What Generative AI Means for Marketers

The Topline

?Most of you have likely heard or read about generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) this year, due to the attention generated by new consumer tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, to name a few. But the impact of GenAI goes far beyond headlines — it has quickly become a major focus for companies around the world.

?In fact, the market intelligence firm IDC recently projected that the global market size of AI will surpass half a trillion U.S. dollars in 2024, and Precedence Research estimates it will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2030.

?For those who need a quick refresher: GenAI is a subset of AI systems that generate outputs —?text, images, music and the like. The recent rise of GenAI can be traced back to improvements in large language models (LLMs), thanks to access to significant amounts of data. As these LLMs improve, they are better able to feed generative AI models and produce outputs that are helpful to the users operating them.

?While LLMs and GenAI have existed for some time, their recent improvement has been easily quantifiable —?as evidenced by headlines about these systems performing well on rigorous standardized tests, like state Bar Exams and the SATs.

?The rise of these new GenAI tools has helped bring these improvements to people at scale, who are continuously finding new ways to utilize them to help in their jobs and day-to-day lives. And they have been incredibly popular —?in fact, ChatGPT reached 100 million users just two months after launch, a rate that had never been achieved. (For reference, the exceedingly popular TikTok app reached 100 million users in 9 months)

?But what does that mean for marketers? And how can we balance the potential of GenAI with a renewed focus on ensuring we are doing right by consumers and protecting their privacy? How do we ensure that we are not infringing on anyone else’s IP, on whose data the GenAI tools may have been trained on? How do we protect any IP we create that may have used GenAI?

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The Essential Truth

?We’re already seeing how GenAI is changing the advertising and marketing ecosystem. As GenAI tools become more robust, I believe that it will soon help us cut marketing production dollars in half.

?That’s because GenAI has the potential to create limitless efficiencies, which will multiply speed to market and allow marketing to become more structured. Search, targeting, media buying — even content creation — are increasingly dependent on the ability of GenAI programs to do the work faster and cheaper than a traditional marketing team.

?Take personalization, as an example.

?AI, together with GenAI, can already help marketers connect with consumers at a smaller price tag in a more impactful fashion by providing deep, real-time learnings about consumer trends and preferences. In turn, that enables marketers to create highly optimized, personalized marketing programs on the fly, ultimately saving them time and enabling them to be more precise.

?This is incredibly valuable!

?But while the rise of GenAI will provide tremendous opportunities for marketers, it also comes with significant risks. Marketing leaders can’t get distracted by the shiny newness of GenAI and develop it irresponsibly.

?The application of GenAI needs to be done in a principled, responsible and safe way. Any threats to privacy, to good ethics, and to trust are risks not worth taking.

?This is a particularly challenging issue to resolve as we are in something of an AI arms race, and businesses that limit themselves from trying and testing GenAI may struggle to compete with those that do not. Regulation will be key to ensure businesses are operating responsibly and on a level playing field.

Inauthentic AI is also a real concern. In a world where GenAI tools are creating a significant amount of content and rapidly improving, it will quickly become difficult to differentiate what is real and what is a deep fake or fraud.

?This creates significant risk for where and how our brands show up. That is why I believe it is an area marketing leaders need to be watchful of.

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?The Tidbit

?While there are risks, the possibilities with GenAI are truly limitless. GenAI offers significant opportunities that reflect an inflection point for the industry —?and some of those opportunities are already available to us today.

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?My Take

?Mastercard has been using AI for the last 10+ years.

?We first began exploring AI within our cybersecurity tools. But today, every business unit at Mastercard has some sort of AI capability that helps keep consumers safe, makes our work more efficient, and creates dynamic brand-to-consumer experiences.

That experience has prepared us for this new era of GenAI.

?Our high-level marketing strategy is to build the brand, fuel the business, and create sustainable competitive advantage. We can advance all of these points by deploying GenAI in different ways that are brand-appropriate within our integrated marketing communications. GenAI is already helping us:

?1)??? Develop and enhance our products and storytelling

2)??? Create more impactful consumer experiences

3)??? Drive efficiency and effectiveness of internal functions

4)??? Improve customer support

?What does that look like in practice?

?One example — through our Mastercard Artist Accelerator, program artists were able to create tracks using the GenAI Music Studio. This experience enabled them to push their creativity to new limits, while our marketers were able to provide consumers with a personalized, memorable experience.

?Talk about a win-win.

?Our AI-powered RFPs are also producing cost efficiencies. Consider how much time and money is spent — not to mention the headaches! — when a brand doesn’t write a clear creative brief to an agency. The amount of time and effort we put into reworking material is beyond frustrating.

?Fixing the root of the problem will eliminate much of this. GenAI can help us write briefs with more clarity and accuracy, while highlighting the brand objective, ultimately leading to more impactful work down the line.

?These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. I believe every company should look to see how they can deploy GenAI today — and in the future — in ways that are brand-appropriate for them.

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?Long Story Short

?The fate of marketing is inextricably linked with that of GenAI.

?Taking full advantage of GenAI isn’t just about implementing the technology. It’s also about having the right team in place that can fully embrace the opportunities — and minimize the risks.

?There is a new class of marketers coming into our industry that are completely shifting the dynamic of our work. Upskilling talent is something we’re focused on at Mastercard, and it’s something every CMO should be encouraging to future-proof their brand.

?“Traditional marketers” should be feeling the pressure to learn and catch up!

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