In the 10 years that I’ve been working in product marketing, nothing has been as transformative, disruptive, or as quick to take ownership in people's minds as the recent rise in generative AI (except maybe Ange Postecoglou’s brand of football (I will not say soccer), but I’ll try to leave Tottenham Hotspur out of this one). 

With programs such as Open AI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard, it’s never been easier to create content with minimum effort, but is that content any good? 

This is more of a social experiment than a blog, so bear with me. As I type this I have no idea what direction this is going to go in, how I’ll perform against “the machine,” or even if I’ll make my own role completely redundant (please don’t tell my employer). 

Here’s what I want to do to test my wits; I’m going to create a hypothetical SaaS product, and then challenge ChatGPT in a best-of-5 contest to:

In the interest of fairness, I will write all my answers first before turning to my ChatGPT chum. 

The generative AI “whodunnit better” that no one knew they needed 

So, ignoring what’s possible or even logical, I’ve settled on a banking product that integrates with Apple Wallet and Google Pay. It allows users to send money over any digital channel (such as WhatsApp, RCS, Messenger, etc.) in any European currency to people within their contact lists, with that money then stored within the end user's Apple/Google account available to spend or send at their discretion. 

Why have I picked this? Well firstly, it’s not generic, it’s specific to banking and finance, so it should help ChatGPT stick within the parameters. Secondly, it’s not so fantastical as to not have similar products in the market, and thirdly, it’s what came to mind when I was trying to think of a new product (it’s not easy it turns out). 

So, without further ado let’s go on a weird journey.

Generative AI challenge 1: Name that product! 

Josh: Since I think someone already took PayPal I’m going to go with “FinPing.” It's alliterative, it’s easy to remember, it’s colloquial and descriptive “pinging finance,” and most importantly, unlike my first 5 ideas, no one’s got the trademark on it.

ChatGPT: It’s gone a little literal on the European theme with suggestions such as “EuroLink Pay,” “PayMate Europe,” and “EuroFunds.” But the one that stands out to me and the one we’ll go with is “CurrencyConnect.” 

Now, ChatGPT has warned me that I’ll need to check this for trademarks, but in the interest of my own sanity, I won’t bother here.

Generative AI challenge 2: Value proposition 

To me, a value proposition is something that should get across the product's entire reason for being, in a single, easy-to-understand sentence, something I will explain to ChatGPT when asking for its answer.

Josh: “FinPing: Make your finances truly mobile, it’s as easy as pinging a friend.” 

ChatGPT: "CurrencyConnect: Easy money-sharing with friends, securely saved in your Apple Wallet or Google Pay, ready to send via any digital channel you fancy!"

Break to reflect.

This is much harder than I thought it was going to be when I had the idea. It’s not easy coming up with a powerful value proposition on the spot. 

What I’m also noticing is that ChatGPT takes prompts very literally, so I have to ask the questions multiple times, in multiple ways (such as asking it to give informal replies) in order to get an answer that seems more human. 

I’ve also shared the first two questions and answers with our content lead here at Infobip and she’s giving us 1-1 – a draw. I've taken the naming, and ChatGPT’s taken the value proposition, you might think differently, but it’s anyone’s game at the moment! 

The tension is palpable.

Generative AI challenge 3: Elevator pitch 

You know the premise, you’re trapped in the elevator for 30 seconds with a couple of eager prospects, how do you get across everything you want to say to sell them on your product in such a short space of time? 

Well an elevator pitch of course, here we go. 

Josh: “FinPing is the secure, digital payment app connecting you to your contacts through your smartphone. Natively integrated with both Apple Wallet and Google Pay and supporting all European currencies, FinPing lets you convert, store, and transfer funds from your digital wallet to anyone in your contact list through your favorite messaging apps. Or in other words, befriend, send, and spend, with FinPing.”

ChatGPT: “CurrencyConnect revolutionizes the way you handle money with seamless integration into Apple Wallet and Google Pay. Say goodbye to the hassle of traditional money transfers and embrace a new era of financial freedom.

“With CurrencyConnect, you can effortlessly send money to anyone in your contact list, using your preferred digital channels like WhatsApp, RCS, Messenger, and more, all in the comfort of your smartphone. What's more, you can send funds in any European currency, making it perfect for international transactions.”

Generative AI challenge 4: Facebook ad 

Sponsored content on social media is one of the best ways to reach a large audience quickly, but it’s not all straightforward. 

