By Jonathan Baker There’s an interesting paradox taking place. Where Generative AI is concerned, the marketing field is ahead of other businesses. The majority of chief marketing officers (CMOs), however, have yet to be educated—and therefore adapt—to the benefits of Generative AI (GenAI). The magic number: 90 As reported in Marketing Tech News, an astonishing 90 percent of CMOs throughout the world don’t understand how Generative AI works. Coincidentally, 90 percent of businesses and organizations will further invest in Generative AI capabilities next year. In short, the majority of CMOs will need to get up to speed if they want their companies to prosper with the help of Generative AI. And there are other consequences to consider… Lower percentages of GenAI usage The Marketing Tech news article cites information from a global study from SAS and Coleman Parkes Research titled “Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End.” And use of the word “shallow” is fitting, considering these findings of how and why marketers apply GenAI: Audience targeting: 19 percent Audience building: 18 percent Customer journey mapping: 16 percent Price optimization: 14 percent These low percentages are an indication of the lack of knowledge among the 90 percent of CMOs who have not embraced GenAI. Why are they lagging? Concerns This reluctance may be anything ranging from fear of the technology or being too accustomed to “the old ways” of conducting business. One understandable concern is that many CMOs are worried about data security and privacy. Enhancing security measures are on the rise, and as pointed out by BigID, GenAI enables privacy-preserving machine learning models. Once CMOs realize this extra benefit to GenAI, they may join others who are becoming more open to change. CMOs may be coming around… Retail Dive claims that an increasing number of marketing CMOs are “warming up” to the benefits offered by GenAI. Referencing a survey conducted by Dentsu, in 2023, a reported two-thirds of CMOs had doubts about GenAI’s ability to connect with consumers. As of this year, less than half of them feel this way. A growing number of CMOs have begun to regard GenAI as an enhancement to their businesses. Going one step further, three-quarters of marketing leaders are willing to train AI on the respective look, feel, and tone of their brands or businesses. Do you have questions about how to incorporate Generative AI into the operations of your business? The EGC Group remains on top of the latest updates and applications in this technology. Have questions? Get in touch with us for answers. We look forward to hearing from you.
