AI Can Help Marketers But Basics Still Matter
The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) in creativity and marketing is not new. However, the intense growth pace of applications such as ChatGPT has drawn the spotlight to generative AI and the role it is playing for marketers in a significant way.
Even as technology leaders the world over have expressed various concerns around AI, it is evident that, for now, AI is here to stay. The best way forward is to understand how to approach it and articulate ways to self-regulate.
Focus On Basics
In a discussion at the Equity Lounge on the first day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, marketing leaders from different sectors pointed out that irrespective of the breakthroughs in technology, the fundamentals of marketing do not change.
“It is still about understanding your brand, the communities you want to connect with and the culture you want the brand to represent,” states Sophie Kelly, SVP, Whiskies, North America, Diageo. Kelly explains that marketing is about ideas. “In a reality where we are subjected to many automated outputs, the craft will be a great differentiator. This age of AI is just more disruptor in tech that we need to work with,” she says.
Input Is Equal To Output
AI is a change that can benefit marketers but there are aspects to pay attention to. The primary one in this is the starting point or the input data that becomes the foundation of the output.
“Just like a campaign, where if you feed garbage in, it would give garbage out, we need seasoned professionals in AI as well who are clear with the brief and then see the output critically,” comments Avery Akkineni, President, Vayner3.
Akkineni points out that the current AI concerns are much broader than marketing. “In marketing, AI use cases are clear and defined. While there is power in changing the world with marketing and advertising, as an industry we have been exposed to and used different versions of AI and have known its power for a long time,” she adds.
Finding The Balance
A technological change is often followed by both an extreme sense of fear and a very positive counterbalance. The hard work will come in finding the balance between the two and mitigating risks, according to Solange Claudio, President, Formerly Known As.
“Content authenticity, for example, is an area where we have to be involved in to see what the tech is learning and whether it is relevant,” she says.
The biggest change in AI right now is its ability to generate content versus earlier when it had more functional use.
Shirli Zelcer, Global Head, Analytics & Technology, Merkle says that the responsibility is on the industry as users to regulate itself. She says, “It is critical for us as marketers that we look at all the data to decide what we want to use and what not. There are ways to constantly check for biases and we should do that.”
Most creative leaders assert that there are many opportunities in the space to create great work, if marketers lean in and work with the creators working with the tech.
