr. Daniel Werth (Steinbeis Institute Heilbronn), Prof. Dr. Alexandra Reichenbach (University of Heilbronn) and Prof. Dr. Helmut Krcmar (Technical University of Munich). The jury for the area of marketing/creativity included: Prof. Dr. Markus Besenbeck (president of the Marketing Club Main-Franken), Corinne Nauber (president of the Marketing Club Stuttgart-Heilbronn), Prof. Volker Helzle (head of R&D, Institute of Animation at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy) and Dr. Christina Blumentritt (president of the Marketing Club Nuremberg).