AI In Marketing: A Double-edged Sword

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to integrate into various sectors, its impact on marketing strategies is becoming increasingly significant. Industry leaders recently convened to discuss this transformative impact. The session, led by Pankaj Krishna, Founder of Chrome DM, began with an opening address stressing the importance of leveraging AI to streamline in our daily lives.

Unny Radhakrishnan, CEO of Digitas India responded by highlighting the dual approach his company adopts. "We always look at how AI can impact our work and how we work," he said. He pointed out that major brands like Google and Meta are already leveraging AI extensively. However, Radhakrishnan stressed the importance of human oversight, asserting that ‘a human check is crucial’.

The conversation then shifted to the level of AI penetration in businesses. Sameer Saxena, Director of Marketing at Group Legrand India shared a nuanced perspective. “Different businesses require different uses. We don't see AI as a massive business project; we focus on business clusters. Our success matrix depends on the maturity of our team, and AI is not very useful in marketing for us”, he noted.

Contrastingly, Somesh Surana, Head of Digital Business Group & Marketing at Hdfc Ergo General Insurance painted a different picture. “I work in two verticals in digital business and yes, we are heavily dependent on AI. Around 90 to 95 per cent of our digital campaigns are AI-driven and our engagement apps are managed by AI”, Surana explained.

Attention then turned to financial accountability and the effectiveness of AI in providing insights and data. Saxena candidly replied, “AI doesn't give us good insights, especially when it comes to launching new products. For instance, in our industry, AI cannot tell us which colour of switch to launch; only an electrician can provide the right idea and insight.”

On content creation and ideation through AI, Surana highlighted a key challenge stating, "While AI helps in answering customer queries related to claims, transparency and authenticity in content creation remain significant challenges." Surana added that the effectiveness of AI-generated content largely depends on its quality.  Adding to it, Radhakrishnan pointed out the copyright issues associated with AI-created content and remarked that such content often appears synthetic.

Concluding the panel discussion, Krishna emphasised on AI to be viewed not as a substitute but simply as a tool stating, “AI should not be seen as a replacement but merely a tool.”

Satyam Mishra

BW Reporters The author is a trainee correspondent with BW Businessworld