How X5 Tech Doubled the Speed of Visual Production with Phygital+ and Built a Content Factory Based on Neural Networks.
Faster creation of creative assets
Personalized promotional content at Pyaterochka is created using AI
Content for social media and messaging apps at “Chizhik” is created using AI
fewer requests to stock photo sites
The X5 Tech team supports the X5 Group’s retail chains and produces a large volume of visual content every week—ranging from banners and icons to short videos for in-store screens, catalogs, and training materials. Previously, designers spent hours searching for stock footage and manually adapting clips. At the same time, traditional video production was hampered by the need for actors, retakes, props, specialized experts, and tight deadlines. We needed to speed up content production while maintaining a consistent brand style, and avoid outsourcing every video to an external production team.
— Mike Suvorov, Technical Manager for Artificial Intelligence Products, X5 Tech
When using various AI tools, the team encountered challenges related to controlling the output, maintaining a consistent style, and the inability to integrate the AI services with one another.
The diversity of the target audience for the “Pyaterochka” retail chain made it necessary to quickly create a large number of creative assets and implement strategies to combat “banner blindness.”
Designers spend a great deal of time searching for the right visual element, which may not fit the company’s communication style.
To shoot a video, you need actors, takes, props, and sometimes a food stylist and food photographer—plus editing and tight deadlines. Filming in a store often requires closing it down. It’s impractical to maintain an in-house production team for every project, but content is needed constantly: at self-checkout counters, in coffee areas, in catalogs, and for employee training.
Following the integration of Phygital+, X5 Tech brought designers and marketers together on a single AI platform.
Using Flux, ControlNet, LoRA, and Style Transfer, the team built flexible generation pipelines for various brands.
For new projects, Phygital+ serves as the main sandbox: first, they put together a workflow and verify that the use case is solvable, then scale it across the network. The same workflow is used to create a short video without having to jump between disparate services.
— Mike Suvorov, Technical Manager for Artificial Intelligence Products, X5 Tech
Phygital+ enabled X5 Tech to integrate AI into the work of the group’s retail chain designers: The time required for complex cases has been cut in half, processes have been standardized, and alongside static content, the scope of short AI videos has expanded—from sandbox experiments to scaling across retail chains.
— Mike Suvorov, Technical Manager for Artificial Intelligence Products, X5 Tech
Phygital+ helps teams like X5 Tech accelerate the creative process, reduce routine tasks, and maintain their brand identity across all platforms.
