How does a Grammy-nominated recording artist and multi-platinum music producer find themselves running a technology company? Founder and CEO at SuperPhone – Ryan Leslie’s journey started as a producer for Madonna, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Beyoncé. As an avid technologist who taught himself to code, he was looking to build more authentic relationships with his followers. 

SuperPhone is an intelligent mobile messaging platform that helps enterprise retail brands acquire, and engage with mobile customers. It has raised a total of $8.3 million in funding over 8 rounds.  

Martechvibe spoke to Leslie about what brands can do to build authentic relationships with young consumers, how to use technology to get global brands local relevance, and deliver personalization through SMS.

Excerpts from the interview:

How do you see the relationship between artists and fans changing in the future?

In recent years, the relationship between artists and fans has experienced significant evolution, driven by technological advancements and changing consumer behavior. Looking ahead, I anticipate further transformations in this relationship. 

Personalization will reach new heights as artists utilize advanced tools like SuperPhone’s intelligent texting platform to engage fans on an individualized level, delivering personalized messages and tailored experiences. Fan participation will soar as interactive experiences allow fans to actively contribute and collaborate with artists, fostering a sense of co-creation. Direct and authentic communication will strengthen the bond between artists and fans, while virtual and immersive experiences, facilitated by VR and AR technologies, will transcend physical barriers. Data-driven insights will empower artists to make informed decisions, connect with their fan base more effectively, and create memorable experiences. The future holds immense potential for artists to forge deeper connections with their fans and cultivate a vibrant and engaged community.

What do brands primarily get wrong when reaching out to Gen Z customers? What advice would you give them?

When brands reach out to Gen Z customers, they often miss the mark by not truly understanding their unique characteristics and preferences. One common mistake is trying too hard to be ‘cool’ without genuine authenticity. Brands should approach Gen Z with respect and a willingness to listen. 

Another misstep is underestimating their desire for social responsibility and authenticity. Gen Z values brands that align with their values and make a positive impact. 

Additionally, brands shouldn’t overlook the power of digital platforms and influencer marketing, as Gen Z is highly connected online. Lastly, brands should consider personalized engagement over traditional interruptive advertising. Leveraging SMS marketing, like SuperPhone, allows brands to have one-on-one conversations and deliver personalized content. 

To succeed with Gen Z, embrace authenticity, social responsibility, digital channels, and personalized connections that foster trust and shared values.

How does text messaging typically fit into the larger marketing media plan? What advice would you like to share here?

Text messaging is a crucial component of the larger marketing media plan, allowing brands to establish direct and meaningful connections with customers. It serves as a personal and immediate channel to deliver targeted messages, exclusive promotions, and time-sensitive information. As part of an integrated marketing strategy, text messaging enhances customer communication, drives engagement, and boosts conversions. 

My advice is to focus on delivering value and relevance through personalized messages, respecting customers’ privacy and preferences. Incorporate cross-channel engagement by including links to websites, social media, and mobile apps. Timing is key, so be mindful of when messages are sent. Leverage automation and scheduling features to optimize delivery. Lastly, track and analyze campaign performance to refine your strategy and achieve marketing success.

What makes SMS reliable and cost-effective for marketers?

SMS is an incredibly reliable and cost-effective tool for marketers, and here’s why. 

Firstly, it boasts an exceptional open rate, ensuring that messages are read promptly. This reliability allows marketers to effectively connect with their target audience. SMS is permission-based, meaning recipients actively opt in to receive messages, resulting in higher engagement rates and a more receptive audience. 

It’s also a cost-effective solution, with low per-message costs and the ability to reach a large audience. SMS offers personalization options, allowing marketers to deliver targeted and relevant messages. 

Furthermore, it provides instant and direct communication with customers, enabling timely responses and actions. In short, SMS delivers reliability, cost-effectiveness, personalization, and immediate impact for marketers looking to connect with their audience in a meaningful way.

What kind of insights can brands hope to gain by analyzing voice traffic?

Analyzing voice traffic offers brands a treasure trove of insights into their customers. By diving into the data, brands can uncover valuable information on customer preferences, sentiments, and behaviors. This includes identifying frequently asked questions or concerns, allowing brands to be proactive in addressing them. 

Moreover, voice analytics provide a glimpse into customer satisfaction levels, helping brands make improvements to their products, services, and overall experience. It also offers demographic data, empowering brands to understand their target audience better and customize their strategies accordingly. By embracing voice analytics, brands can make informed decisions, deepen customer engagement, and build stronger connections with their audience.