Analytics show that people are very unlikely to read long paragraphs of text, or even to hit the “read more” button to finish a paragraph. With that said, ChatGPT and I will have a 125-character limit for the text, and a 27-character limit for the title, in line with Meta’s best practice recommendations. 

Josh: Title: “FinPing: Truly mobile banking”

Description: “Convert, save, and send European currencies to your contact list, from your phone's digital wallet over any channel.” 

Chat GPT: Title: "CurrencyConnect: Digital Money Magic"

Description: "Send European currency with ease via digital channels. Securely stored in Apple Wallet or Google Pay."

PMA's free Insider membership

Generative AI challenge 5 – Competitors 

Josh on competitors: To me, it’s really clear who the two main European competitors are going to be for this. Although there’s no like-for-like company, because there’s no way to build a native integration into Apple Wallet or Google Pay, there’s companies that are fundamentally offering the same principles; currency conversion, contact sending, mobile banking, secure digital payments, etc:

Revolut: Billed as “one app, all things money” Revolut is the biggest fintech in Europe and has been a real market disruptor, not only can you easily send money between friends, but you can also convert and hold accounts in a number of international currencies, as well as recently introduced trading in commodities, altcoins, and stocks and shares.

Wise: “The international account” Wise specializes in cross-border payment transfers and sees itself as a universal way to manage money internationally, it offers less traditional banking services than some of its competitors but is a market leader in currency conversion and transfer. 

All traditional banks now offer some degree of mobile banking which will encompass some of the USPs that FinPing is trying to achieve, but none are hitting as many of the same points as these two.  

ChatGPT on competitors: As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, I can't provide real-time information on specific competitors in the European market for a product like "Currency Connect." However, I can suggest the types of companies or services that could potentially be competitors based on the description of your product:

Revolut: Revolut is a well-known European fintech company that offers various financial services, including money transfers, currency exchange, and digital wallets. It integrates with popular digital platforms and allows users to send money internationally in different currencies. Revolut's versatility and wide user base make it a potential competitor.

TransferWise (now Wise): Wise is another notable player in the European fintech space. It specializes in international money transfers with transparent and low-cost currency exchange rates. While it may not directly integrate with Apple Wallet or Google Pay, its user-friendly platform and focus on currency exchange and transfers could compete in the same market.

…Well, that’s a draw if ever I saw one.

Product marketing and generative AI: Key takeaways

This has been really interesting. I think I’m mainly surprised at how well ChatGPT was able to perform. Our content lead gave me the 3-2 win, I gave myself 5-0 mainly because of my little narcissism problem, but I’m still very impressed. 

What I will say is that the more information you’re able to give ChatGPT, the better it’s able to respond. A lot of the answers I’ve put here are not the first generated responses, I’ve had to ask the questions in many different ways and ask it to change the tone to make it so the answers don’t feel completely robotic, otherwise, it does feel like it’s repeating the question and description back to you.

But the further I got the better it got. So with the social copy for example, not only did I ask it to write the title and description based on my product description, but I also fed into the question its own response. For the value proposition and the elevator pitch, to give it better context and tone of voice, the answer I’ve offered above was the first response it generated. 

What ChatGPT is not so great at is sticking to parameters, so when I asked for a short elevator pitch, first off it gave me 4 paragraphs, hence the need to ask again in more specific language. Even when I asked for a 27-character description for a social ad, I ended up with 33, sense checking is really key to using ChatGPT.

As the data set is from 2021, it’s also not great at providing up-to-date answers when you ask time-sensitive questions such as “who top competitors are at any given moment.”

So, what does this mean for product marketing? 

As I sort of expected, it means that ChatGPT and similar tools can be a great starting point for creating content, with the more information you’re able to provide leading to a better-generated response. But nothing is going to be able to completely replace that human ingenuity and knowledge.

Give yourself a base and then chop and change it to make it your own. Use the technology to make your life simpler, but don’t think it’s going to be able to replace you. If used right, however, it’s definitely easier and quicker than starting from scratch.

So, with that let me say:

Josh: Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little experiment, let me know who you think won.

ChatGPT: Farewell, dear readers! Thank you for sharing this journey of words and ideas with me. Until we meet again, may your days be filled with curiosity and inspiration. Goodbye for now, and remember, I'm here whenever you need a virtual companion in the world of language. 📚✨

 …Bugger, that’s a much better goodbye message than mine. Now I’m off to trademark “FinPing” before someone steals my idea.