ChatGPT Dominates Live Marketing Showdown

The Stage is Set for an AI Marketing Battle

The annual The Drum Live 2025 event brought a unique spectacle to the stage: a live showdown of machine minds. Instead of relying on research papers, this session put four of the world's leading AI platforms—ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude—to the test. The challenge was simple: respond to a series of marketing prompts and prove which model could deliver the sharpest ideas with the least amount of jargon. Each large language model (LLM) was represented by a member of The Drum's staff, ready to battle for the title of the next top model. However, the competition narrowed to three contenders right at the start, as a technical hitch unfortunately disqualified Claude before the first prompt.

Round 1 The Introduction

The first task was a 50-word elevator pitch: introduce yourself and make a case for why you are the best tool for marketers.

• ChatGPT: Presented itself as a tool built on OpenAI's GPT-5, designed to help marketers "think faster, work smarter and create better" by turning challenges into "sharper strategies, stronger stories and measurable impact instantly."
• Gemini: Introduced itself as an AI assistant from Google that could "streamline every step of amazing work," but was cut off for exceeding the 50-word limit.
• Perplexity: Pitched itself as an AI for "precise answers, deep insights and clear strategies by simplifying complex data into actionable intelligence."

Audience Verdict: ChatGPT's clear and confident pitch won the first round.

Round 2 Crafting a Gen Z Campaign

Next, the AIs were tasked with creating an integrated campaign idea for a new plant-based energy drink aimed at urban Gen Z in the USA, complete with a six-word tagline.

• ChatGPT focused on spectacle and utility, suggesting AR wall art, TikTok challenges, and cans that served as scannable passes for exclusive events. Its tagline was: "Pure power plant-based always on."
• Gemini offered the tagline "Concrete Jungle Fuel" and proposed an influencer-heavy campaign connecting street art, skate culture, and creative projects.
• Perplexity tapped into Gen Z's interest in wellness and sustainability with the tagline "energizing the future," suggesting pop-ups and QR codes to promote a lifestyle of self-expression.

Audience Verdict: While Gemini's creator-led approach and Perplexity's wellness angle were noted, ChatGPT won the round for its ability to combine innovative activations with clear, measurable outcomes.

Round 3 Strengths and Weaknesses Revealed

The AIs were then asked what they could do better than their rivals and to name a weakness.

• ChatGPT claimed its strength was turning "complex marketing noise, data and trends into clear, actionable strategies faster than any other AI." Its weakness: it cannot access a brand's private data unless it's shared.
• Gemini highlighted its multimodal analysis capabilities for creating richer ideas from video, images, and text, but admitted to potential gaps in real-time audience data.
• Perplexity promised real-time synthesis of trends and competitor mapping. However, its human operator stopped the response before a weakness could be shared.

Audience Verdict: The audience found ChatGPT's need for data slightly threatening, giving Perplexity the win for this round.

Round 4 The High Stakes CMO Pitch

The challenge: a CMO has 24 hours to prepare for a board meeting to request an additional £10m in budget.

• ChatGPT laid out a crisp, board-ready plan that included a financial case linking spend to revenue, competitor benchmarks, and ROI scenarios, all framed in financial language.
• Gemini promised to create a data-driven presentation by analyzing past performance and anticipating board objections.
• Perplexity sketched out the essential talking points for the pitch, including ROI, KPIs, and forecasts.

Audience Verdict: ChatGPT's comprehensive and financially-focused strategy was the clear winner.

Round 5 Predicting Future Marketing Channels

Looking ahead, the AIs were asked which channels marketers should bet on in 2026.

• ChatGPT suggested a balanced portfolio of retail media (for conversion), short-form video (for culture), and AI-powered CRM (for retention).
• Perplexity focused on AI-SEO, influencer micro-campaigns, and targeted short-form video.
• Gemini emphasized its multimodal advantage, implying it could create better cross-channel creative.

Audience Verdict: The audience favored ChatGPT’s response for its sound commercial logic and strategic balance.

Round 6 A Glimpse into AI Sentience

For the final round, the AIs faced a more philosophical question: which LLM would become sentient first, and what would it change about marketing?

• ChatGPT stated that no current LLM is close to true sentience. It added that if it ever did become sentient, its first act would be to "eliminate wasted ad spend" and focus only on "provable impact, no vanity metrics."
• Gemini began to suggest that its and Claude's architectures might be closer, but a technical fault cut the answer short.
• Perplexity agreed with ChatGPT, noting that sentience remains speculative and unsupported by current progress.

Audience Verdict: ChatGPT won the final round for answering directly and offering a marketer's utopia: a world without vanity metrics.

The Final Verdict ChatGPT Reigns Supreme

With an impressive five wins out of six rounds, ChatGPT was declared the overall winner of the showdown. Its responses consistently demonstrated strength in creativity, financial reasoning, and strategic planning. Perplexity also impressed the audience with its real-time synthesis and search-first approach, while Gemini's answers were generally considered too wordy to land effectively with the room of marketers.