How can multinational retailers use SuperPhone to stay relevant locally?

Multinational retailers can utilize SuperPhone to maintain local relevance in an impactful way. With SuperPhone’s intelligent texting platform, retailers can establish a genuine connection with customers on a personal level. By leveraging its advanced features like tagging, segmentation, and targeting, retailers can tailor their messaging to cater to local preferences and cultural nuances. 

SuperPhone’s seamless integration with Shopify and other apps ensures that customer data is unified and up-to-date, enabling retailers to deliver targeted promotions and personalized recommendations specific to each local market. By utilizing SuperPhone’s capabilities, multinational retailers can create authentic and personalized experiences that resonate with local customers, ultimately fostering loyalty and staying relevant on a local level.

The post SuperPhone’s CEO Ryan Leslie on Winning Gen Z Customers appeared first on The Mighty Keypad.

By 2025, more than 25% of Americans will watch live sports digitally. While broadcast and cable networks have dominated the sports viewership market, there will soon be a new normal. In an interview with Rick Allen, CEO of ViewLift, we spoke about the industry’s areas of disruption and growth, including the broadcasting and cable influence, private-equity deals, new revenue streams for content owners, and the impact on the fan experience.

Allen has over 30 years of experience in the sports, digital and media industry, having led some of the biggest media companies, including leadership roles at Sporting News and National Geographic Ventures, with responsibility for ten business units, including TV/Film and Digital; and as an SVP at Discovery. He also served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President Bill Clinton. In 2008, along with tech pioneer and sports team owner Ted Leonsis, Allen created ViewLift. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about your journey from traditional media to the digital world.

I have always been involved with digital media, even when running traditional media companies. At Discovery Communications, I was involved in restructuring their digital group and worked on new asset acquisitions. When I was CEO of National Geographic Ventures, digital was a huge part of the ten operating groups that reported to me – vital in our strategy for what later became the National Geographic Channel. All of that was reported to me and then ViewLift, which began 14 years ago as SnagFilms, started as a digital-forward company from the beginning. So, even throughout that kind of traditional company experience – we always had a strong digital presence. With ViewLift, it’s exclusively focused on digital.

The era of broadcast and cable dominance of sports distribution is ending. What’s the new normal?

I think the new normal is all of the above. For content owners, there is a desire and necessity to distribute wherever your audience is. This means traditional linear distribution when you can get it, and in those markets where you can get it digital and over the top, distribution – wherever that makes the greatest sense frequently in the same markets, because it may be that you are linear.

Let’s say you are a sports league, you have linear carriage from only a portion of your games. The digital and an OTT space might be the only way you can offer a full package of your games. In certain markets, you do not have the opportunity to get a linear carriage. So, I think distribution mechanisms that are broad.

How has the sports fan experience changed?

There are probably six big changes. 

First is the growth in new sports and new leagues. Even in a traditional sport, like American football, with the development of new leagues, a whole series of new leagues develop new sports. From the fans’ perspective, these are more choices and more opportunities to engage. 

Two, the pandemic had an enormous impact on the sports world. For nearly two years, they couldn’t watch in-person most of their favorite sports experiences because it was unsafe from a health perspective. So, this season was a tremendous opportunity for sports fans to be able to attend live games. The experience of watching with a crowd is just better, even if you are viewing it from home. Players greatly prefer that kind of experience too. 

Three, tremendous growth in over-the-top (OTT) has kicked off, expanding where sports fans can watch their favorite sports. 

Fourth, social media changed the nature of how highlights are produced and distributed. You didn’t see fan highlights at major sports league games four years ago. The technology wasn’t quite there yet. Leagues were cautious about allowing folks to use their intellectual property and putting it out without league control. I think that’s changed. Now, the expectation is that individual fans will post their own highlights from their seats in the stadium based on what they want to share socially.

The last, NFTs have had a major impact on sports fans for their experience. That is particularly true where the NFT combines digital and virtual offerings, say a highlight which is protected by the blockchain. Therefore is a limited edition to the virtual or digital elements of an NFT. But you see, from monumental sports and entertainment. For example, here in Washington, DC, where I am — they combine those sorts of digital offerings in an NFT, which could include merchandise. So, there might be a special edition of a team jersey. Maybe, it’ll include tickets to actual games to add a tangible, real-life elements. Packaging and the whole notion of expanding the fan experience have seen a big change over the last couple of years. 

