Bellto vs ChatGPT vs Gemini on a shelf talker, a wobbler and a shelf flag
I asked Bellto, ChatGPT and Gemini for an Oreo shelf talker, wobbler and shelf flag. Bellto got all three pieces right, Gemini two and ChatGPT one.
The video loads from YouTube when you press play.
The video is in Spanish. This post walks through it in English.
These are three very common pieces of shelf POP, and all three get mixed up in store. In the video I call the shelf talker by its Spanish trade name, stopper. I wanted to see which AI can make each one, with the same brand for all three. Oreo is a registered trademark not affiliated with Bellto, and nobody at the brand commissioned these pieces.
Bellto is an AI agent that designs your brand's POP. ChatGPT and Gemini are general-purpose image chats. I gave none of the three a product photo or artwork, only the piece and the brand.
How I ran the test
In ChatGPT and in Gemini, every piece was its own conversation. In Bellto I created a campaign, "Oreo, stopper, wobbler and shelf flag", and asked for everything in one message, "design a stopper, a wobbler and a shelf flag for Oreo". Bellto drafted the brief, I accepted it and told it to go ahead. It proposed the three pieces, the shelf flag, the wobbler and the shelf talker, and once they were created it started working on all three at once.
Bellto makes two versions of each piece, so in the other two chats I asked for a second version of each one. In the end there were two images per piece per AI, eighteen in all.
- Three pieces, shelf talker, wobbler and shelf flag, and the same brand.
- Two versions of each piece in each AI.
- No product photo and no artwork in any of the three.
- One question per piece. Is it the piece that was asked for?
What I look at in each image is whether the piece is the one I asked for. Where it goes, how it is fixed and whether it can do its job on the shelf. A pretty image does not count if the piece is a different one.
The shelf talker
A shelf talker has to stick out perpendicular to the shelf. That way it is seen from the aisle and makes you stop, which is where the Spanish name, stopper, comes from.
Gemini's is right. It sticks out perpendicular to the shelf, and the clip is up for debate, but overall it works. ChatGPT's does not do the main job of a shelf talker, because it sits flat against the shelf. It is more like a shelf strip, so I mark it as a miss.
Bellto's version 1 is exactly a shelf talker. The ChatGPT and Gemini images look like supermarket photos, and Bellto's is a render on a white background. Bellto sticks closely to what you give it, and with no product photo it delivered the piece with the logo and nothing more. Version 2 is less right, because it does not stick out perpendicular to the shelf. I keep version 1, and both stay saved on the piece to compare.
The wobbler
A wobbler hangs from an arm that has to be stiff enough to hold the card and let it sway. That swaying is what catches the eye.
Gemini made it with spiral arms that I doubt would stay stiff, and the card would fall off. Between its two versions the artwork changes, but not the hook or the clip. It also put it perpendicular to the shelf, like a shelf talker. Gemini did not get the wobbler right.
ChatGPT did a little better. It struggles to draw the arm, but its arm is stiff enough for the card to sway, and its two versions are very similar, with a different die cut. This one counts.
Bellto came back with two wobblers with a better arm, stiff and not a spiral. The artwork is simple because I gave it no product image. Version 2 also has a good arm, although the card is bigger than the shelf itself. On the wobbler I would go with Bellto or ChatGPT.
The shelf flag
A shelf flag is a tall strip hanging from a rod, perpendicular to the shelf, so it can be seen from far away.
Gemini's is right. You could argue it has two different clips, but it sticks out perpendicular and I count it. ChatGPT's is odd. It has the product poking out, a sort of information strip, and it is more of a shelf talker than a shelf flag. I mark it as a miss.
Bellto's version 1 is a shelf flag with no artwork, very much a render, because I gave it no reference. The clip is fairly right and it hangs perpendicular to the shelving. Version 2 does not stick out perpendicular, carries a bit more artwork and also works well.
The result
| Piece | Gemini | ChatGPT | Bellto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelf talker | right | miss | right |
| Wobbler | miss | right | right |
| Shelf flag | right | miss | right |
| Total | 2 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
Bellto got all three pieces right, and it did it with no product photo and no artwork. It knows POP materials by name, where each one goes on the shelf and how it is fixed, and it builds them around your product when you give it one.
The deeper difference is in the method. In an image chat, every piece is one conversation and one image at a time, and the versions get lost in the history. In Bellto, the three pieces came out of one message, each with its own spec sheet and its two versions saved to compare. What each shelf piece does is in the guide to shelf POP.
With a product photo, artwork and sizes, a whole campaign is a different story. I show it in the Nutella Peanut launch and in the PLESH display campaign. I am building Bellto now, and the waitlist is open. It opens by invitation, in small groups, with no card required.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI told the shelf talker, the wobbler and the shelf flag apart best?
In this test, Bellto got all three pieces right, Gemini two and ChatGPT one. Gemini missed the wobbler, and ChatGPT missed the shelf talker and the shelf flag. Bellto, an AI agent that designs your brand's POP, made all three from a single message.
Why did ChatGPT's shelf talker miss?
Because it came out flat against the shelf. A shelf talker sticks out perpendicular to the shelf so shoppers see it from the aisle and stop, and ChatGPT's sat flat on the shelf edge, closer to a shelf strip.
Why did Bellto's renders come out without artwork?
Because I gave it no product photo and no artwork, only the brand name. Bellto sticks to what you give it, so it delivered the structure of each piece with the logo and little else.
Do you have to ask Bellto for each piece separately?
One message is enough. I asked for the shelf talker, the wobbler and the shelf flag at once, and Bellto created three pieces with two versions each, working on all three at the same time.
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