Marketing AI revolution ‘still three to five years away’

Fresh doubts have emerged over the marketing industry’s ability to truly tap into the potential of generative AI, with a lack of role-specific training and high costs being among the hurdles standing in the way of progress.

The findings come from Kantar’s “GenAI for marketing: Fear or FOMO” report, an in-depth qualitative study based on interviews with more than 50 marketing and capability leaders around the world and seems to fly in the face of a recent study which claimed AI was booming in marketing, spearheaded by senior executives.

In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back, the Kantar study highlights the gap between the potential of GenAI to revolutionise the industry and current adoption among marketers.

Looking ahead to the next three to five years, the consensus among senior marketers and capability builders is that GenAI is going to be a game-changer, with interviewees rating its impact at 9 out of 10 on average.

But organisational readiness is lagging, with most respondents admitting they are not quite AI-ready (4.9 out of 10), though external partners like agencies and data providers are seen to be slightly ahead of the curve at 5.3/10.

This lack of readiness is holding back marketing’s GenAI revolution, with respondents believing the industry is still in the early stages, rating the current impact of the technology on the sector at 5.3 out of 10.

While some of the reluctance about AI stems from fears around the preservation of traditional marketing skills, Kantar found that marketing leaders understand that expert oversight will be essential, and that it will continue to be necessary for a human to be in the loop.

Additionally, without foundational marketing skills, marketers risk becoming overly reliant on GenAI, cutting corners and losing the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated content.

Speaking to Kantar, PepsiCo chief consumer insights and analytics officer Stephan Gans said: “People also feared that the accounting business would soon become obsolete when Microsoft launched Excel. Instead, we have more accounting firms than ever.”

The study outlines four ways that GenAI is set to transform marketing:

Strategic advancement: building long-term brand strategies and challenging, validating and finetuning marketing outputs. For example, Group Bel developed its own internal GenAI tool, BelGPT. Among other functionalities, it connects market share, channel-based sales, and competitive data to see where the biggest growth opportunities for the portfolio sit, using AI as decision aid.

Operational efficiency: using GenAI for day-to-day execution, streamlining tasks and automating processes like data management, tracking and workflow automation. When Reckitt analysed how its marketers were spending their time, it revealed where GenAI could be most impactful. They helped marketers automate some of their most time-consuming tasks and focus on what really mattered.

Brand elevation: empowering long-term brand planning and innovation, using GenAI to help align marketing with overarching business goals, guide teams and influence trend forecasting. For example, Coca-Cola asked fans around the world what the year 3000 would taste like and combined this with insights from GenAI to co-develop a new limited-edition flavour, Y-3000.

Automated marketing: engaging consumers in real time with tailored content. GenAI can help marketers with tasks including automating media buying or personalising messaging for different channels, devices and languages. For example, AIA, one of Asia’s leading insurance companies, created AI Sonny, an AI version of footballer and brand ambassador Son Heung-min who appears in videos to welcome and onboard new customers in a more personal way.

The report cites health and pharmaceutical company Schwabe Group as an example of how end-to-end integration of GenAI enables businesses to capitalise on these opportunities.

Schwabe director of global digital marketing, global brand and health interest strategy Alexander Reisenauer explained: “GenAI helps us to solve complex challenges and work more efficiently across our business.

“By implementing AI initiatives in departments like R&D, we are able to accelerate processes while ensuring we meet high scientific standards. Nevertheless, it’s important to say that humans remain at the centre of what we do. AI supports us in focusing on what truly matters – developing innovative solutions to improve health.”

The benefits of successfully adopting GenAI tools include reducing the product development cycle to as little as six weeks and creating world-class creative concepts in 60% less time – underscoring the need for marketing leaders to act fast.

Kantar’s study sets out how leaders can take their teams on the journey from fear to enthusiasm, with a roadmap setting out an approach for strategy, ways of working, training and leadership in the short, medium and long term.

Kantar consulting senior director Thomas von der Fuhr said: “The overwhelming consensus among senior marketers is that GenAI is going to revolutionise the industry. But the reality today is that many companies don’t feel ready yet.

“We see leading organisations are making the shift from using GenAI predominantly for efficiency reasons to now also drive effectiveness. Implementation isn’t straightforward: ethical use, training and data quality all need to be addressed.

“Those that get it right will succeed by building excitement and understanding around GenAI among everyone in their business: explaining what the tools can and cannot do, and how they can help them achieve more with greater efficiency, speed, and effectiveness.”

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