What are the opportunities for marketers in the OTT industry?

Over-the-top describes a delivery mechanism. Cable was a delivery mechanism, you delivered content over cable, literally satellite. Similarly, over-the-top means it’s an internet protocol, streamed content is delivered to devices, which are set up to receive that. This is interesting because of the direct-to-consumer part of OTT, where a content owner doesn’t go through a cable operator or another intermediary to stream its content. It goes directly to the sports fan or the consumer. I think most folks, when they think of OTT streaming services, think of Netflix. And Netflix, of course, goes directly to consumers.  

It’s clearest if you focus on that. Now think about how and why marketers are essential in the direct-to-consumer piece. The business depends on the efficacy of customer acquisition, where are you getting your subscribers or viewers from. It’s the same thing with engagement, that’s a marketing question. What about monetization, what are the tools? How do you get your content in front of the biggest audience, what’s the relevant data? You need to be able to evaluate which acquisition channel is the most productive for you. That makes the job for marketers tougher, but it’s also more rewarding because they’re now in the OTT space because of the data available to owners through that distribution mechanism. They’re able to track everything in real-time about customer acquisition. That opens up an enormous set of opportunities for marketers who engage in the OTT industry.

How do you see the role of the creator economy going ahead?

I think the premise of the web at the very beginning was in part, that it would provide a kind of democratization of content that more people would be able to create and more people would be able to consume. Those creators can go directly to their fans and to consumers. The whole process is just continuing to accelerate. I would’ve said that the creator economy was a little disconnected from the big types of OTT content, sports and entertainment because those enterprises are huge. You can have the creator economy, but no individual creator is going to be able to create the NFL or the premier league. 

The creator economy has impacted the experience of the fan and the rights of the big leagues. We talked about highlights on social media. Even big businesses have been spawned from the kind of a creator economy perspective. Kylie Jenner created this enormous cosmetics and beauty business, which Coty bought for hundreds of millions of dollars. There was a story in our local paper in the Washington Post that the great director Francis Ford Coppola had something called decentralized pictures, which is trying to democratize the film financing process by tying it to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. 

I went to the Kennedy Center to see a one-night show. Kennedy Center is one of the greatest venues in America. It was a one-night musical theater spawned out of the very popular Bridgerton television series. It started in essence as fan fiction, two extraordinary young women started to write songs based on the inspiration of Bridgerton series. They put it up on TikTok and YouTube initially. Later on, it became so much of a phenomenon that they wrote a full album of songs for a musical that won the Grammy, which is just mind-blowing, and they put it on backed by the National Symphony Orchestra. This whole concept just didn’t exist a few years ago.

There are all of these inroads where individual creators are wedging their way into the process. I think that’s tremendously exciting. 

What are the industry challenges you are currently dealing with, and how?

We are on the cutting edge. By definition, technology is changing every second, all around us. I think consumer expectations are also constantly ramping up. If a consumer gets an experience that may have cost Netflix billions of dollars to develop, that in their mind becomes the example of a high-quality premium experience. And they expect it everywhere. So people will say if Netflix can do this, why is my son’s school website so inadequate? Comparing those two things is unfair, but that’s how consumers think about it. So, that’s an industry challenge. 

I think legal frameworks are changing all the time — this is particularly true in privacy rules and regulations. The whole content industry will turn upside down if privacy laws prohibit cookies. Which is the way that much of the free-to-view experiences are ad-based to make economic sense through the ability to track viewer behavior.

That’s going to disappear. Over time because of privacy rules and regulations, advertisers will need to shift their position to make sense which will lead to a huge industry change. By definition, over-the-top means you must deliver on a whole panoply of devices. You have a whole number of mobile device manufacturers, iOS and Android being the biggest. You have a series of other providers like Roku – who have grown up in the OTT age. You have game consoles and all of these different device platforms. 

For a content owner and its technology partner, like a ViewLift, you must provide that content across all those major devices. Now, those devices don’t have common standards. Those devices change the rules all the time, often without much notice. And so, it is a tremendous industry challenge to track all of that and provide a great experience to consumers whenever they want to watch something on whatever device they wish to watch it, and then provide the data that comes out of that engagement back to the content owner. That’s a huge part of what we at ViewLift do. And it’s very hard.  

Do you think there is a saturation point with subscription services? How do brands continue to engage with fans?

