If you've recently seen the stark white ads for the AI wearable device Friend in New York subways, you may have witnessed one of the most expensive marketing bets in the history of the AI industry.
Avi Schiffman, CEO of Friend, revealed to Adweek that the company spent over $1 million on this ad campaign, placing more than 11,000 advertisement cards in subway cars, setting up 1,000 posters at stations, and displaying ads on 130 city billboards. Some subway stations, like West 4th Street, were almost completely covered by Friend's advertisements.
"This is the first large-scale AI marketing campaign in the world," said Schiffman. Although other AI products have also run ads before, none may have reached such a large scale in a print advertising campaign. He described this campaign as a "big gamble" and admitted, "I don't have much money left."
The $129 wearable device launched by Friend has been controversial. A recent reporter from Wired criticized its continuous monitoring features and wrote an article titled "I Hate My Friend." Similarly, some Friend advertisements have been vandalized, with slogans like "surveillance capitalism" painted on them, urging viewers to "go make real friends."
Schiffman said he was well aware that "New Yorkers hate AI... possibly more than anywhere else in the country," so he deliberately chose an advertisement design with lots of white space, "so people would engage in social commentary about this topic."
From a marketing strategy perspective, this approach is controversial. On one hand, the large-scale visual impact can definitely increase brand awareness; on the other hand, such a high-profile promotion may further intensify public negative sentiment, especially given the privacy controversy surrounding the product itself.
Schiffman's admission of financial strain also highlights the risks involved in a startup's marketing decisions. Allocating most of the funds to a single marketing channel, especially when the product's market acceptance is questionable, could significantly affect the company's long-term development.
This "all-in" marketing approach is not uncommon in the tech industry, but its effectiveness often depends on the quality of the product and the market demand. For a product like Friend, which involves personal privacy and daily monitoring, simply increasing ad exposure may not be enough to resolve fundamental trust issues.
From a broader perspective, this campaign reflects the marketing challenges faced by AI startups: how to promote their products in an environment where the public is increasingly wary of AI technology. By choosing to confront the controversy rather than avoid it, Schiffman's strategy remains to be tested by the market.
