AI is already delivering real value for marketers; helping teams work more efficiently, personalise experiences at scale and drive stronger performance outcomes, but human creativity remains marketing’s most valuable asset.
That is according to the Value of AI report, published by the DMA, which draws on the DMA Effectiveness Databank, one of the UK’s largest collections of proven marketing effectiveness case studies. It analysed 1,950 DMA Award entries submitted between 2017 and 2025, including 81 campaigns that explicitly referenced the use of AI or machine learning.
Analysis revealed that while AI-powered campaigns generate 20% more direct response effects than the average campaign and are significantly more likely to deliver efficiency gains, they score 12% lower for creativity than campaigns overall. This is notable because the DMA’s 2024 Value of Creativity report found highly creative campaigns drive four times as many business effects as low creativity campaigns.
This paints a nuanced picture of AI’s growing role in marketing. While AI is proving highly effective at improving efficiency, increasing conversions and driving short-term performance, the data suggests that creativity remains an area where human expertise continues to play a critical role.
AI campaigns were found to be 40% more likely to report efficiency outcomes than the average campaign, with CPA reductions and conversion rate improvements significantly more likely to feature among their reported results. Yet despite rapid advances in generative AI, DMA Award judges scored AI-powered campaigns lower for creativity than the wider industry average.
The report also found that machine learning campaigns are particularly effective at driving response outcomes, generating 31% more response effects than the average campaign. Meanwhile, campaigns using generative AI perform broadly in line with the average campaign when it comes to brand and business effects.
DMA AI Council chair Kerry Harrison said: “The conversation around AI is often framed around replacement. Will it replace jobs? Will it replace agencies? Will it replace creativity? The most effective campaigns combine the strengths of both human creativity and technology. AI can analyse, optimise and accelerate, but it still takes human judgement, taste and wider cultural understanding to create ideas that properly resonate with people.”
The report suggests that as AI adoption accelerates across the industry, the role of marketers may evolve rather than diminish. Rather than replacing creative thinking, AI appears to be creating greater value when used to augment human expertise, freeing teams to focus on strategy, creativity and customer understanding.
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