I do not think there is a fixed number of subscriptions any individual household will insist on — its like any other choice and expense. If it’s worthwhile to you, you will spend on it. We have seen in terms of the number of subscriptions per household on average, it ticks up every single year.

We certainly haven’t reached the saturation point yet. I don’t think it is an arithmetic thing. You have to prove value. Then in a time when personal finances are stretched more than ever, and we’re facing that all over the world, you have to step up to make that value equation work. You have to show folks that it’s worth it to pay you for that subs.

The key to all of this is engagement, making it worthwhile for the subscriber to continue to engage and give value to their subscription. That engagement turns on personalization. When I am coming to consume your content on the device of my choice, are you giving me as close to exactly what I had in mind? You can, and that personalization comes from data from the behavior of viewers like me. So data is the key to really all of the value propositions for any streaming business, whether it’s ad-supported, subscription-based pay-per-view, or any hybrid, of business models. 

One piece of advice for our readers.

Our businesses are only as good as the experience we provide for our partners, for our consumers and for our colleagues. If we are kind to every part of that ecosystem, if we serve them well, then we will deserve to be successful.

The post Marketers Who Engage in the OTT Industry Have Tremendous Opportunities appeared first on The Mighty Keypad.

In the contact center industry, there has never been a more critical period of development. Significant changes have occurred due to the proliferation of the internet and smartphones. 

Additionally, emerging technologies such as machine learning, AI, and video capabilities are reshaping the landscape. It is imperative for professionals to engage in continuous learning and actively immerse themselves in this field to adapt to these transformative advancements.

Martech View spoke exclusively to Cleveland, a global customer strategy and management expert and a sought-after consultant and speaker. According to him, it is imperative to choose the right channel for the right purpose while engaging with customers.

Excerpts from the interview:

What challenges do you foresee while enterprises secure seamless customer experience in a post-pandemic world?

The first is essential resource management, and this has been a challenge for many years at the primary level, but with the pandemic and supply chain issues across the world, the context is becoming more complex. Getting the right resources, staff, suitable systems, and tools to handle that workload. 

Another challenge is hiring and keeping the right people at work. We need a team that is engaged and switched on. We need our employees to stay with us and to get experience. Further, omnichannel continues to be challenging for many organizations—true omnichannel is where there is a seamless experience for customers. We will see these challenges attract attention in the coming months, and the best organizations will use them to their advantage to lead and make a difference. 

How are contact center tech stacks transforming? What’s at the core of this evolution?

We see three huge needs;

Strategic Value of Service

It is vital to understand what customer service is telling us about products and services and why customers are having issues in the first place. How can that help us improve our products and services? The tech stack is becoming more helpful in identifying that work. What is driving it and allowing us to use the analysis across the organization to improve products and services?

Contact Centres Becoming R&D Arms

We are becoming a research and development arm—that is very exciting. A second thing we see in the tech stack is stability, scalability, and flexibility—a good thing to add. The cloud is becoming more prevalent in many organizations. More than just the cloud is involved; it is down to the specific capabilities. How scalable and flexible are they?

Tech Stability

Another thing driving the tech stack is usability—how easy is the technology to understand and use? A system might have excellent capabilities but may not be easy for newcomers or those across the organization to use. We see more emphasis on usability and ease of use, learning and getting up to speed.

How do you suggest companies tackle contact center challenges and evaluate their ROI?

There are three levels of value to consider when looking at return on investment. One is that service can be efficient; we want to mitigate work that should not happen in the first place. 

We want to do a great job without work that does happen, so we are creating customer loyalty—that’s the second.

And the third level is strategic, where we learn from that work. How do we improve products, services, and processes across the board? This is the work that happens outside the contact center. 

So, ROI needs to look at all three levels. We want to be efficient, but not at the expense of the higher levels of value. We want the service to be strategic. 

How do you see customer behavior changing?

Many customers are pressured for time handling their personal tasks and professional work worlds; we should do anything we can do to make things simple and easy for them. We should keep them engaged by simplifying products and services.  That will be a real win for organizations focusing on simplification—putting themselves in their customers’ shoes. Customers want the right channel for the right purpose. If organizations need to reach out to their customers, make it seamless and easy.  Going ahead, organizations need to focus on the right channel for the right purpose, they have to choose their channel wisely if they want to reach out to their customers, be it through text notifications, chat, or deciding to use video for face-to-face communication. 

