\u2018Dare to Play\u2019 Squid Games campaign<\/a>, keeping humans in control of creative ideas is not something the Golden Arches would be tempted to change anytime soon.<\/p>\nThe way AI might shape McDonald\u2019s marketing function is more towards the bottom end of the performance marketing funnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019ll definitely remove or reshape the agency and client model in terms of what\u2019s in house versus what\u2019s sourced externally,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be more in house. I think it just changes where the emphasis is put onto our agency partners. We will continue to lean into the smarts and creativity of our partners more for strategic horsepower and creative horsepower than the engine room dispatch AB testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanne Robinson, The Iconic<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
One company that has embraced AI wholeheartedly is the online fashion retailer, The Iconic.<\/p>\n
It has embarked on a commercial transformation project to embed AI across its pricing and is using the technology to improve workflows around production.<\/p>\n
The Iconic has also created an AI agent that sits alongside customer services representatives to respond to customer enquiries more efficiently, and it is used to The Iconic\u2019s search function to help curate the customer experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is very relevant to my team is on the credit production side. We are starting to do whole campaigns where we use AI to generate imagery in the background or in the foreground, which can really enhance what we do creatively,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI really unlocks the potential to be creative but it\u2019s always got to be done with that balance of having the human involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as brands are all looking in this brave new world trying to work out how we get that balance right of humans alongside machines. I have a hypothesis that people will want to see the human connection brought to life even more so, and we need to be really transparent about using AI enhanced work.\u201d
Robinson is a staunch advocate that AI will enhance the marketing function rather than rode the role of humans within it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s too many people that are worried about the fact it\u2019s going to replace what we do. I think it will enable us to be more efficient and more effective,\u201d she said, citing an example where it might take a couple of days to prepare data for a senior leadership team meeting when using AI tools can shorten the preparation time to a couple of hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman beings will still need to be the critical thinkers and digest all of this data and make sense of it. But there\u2019s going to be a world where most of the time at the moment we spend either sourcing data, analysing data, sitting in meetings or answering emails can be done more efficiently and effectively using AI tools. That will allow us to be more strategic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brent Smart, Telstra<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One company that is definitely ahead of the AI curve is the telecommunications giant Telstra.<\/p>\n
Its marketing chief Brent Smart, who is famous for overseeing some of the best ads in Australia, told B&T that he is not interested in how AI can make production cheaper and more efficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m interested in how AI can make experiences better for customers. So our free calls for Santa on pay phones campaign used to be just a recorded message, but now we use AI to make it sound like a conversation (see below). Kids think that\u2019s really cool, and that just wouldn\u2019t be as cool an experience without AI,\u201d the Liverpool FC fan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m more excited about how we use AI in ways where it can bring a whole level of magic to experiences, communications and content.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smart said the industry is sometimes too focused on how AI can be deployed to make work faster and cheaper, but he stressed that delivering \u2018efficiency\u2019 doesn\u2019t always equate to \u2018excellence\u2019.<\/p>\n
He also makes the point that now is the worst AI tech will ever be and it will only continue to get better.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many people are focused on what AI is now, not what it can be,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Telstra is widely regarded as a North Star of advertising excellence, not just in Australia, but globally.<\/p>\n
As long as Smart is at the helm of marketing, Telstra will not be using machines to replace the creative chops of its marketing team and agency partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI passionately believe that really beautiful human craft will become more, not less, important,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be the way that the best, most premium and sought after brands stand out in a world where everyone\u2019s using AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smart said that Telstra will continue to use AI in ways that makes the marketing function better, whether that is taking some of the heavy lifting of manual tasks so that they can spend more time on higher value tasks and thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to replace people on my team; it\u2019s more about people who use it well are going to be in high demand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Justine Mills, Bunnings<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bunnings uses AI in practical ways, such as automating manual tasks and speeding up processes so that their marketing team can spend more time on higher\u2011value work like strategy, creative thinking and collaboration.<\/p>\n
For example, in our Marketing Studio, Adobe Firefly helps resize and adapt existing imagery so assets can be reused quickly across channels, including removing elements like people or pricing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe benefit is speed \u2014 less manual rework, faster turnaround, and more time for strategy and creativity,\u201d Bunning\u2019s marketing lead Justine Mills said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where the real value is for us \u2014 freeing people up to do what humans do best, rather than getting stuck in repetitive execution.\u201d
Mills believes that AI will accelerate how marketing teams operate, from decision\u2011making to speed\u2011to\u2011market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll allow teams to test more, learn faster and respond in real time,\u201dshe added. \u201cBut as that happens, I believe storytelling, creativity and brand craft become even more important. Those human strengths like judgement, empathy, originality are what will truly differentiate brands.<\/p>\n
Kedda Ghazarian, BONDS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One marketing chief that is earlier on the AI journey is Kedda Ghazarian, the head of marketing at BONDS.<\/p>\n
Following a landmark year for the fashion brand, which launched in the US via an eye-catching Robert Irwin fronted ad, and also secured naming rights sponsor of the Australian SailGP team, Ghazarian admitted that the company is yet to truly understand how to maximise AI in its marketing and communications activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that, we\u2019re learning together and that\u2019s really cool. If I can foster an environment for my team where that is really safe and exciting, then that to me is winning when it comes to AI,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 10 years from now there\u2019ll be kids entering the workforce who are really skilled at this and have the ability to take it to a whole another level. That\u2019ll be even more terrifying for me but hopefully by then I\u2019ve learned some stuff. At the moment, I\u2019m cautious but excited about the potential of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghazarian said she is less enamoured by AI applications such as changing models to AI (Irwin\u2019s job is safe for now \u2013 see above).<\/p>\n
She elaborated: \u201cI love the craft of marketing. I love to make things, but I am really excited about how AI can flip a lot of those impossibilities on their head in marketing and create a sense of wonder for a consumer. It\u2019s now about how we lean in to make AI generated content look real, but actually playing with the fact that it doesn\u2019t actually need to be real at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
That may not be great news for the snakes, spiders and crocodiles that are being lined up for Irwin\u2019s next BONDs ad, but a refreshing take for the rest of us.<\/p>\n
Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts<\/p>\n
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.<\/p>\n
\t\tSubscribe\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AI revolution promises to be the greatest disruption in the workplace for generations. A week doesn\u2019t go…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,254810,5471,64877,53664,105,8419,263929,11523],"class_list":["post-531475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bt-exclusive","tag-bonds","tag-bunnings","tag-mcdonalds","tag-technology","tag-telstra","tag-the-iconic","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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