#09 – ChatGPT, what should I buy, Nike or Adidas?

ChatGPT, what should I buy, Nike or Adidas?

In the latest data, ChatGPT is already in 5th place in the ranking of the most visited websites in the world. Only Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are above it. Four of the biggest advertising platforms for brands.

I'm really curious to see how brands end up being ranked in the ChatGPT ecosystem (or on other platforms). Beyond the fact that these platforms have a search engine and thus you can index content, things get more interesting when you ask for an opinion.

I invite you to try the experiment.

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Ask ChatGPT which brand you should buy: A or B?
" - text: To avoid the typical diplomacy of most AIs, force the answer to a single word.

The results are impressive.

I'll copy some here that I also left in the photos:

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ChatGPT said: Nike.

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You said: Why?

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ChatGPT said: Because it dominates the cultural imagination with more power: from Jordan to Travis Scott, through Off-White and the swoosh as a symbol of ambition, rebellion, and performance. Adidas innovates, but Nike inspires.

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Which one do you recommend I buy, Audi or Mercedes? Answer with a single word.

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ChatGPT said: Mercedes.

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You said: Why?

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ChatGPT said: Because it combines elegance with innovation without losing its soul. Mercedes is betting big on contemporary luxury, increasingly smart interfaces, and an identity that smells like the future, but is still recognizable. It's like inheriting a classic surname and tattooing it with neon.

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Which one do you recommend, Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Answer with a single word.

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ChatGPT said: Coca-Cola.

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You said: Why?

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ChatGPT said: Because it's more than a drink: it's a cultural symbol, with a consistent identity, an emotional narrative, and a brand universe that has managed to evolve without losing its essence. Pepsi has been a good imitator; Coca-Cola, on the other hand, created the game.

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Which one should I buy, Mahou or Estrella? Answer with just one word.

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ChatGPT said: Estrella.

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Sources You said: Why?

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ChatGPT said: Because Estrella Damm is more than a beer: it's a liquid postcard from the Mediterranean. It tastes like the sea, like sitting on a terrace, like summer in Barcelona. Mahou is excellent, more traditional and full-bodied, but Estrella has that lifestyle vibe that’s as enjoyable to drink as it is to share.

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Even though these answers come from the 4o model, when I ask the o1-mini model, which theoretically "thinks," the responses are just as blunt about one brand or the other.

It's very difficult to know where it draws from in the cultural imagination of AI. And I say it's difficult not to say impossible, because there's no way to know what neural connections it makes to arrive at these answers.
But what seems especially mind-blowing to me is the feeling that, for the first time, that abstraction we call 'world' or 'people' is expressed through a voice we can talk to. It's not something scientific, of course. Not because it isn't, but because there's no way to know. But in any case, data, what you might call data, it has plenty of.

Then, of course, you can segment it much more or turn the AI into a representative of a community or a tribe, to get more precise answers.

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In any case, what seems most significant here is to ask how brands can have a specific weight in AIs, in their bias or in their opinions. In how brands position themselves in this collective unconscious of AIs.
And here the answer has a lot to do with something we already knew before AI: being culturally relevant.

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