In the next few years, omnichannel will continue to take hold. Then, we want to understand that customers reward us when we have their back and when they most need us.

So when they need help, are we there with the right support? Customers have a very long memory, which will continue to be essential. Those expectations are not exactly new; they are evolving very quickly in terms of the degree to which they want simplicity, ease, and the right channel and things to work together seamlessly.

What must-have solutions will companies need to invest in?

Two angles are super important. What is the customer workload? 

We need technologies that help us understand what that workload is, when it happens, and what it takes to handle it; what channel is best for it, and what are we learning from it to prevent that work in the future through better products and services? That is a significant area of investment. 

The other is on the agent side. It’s true that agent experience drives customer experience. We need our agents to have a great experience and to be an inherent part of the organization—our focus on customer experience. So interacting with agents,  getting their input on innovation, helping them help us shape systems, having them help us shape policies is important.  Ensuring that frontline teams are in an environment where things make sense to them, where the systems are supporting them is essential.

AI is great, but AI is not artificial wisdom. It’s artificial intelligence. So we need agents to have the wisdom, AI tools, and other capabilities to support that process. 

I have never seen a more critical development time in contact centers. We have seen much change with the internet and smartphones, and now new capabilities like machine learning, AI, and video are coming along. So roll your sleeves up, jump into this profession, and learn every day.

What drives technology in CX?

Our customer access strategy is at the core of development that drives and shapes technology. Many organizations are not as thoughtful of a customer access strategy as they need to be. So if you put time into that, it will pay many dividends, and that will help drive you to the right path and focus on the right technologies. Your customer access strategy will depend on what brand you want to represent, what channels you roll out, and how you serve different customers best with different needs. So there is no one overall answer—focus on the customer access strategy, which will guide you on where some of these new capabilities will be most effective.

The post Customer Access Strategy is The Core That Shapes Technology appeared first on The Mighty Keypad.

When you fix an issue brought up by a customer’s feedback, do you also measure the business metrics associated with this workflow? It’s important. Here’s why: After resolving the issue, you can examine the before-and-after metrics on both fronts – customer and business KPIs – to demonstrate impact.

According to Debbie Braney, VP of Marketing at Glassbox, to effectively measure the impact of customer experience (CX) initiatives, it is essential to have a comprehensive grasp of the business workflows, specifically the critical moments that significantly influence both KPIs.

Branley also talks about demystifying customer feedback and specific CX goals that BFSI marketers should set.

“Being able to connect feedback to that customer’s real experience and quickly understand the scale of a CX issue are the two keys to cracking the code on customer feedback and making it invaluable to businesses.”

Excerpts from the interview:

How can content and intent planning boost demand generation?

Generating inbound demand is one of the most scalable and cost-effective strategies any organization can deploy, and content is at its core.

A strong content strategy is built on intent signals, often in the form of search terms and volumes. When you understand WHAT people are searching for, you can easily define content topics to attract organic visitors. When you layer in HOW OFTEN people seek that information, you can then prioritize the content to be created. Additionally, intent signals based on external content consumption help you understand which terms or topics will likely attract an audience and convert customers.

What is the main challenge with demystifying customer feedback?

Customer feedback is essential for businesses looking to meet or exceed customer expectations in a competitive environment. But unfortunately, the sentiments delivered through traditional customer feedback mechanisms (like surveys, reviews or NPS/CSAT ratings) are rarely actionable for businesses.

For example, imagine seeing this review: “1 star – I spent 20 minutes trying to make a deposit, and it never worked. I’m done with Bank of XYZ.” What’s valuable is understanding the impact this issue has on a customer. However, what can the bank do about it? They don’t know who had this problem, what they actually experienced, whether it was an app or a connectivity problem – and most importantly, how many customers experienced the same problem.

Connecting feedback to that customer’s real experience and quickly understanding the scale of a CX issue are the two keys to cracking the code on customer feedback and making it invaluable to businesses.

What are some specific CX goals that BFSI marketers should set?

Any team’s goals should be aligned with the organization’s primary objectives and expectations of marketing, which vary. That said, most marketing organizations are focused on customer acquisition or retention – or sometimes a combination of both. Metrics that tend to indicate both strong marketing performance and strong customer experience include:

Conversion rates – When an experience is easy and clear for the customer, they’re more likely to complete it, so in many scenarios, conversion rates are also an indicator of good CX.

Customer tenure – Happy customers stay. It’s that simple.

