AI Got a Promotion: How U.S. Bank Let Tech Shape Its Latest Campaign

U.S. Bank didn’t just dabble in AI for its latest “Power of Us” campaign—it used it like a full creative partner. Working with Supernatural AI’s offshoot agency, Supergood, the bank employed a custom AI platform called Supercharger for everything but the lights-camera-action. It kicked off with a competitive analysis, feeding competitor ads into LLMs tuned to spot common trends and consumer sentiment. Finding most banks focused on digital convenience, U.S. Bank zeroed in on the emotional and practical connections people have with their money—a relatively uncrowded positioning.

From there, things got interesting. Supergood developed synthetic personas—like “Mary,” a tech-savvy 42-year-old in Silicon Valley—and used them to test ad concepts. These AI audiences commented on what worked and what didn’t, and even had to cite their "sources," ensuring their feedback matched realistic user behavior. Human copy testing later confirmed the AI feedback tracked well with actual people, giving U.S. Bank the green light to move forward. That input shaped everything from message hierarchy to bundle offerings, helping to tailor creative for different consumer segments like small biz owners or budget-conscious shoppers.

Though the AI never wrote the final scripts, it served up plenty of usable sparks. Plus, U.S. Bank used Unreal Engine to film spots with diverse, photo-realistic backdrops in a single location, trimming production time down to two months (compare that to six months pre-AI). Still, no one’s handing over the keys completely—CMO Michael Lacorazza warns too much reliance could flatten brand uniqueness. Smart tools are welcome at the table, but for now, the humans are still captaining the ship.

Full story at AdAge.