Ian Garcia, Playbook Media’s Director of Paid Social, has a simple approach: work smarter, not harder.

When it comes to marketing and advertising, he doesn’t see AI as a creative replacement—it’s an assistant that speeds up research, generates fresh ideas, and refines messaging with precision. 

Here’s how Ian blends both to develop high-performing creative across copy, visuals, and strategy without losing originality.

How Ian Supercharges the Creative Process

Uncovering Insights Faster

Instead of spending hours going through customer reviews, competitor messaging, and market trends, Ian lets technology do the heavy lifting. It rapidly processes vast amounts of data, coming up with key insights instantly:

• What’s frustrating customers? AI pinpoints recurring complaints and unmet needs.
• What messaging and visuals are working? Patterns emerge in high-performing ads and content.
• What’s trending? AI detects early signals of shifts in consumer behavior and market dynamics.

This cuts down on time spent digging for insights and allows teams to focus on crafting standout creative.

Eliminating Creative Block

Creative inertia can kill momentum. Ian uses AI as a tool to keep ideas flowing:

• Create headline variations for an ad campaign.
• Come up with fresh visual concepts by analyzing successful creative trends and suggesting new directions.
• Refine social content and taglines.

While the output isn’t always perfect, it pushes creative thinking forward and gives people a base to optimize instead of stalling in uncertainty.

Testing Ideas Before Launch

Before rolling out creative, Ian uses AI to analyze potential performance. Past data helps indicate which concepts will drive engagement and which ones might underperform. AI is great for helping marketers:

• A/B test creative concepts before investing heavily in production.
• Predict which ad variations will resonate most with different audience segments.
• Optimize messaging for specific channels to maximize relevance.

This approach shifts marketing from guesswork to an informed creative process.

Where Human Creativity Still Wins

Technology accelerates and optimizes, but it has clear limitations:

• It doesn’t establish a brand’s core creative vision. Humans define strategy, storytelling, and emotional impact.
• It can’t discern great from mediocre. AI generates a mix of ideas, but the real value comes from human refinement.
• It lacks instinct. Sometimes, the best creative decisions come from a gut feeling—something no algorithm can replicate.

AI is a powerful tool, but it still needs a human touch to transform raw data into something compelling, memorable, and brand-defining.

Ian’s Keys to Making AI Work for Creative Teams

• Equip It with a Persona. Instead of a generic request, prompt it with a perspective:
  “Write this ad script as if it were narrated by David Attenborough.”
  This transforms the output from mechanical to engaging.
• Use CLEAR (Concise, Logical, Explicit, Adaptive, Reflective) prompts.
  Specificity leads to better results.
• Blend Data With Creativity.
  The best creative work is both data-informed and emotionally resonant.

Want to Test This For Yourself?

Ian has put together a document listing the top 3 AI tools he recommends other creative teams to start using now. Plus, it includes a set of prompts our creative team uses to get one of our favorite tools to do a rich analysis of existing creative — it’s amazing for surfacing performance-friendly optimizations.

Download it now to start creating smarter.

The best creative minds aren’t just using AI—they’re using it strategically to enhance their vision, not replace it.