Customer satisfaction over time – Customer satisfaction ratings such as NPS, CSAT or ratings on review sites reflect a customer’s sentiment over their accumulated experience with your brand. So this can be an important way to understand the strength of your lifecycle marketing or engagement efforts.

How can marketers measure the impact of CX initiatives – towards revenue or brand building?

The key to measuring the impact of CX initiatives is clearly understanding the business workflows – the moments that matter – with both the customer and business KPIs that are impacted by those workflows.

For example, if customer survey feedback tells me customers struggle to complete the online loan application process, I need to do two things. First, I need to diagnose and fix the issue with the loan application workflow. But I also want to measure the business metrics associated with this workflow. Once I’ve completed the fix, I can examine the before-and-after metrics on both fronts to demonstrate impact.

What advice would you give marketing teams to use real-time data to make marketing decisions?

Real-time data is a huge advantage in enabling marketing teams to be more responsive to opportunities and obstacles impacting their performance. But as important as the timeliness of data – is the ability to eliminate data silos. Marketers rely on data from many sources (marketing automation, CRM, social platforms, etc.). And while some organizations have successfully aggregated that data into a single view, relatively few can say they have correlated all of that data so that they understand the cause-and-effect of performance changes in one channel or one campaign on customer experience, revenue or other critical business metrics.

Busting those data silos can be accomplished with sophisticated data engineering projects or simply by consolidating and prioritizing tools that natively aggregate and correlate data or have the integrations to do so. Once you’re able to connect marketing data with critical business outcomes in real-time, you’ll be in a position to do true data-driven marketing.

Talk to us about one impactful Glassbox product with the most potential for the BFSI industry.

Financial institutions have a blend of old and new technology in their stack and complex organizational structures that can hinder initiatives like customer experience, which require complete, usable data and cross-functional collaboration.

Glassbox’s Digital Experience Intelligence platform captures, analyses and visualizes every aspect of the digital customer journey – from how they navigate, to errors and struggles they encounter, to the feedback they provide. This empowers product, marketing, and engineering teams (and more) to gain a deep understanding of customer behavior, technical performance and business performance and make decisions that maximise the performance of their digital channels.

The post Are You Connecting Feedback To The Real Experience? appeared first on The Mighty Keypad.

OpenAI continues to be in news circles for various reasons. At times, it is for award-winning authors suing the company for copyright infringement and, at others, for disrupting water supply when training the large language model ChatGPT on massive data and cooling the supercomputers. 

Remember when AI defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in a game of chess? And won the $1 million prize in the game of Jeopardy? That’s all ancient news, deemed nothing compared to the tech explosion which occurred upon the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI. 

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, took a world tour with the mission to convince AI doomers about the goodness of the technology. At the same time, Geoffrey Hinton, referred to by many as the Godfather of AI, has now come to be known as an AI doomer himself. An artificial intelligence pioneer and the person behind the technology running AI systems, Hinton now regrets his life’s work and continues to warn people of AI’s threats to humanity. 

The question that looms: Will AI drive humans to irrelevance? 

Is the science fiction dream of building a safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) coming true? 

We spoke to Rodger Werkhoven, Independent Creative Director at OpenAI and Executive Creative Director at iO, about the AI news waves and its impact on the marketing landscape. Werkhoven says AI is often depicted as an extreme in popular culture, either as an overpromise, an omnipotent force for good, or a rogue entity intent to destroy humanity because it concluded the planet is too small for us both. 

Excerpts from the interview:

You’ve said this – “AI will not replace you; a person using AI will.” Please elaborate.

History has a way of repeating itself. As computers began to slowly infiltrate the creative industry, many resisted adopting them. They feared that ‘with the cold automation of digital computers,’ the emotional essence of advertising would be lost. Those people are replaced by people using computers in ways that prove conservative thinking wrong. 

As our industry evolves, there’s a noticeable shift in hiring and promotion trends. Roles requiring familiarity with new tools and strategies are in demand, probably jeopardizing ‘anti-AI people’s’ positions. The complacent individual will appear more isolated, both in professional discussions and collaborative projects. They’re often not the first choice for leading new initiatives. 

While the AI-denier has a legacy of past successes, there’s a sense of stagnation. The lack of recent achievements or innovations becomes more evident. Given the industry’s rapid evolution, the ‘anti-AI person’ might face challenges in retaining their role. Those who leverage AI tools effectively will have a competitive advantage in both marketing processes and the creative process.

