Case Study — Naming Strategy

Naming Meta's First GenAI Ad Creative Tools

Role

Content Design Lead

Skills

Naming strategy · Localization · Executive influence

Context

By the time I joined the project, the names for Meta's first generative AI ad creative tools — 'Image Outcropping' and 'Text Variation' — had already been finalized and publicly previewed through the AI Sandbox. Reviewing the experience, I found the names technical, hard to localize, and inconsistent with a high-quality customer experience.

The three shipped generative AI ad creative features shown with their final plain-language names: Image expansion, Background generation, and Text variations — The shipped features carrying the final plain-language names: Image expansion, Background generation, and Text variations.

Approach

I built an evidence-based recommendation using AI Sandbox customer research, localization assessments across more than a dozen major languages, Meta's content design principles, and my own analysis of clarity and consistency. I presented the findings to director-level leadership and kept advocating for the change despite timeline pressure and a competitor already using similar terminology.

Key insight

A name that's already been publicly previewed isn't a name that's already right. Reversing a public decision this late meant the bar for evidence was higher, not lower — the recommendation had to hold up against real localization data and research, not just a preference for plainer language.

Key decisions

Recommended 'Image outcropping' → 'Image expansion' — better describes the customer outcome and localizes more naturally.
Recommended 'Text variation' → 'Text generation' — clearly communicates the AI capability and creates consistency with 'Background generation.'
Backed the recommendation with localization assessments across 12+ major languages, since roughly half of Meta's global community is outside English.
Continued advocating despite the launch timeline and a competitor already using similar terminology to the original names.

Who I influenced

Director-level leadership

Presented an evidence-based case for reversing already-public naming decisions, and won approval to change them before launch.

Outcome

Leadership approved the new names before launch.
The new names appeared in product and in marketing materials, including the AdWeek launch.
Established a naming framework that influenced future generative AI capabilities in Ads Manager.