Paper Moose Marks 15 Years with Dual Product Launch
Paper Moose, a Sydney-based creative agency, has observed its 15-year anniversary while launching two internally developed products: an AI creative testing tool named Moose Review and a software platform called Portal. The agency's founder discussed the role of artificial intelligence in the industry, distinguishing between tasks suited for automation and those requiring human creative input.
Background
Paper Moose was founded as a filmmaker collective operating from a garage and later evolved into a full-service agency.
Statements by Nick Hunter
"The question is no longer whether AI will transform the industry, but what tasks will remain for humans."
Nick Hunter, the agency's Founder, CEO, and Executive Creative Director, distinguished between tasks requiring "intelligence," which he described as automatable, and those requiring "geist" (a German word for spirit, described as an X-factor in creative work).
Hunter argued that current AI systems cannot produce good creative work due to the way AI models are validated and trained. He noted that creative work lacks clear benchmarks and that diversity of creative outlooks is necessary for generating ideas.
"AI excels at anything that can be tracked via a benchmark and optimised through reinforcement learning. You can train a model to play chess because there is a verifiable outcome: win or lose."
Moose Review Tool
Paper Moose developed Moose Review, an AI tool that tests advertising effectiveness. The tool assesses creative quality against a framework derived from marketing science research by practitioners including Byron Sharp, Les Binet, Peter Field, Karen Nelson-Field, Orlando Wood, and Daniel Kahneman.
- Moose Review polls synthetic focus groups ("Synths") through structured questions.
- According to the agency, Synth responses mirror real human subgroups by up to 94%, while reducing cost and time compared to traditional focus groups.
- The tool provides measurable outputs with rapid feedback, allowing testing of early concepts and finished assets.
- The agency reported that Moose Review has conducted over 20,000 reviews.
Portal Internal Software Platform
The agency has developed Portal, a custom software platform that consolidates scheduling, documentation, financial tracking, strategic research, and media implementation into a single system. Hunter described Portal as a foundation for automating agency intelligence work.
Future Outlook
"The future of agencies will be built on humans focusing on geist tasks supported by automation of intelligence."
Hunter stated that AI will not replace creative agencies but will force them to become leaner and faster. The agency described competitors offering fast and affordable AI creative services as "misguided."