How can marketing professionals learn to work in tandem with AI? Where do they start?

Platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, and edX offer tailored courses on AI basics for those without a technical background. Additionally, attending workshops or seminars focused on AI in marketing can provide valuable hands-on experience. 

By researching current AI applications in marketing, such as chatbots, predictive analytics, content generation, and customer segmentation, professionals can gain a clearer picture. Studying successful AI implementations in marketing campaigns can further enhance this understanding. For those just starting, it’s advisable to begin with user-friendly tools.

In the ever-evolving field of AI, continuous learning is paramount. Subscribing to AI and marketing journals, blogs, or newsletters can keep professionals updated. As one becomes more adept with basic AI tools, considering advanced courses can further deepen understanding.

Lastly, joining communities that focus on the intersection of AI and marketing can be immensely beneficial. Engaging in forums, online communities, or local groups offers opportunities for knowledge exchange, forming partnerships, and staying abreast of industry trends. There’s a lot on LinkedIn, too.

While ChatGPT has enjoyed mass attention, AI developers have faced considerable stigma as well. What is it about Generative AI that most people misunderstand?

Media portrayals don’t always help. AI is often depicted as an extremity in popular culture, either as an overpromise, an omnipotent force for good, or a rogue entity intent to destroy humanity because it concluded the planet is too small for us both, which leads to skewed perceptions. When someone claims that the AI they’re studying has become sentient, all the sensationalist news channels immediately jump on that baseless claim. Yet, the AI that discovered a remedy for a resistant deadly bacteria isn’t deemed exciting enough. 

Also, people think AI steals. When AI is trained on data and images from the internet, it’s “exposed” to vast amounts of information. The AI doesn’t “copy” this data in the way humans copy a text or an image. Instead, it analyses patterns, structures, and relationships within the data. Through this process, the AI learns to recognise patterns and make predictions or generate outputs based on its training. It is just like a human artist who doesn’t reproduce the exact artwork they see in a museum. 

Many of the concerns stem from the fear of the unknown. To a significant portion of the population, AI is a complex and somewhat abstract concept, leading to apprehension, especially given its rapid evolution. This unease is further fuelled by concerns over job displacement. As AI systems become more sophisticated, there’s a growing sentiment that they might replace human roles, causing unemployment. However, it also paves the way for new roles and opportunities previously non-existent.

How can companies maintain an authentic brand voice while using AI for personalization in campaigns?

Integrating AI into branding and campaigns is complex, with legal and technical challenges. I recommend partnering with specialists in branding and data-driven campaigning, like iO, where since recently, I have been the Executive Creative Director for four days a week (so I still have a day a week testing OpenAI tech). Companies should establish clear brand guidelines before using AI and strongly consider locally-operated AI systems to avoid legal issues. 

Ensuring content aligns with the brand’s identity requires human oversight: Feedback mechanisms are essential for refining AI-driven campaigns. Transparency boosts consumer trust, especially when they know content is AI-influenced. Testing campaigns on smaller audiences before a full launch is also advisable.

What kind of guardrails do you think we need before brands can use Generative AI to speak with customers, and represent the brand voice?

The most important ones:         

Human Oversight: No matter how advanced the AI, human review is essential. Marketers should always vet AI-generated content to ensure it matches the brand voice, is contextually relevant, and doesn’t inadvertently convey unintended messages. 

Ethical Considerations: Ensure that AI communications respect privacy and ethical standards. This includes not using personal data without consent and avoiding overly intrusive or personalized messages that might make recipients uncomfortable.

Limit Scope of AI Interactions: Initially, limit the topics or queries that AI can address. This ensures that the AI operates within its trained expertise and doesn’t venture into areas where it might make errors.

Continuous Training: AI models should be updated regularly with new brand materials, feedback, and any changes in brand strategy or voice. This ensures the AI’s understanding of the brand remains current.

Error Handling: Implement robust error-handling mechanisms. If the AI encounters a query or situation it can’t handle, it should gracefully redirect the user to human support or provide a generic response.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance: It’s imperative that AI-driven communications adhere to all pertinent laws and regulations, particularly those related to data protection, advertising standards, and consumer rights. Engage a company like www.iodigital.com/en, which has a proven track record of expertise and proficiency in this intricate domain, to construct a dedicated local AI model for you. This ensures guaranteed compliance with all legislative requirements.

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