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I’ve been playing around with Google’s new Nano Banana.

It edited an image of a previous award I won and made it look as if I had won another award that is purely fictitious.

It was convincing enough that people congratulated me on social media.

Here is how to use it for your own business or any personal endeavours where you need a . . . touch up.

1. Head to Nano Banana - Link here

2. Upload a reference image

3. Add a prompt - here’s what I started with:
   
   “Please touch this photo up to add a beautiful nature-based background with the headshot zoomed out just a little more”
   
   Go to ChatGPT or whatever AI tool you like using and ask,
   
   “Can you please turn this into a better prompt to generate a new headshot for this image?”
   

4. You will get an updated promp like the one I received below:
   
   “Enhance this professional headshot by subtly zooming out to include a bit more of the subject's upper body and shoulders. Replace the current background with a beautifully lit, nature-inspired backdrop—think soft greenery, warm natural light, and a slight bokeh effect to keep the focus on the subject. Maintain the professional look, natural skin tones, and crisp suit details while improving overall sharpness and colour balance for a clean, modern finish”
   

5. Here’s the output:

   

   
   Not bad for a photo shoot that never took place and cost nothing

The applications for this are endless:

• You can create ads from photoshoots that never happened

• You can place your products in the hands of celebrities who have never heard of your product

• You can put your company on billboards that never existed

• Or win fake awards like I did recently

In an age where AI creative is impossible to distinguish from reality and fiction, the biggest limitation is your imagination.

My most recent LinkedIn post is a testament to this.

If anyone has developed a radar for parsing out AI creative from real creative, I’d love for you to reply to this one.

Happy marketing.

Feedback

From time to time, I reply to marketing emails.

Over the past 10 years, I've sent at least a hundred.

Usually it’s something simple: “hey, your font’s too small, I can't read your email.” Sometimes it’s a question about their campaign. Once I even wrote a complaint.

That complaint was to Sharesies about a $20 refer‑a‑friend program.

I didn’t like that they were giving people a financial incentive to gamble on their platform.

Guess how many times I’ve been responded to?

Once. Sharesies disagreed.

One brand I emailed three separate times about their tiny font. They never changed it.

It’s not that I expect a reply. But isn’t it interesting that I’m 1/1 for complaints and 0/150 for feedback?

My gym’s not much better.

We hardly ever reply to feedback we get. In years gone by I’ve even been offended by members’ feedback.

Luckily, I’m past that sort of behaviour now — as is my team — and we implement a lot of the suggestions we receive.

However, we rarely acknowledge people who give us feedback. And that’s a bit shit of us. Of me.

One of the few times we did acknowledge feedback was recently. We said, “hey thanks, but we don’t know how to do that.” 

A few conversations later, we were signing an agreement for them to come on board as our maintenance guy.

Since then, Daniel has fixed all the issues he raised and many more.

Maybe those brands I’ve emailed have taken on board some of my feedback.

Maybe they haven’t. I don’t know.

The business that sends out tiny font emails is still alive.

By the looks of their socials, they’re doing well. Same with our gym. So it’s not that these businesses - or ours - need the feedback.

But I can’t help wondering where we’d be if we took two minutes to acknowledge a few more people who pointed out our issues and tried to help.

Especially in these lean years, maybe that’s something more of us should be doing.