Generative AI: Eruptive or Disruptive?
As a life-long marketer and communicator, I am fascinated by the potential for AI to revolutionize the way we operate. Marketing simplified is the process of bringing together the product with the customer. There are many different aspects of the marketing, communication and sales processes - and each require a great amount of thought, research, planning and person-power to achieve.
Look at one aspect, focus groups to gain insight into a new product or service, pricing, or a launch campaign. Historically, this would require weeks, if not months, to prepare the questions, retain a firm, randomly select group members, coordinate logistics to meet in person and repeat with different groups. It's costly in time, resources and dollars, but worth it - to make sure you have the greatest opportunity to validate your new product offering or prevent a disastrous waste of launch money on a failed product. I’ve worked with Riley Research and can attest to the value of focus groups. Mike Riley Research
Now let’s look at how AI can change the approach to gaining this information. And who better to ask than AI itself:
“AI can gather insights like a marketing focus group. It uses smart computer programs to analyze lots of data from sources like social media and surveys. AI learns about customer preferences, trends, and needs. It predicts what customers might do and helps businesses make smart marketing choices. AI saves time and resources by quickly processing data and giving useful insights. It's unbiased and gives a broader understanding of what customers like. AI helps marketers create targeted and effective marketing campaigns.”
Apparently, AI thinks pretty highly of itself, but in fairness to the technology I did limit its response with the question I asked: “Please provide a simplified 70 word summary that a College sophomore could understand of how AI can be used to gain insights that a marketing focus group provides.”
And therein is the secret formula for effective use of AI. Its responses will be as informed or relevant as the question or prompt is asked. Experienced marketers with knowledge and expertise will have a distinct advantage in using AI technology.
McKinsey and Company just published “The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier” which claims, “Generative AI is poised to unleash the next wave of productivity. We take a first look at where business value could accrue and the potential impacts on the workforce.” The report is definitely worth the read and in my next article I'll summarize the Marketing and Sales portion of the report - just to get you thinking about how AI can be used to modify, if not revolutionize the way we identify, attract and retain customers.
