Inspiration Stage • POSSIBLE 2025
Raising the Bar: The Power of Storytelling in the AI Era
Lorraine Twohill, Chief Marketing Officer, Google
Tiffany Rolfe, Global Chair & Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA
In a candid and future-focused fireside chat, R/GA’s Tiffany Rolfe sat down with Google’s Lorraine Twohill to explore how Google is navigating the intersection of creativity, marketing, and AI.
Twohill opened up about the intense pace of AI feature rollouts across Google and how that’s reshaping everything from campaign timelines to internal workflows. With features launching nearly weekly, her team has had to rewire its processes and expectations—sometimes turning around global campaigns in just 10 days.
Twohill outlined three core areas where Google’s marketing team is integrating AI: everyday productivity (drafting, summarizing, note-taking), media measurement (campaign optimization and performance forecasting), and creative production (generating, localizing, and iterating content at scale). She gave each of these a performance grade—productivity tools received an A for their immediate time-saving impact, while creative applications, though promising, were still evolving and have room for improvement.
Beyond internal processes, the pair highlighted cutting-edge collaborative projects like Google’s Creative “Lighthouse” program and “Best Phones Forever: Roadtrip”—a campaign that leveraged AI to create hundreds of custom videos in response to user recommendations on social. Another example featured their work on Androidify, a project that will allow users to personalize their own Android figure, and uses AI to balance mass customization with brand consistency. They also revealed how AI helped bring vintage IP like “The Wizard of Oz” to life on high-tech platforms like the Las Vegas Sphere, pushing the boundaries of brand storytelling.
Throughout, Twohill emphasized quality and accountability, advocating for “Google Grade” work—AI-enhanced creativity that doesn’t compromise on excellence. She encouraged marketers to lead by example, experiment boldly, and train AI models with only their strongest work. The discussion closed on a rallying note: with the right mindset and tools, AI isn’t just an efficiency engine—it’s a catalyst for human imagination on a global scale.
Key Insights for Marketing & Advertising Professionals:
#1
Creative Vision Still Leads
AI doesn’t replace creativity—it amplifies it. Prompts and models are only as good as the imagination behind them, and human-led storytelling remains central to emotionally resonant, on-brand content.
#2
Experimentation Is a Culture Shift
Google’s marketing team has launched over 50 AI pilots across internal and partner tools, proving the best way to scale impact is to start small, move fast, and let results fuel momentum.
#3
Quality Is Non-Negotiable
In a world of endless content, “Google Grade” creative is the benchmark. Tools like Demand Gen and PMax help automate without sacrificing excellence, but strong creative judgment and review processes remain essential.
#4
Scale Can Still Be Personal
From turning user prompts into videos to allowing developers to create AI-generated Android bots, AI helps deliver massive content customization—without breaking brand guidelines. This unlocks hyper-personalized, high-volume marketing.
#5
The Future Is Experience-Driven
New tools are redefining not just content, but how brands show up in people’s lives. Branded gestures like “Circle to Search” signal a move beyond ads into immersive, product-integrated storytelling powered by AI and built for culture.
2025 Speaker Highlight
Lorraine Twohill
