Advanced AI Topics

January 15, 2025
Budgeting for AI in 2025: Strategic Considerations for Organizational Leaders.
A recent Deloitte study revealed a concerning gap: nearly 80% of board members and C-suite executives report their boards have limited to no knowledge or experience with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Read our perspective here…

January 14, 2025
Looking Forward: AI's Dual Impact in 2025
In our 30 years of advising brands on leveraging emerging tech, we have never seen such an impactful period as the past month, with generative AI capabilities evolving to incredible levels. Read more here…

January 13, 2025
The Emerging Impact of AI Agents on Consumer Behavior and Brand Engagement
In our launch post, Embracing ‘What If?’: How Leaders Navigate AI, we asked Leaders to explore future opportunities. Today, we ask, ‘What If the promise of AI agents in 2025 becomes reality?’ Read more here…

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Early Stage AI Topics

January 16, 2025
Three Lessons to note from past emerging cycles.

Lesson #1: Don’t Underestimate The Speed At Which AI Is Evolving

• PCs / Fragmented Media: Tropical Storm

  • 1980’s >> 1990’s / 20 year adaptation period 

• Web 1.0 / Internet: Cat 3 Hurricane

  • Late 1990’s >> Early 2000’s / 10 year adaptation period

• Mobile Computing / Social Media: Cat 1 Hurricane

  • 2007 >> Mid-2010’s / 6 year adaptation period

• AI / Gen AI: Cat 5 Hurricane + Tsunami

  • 1 year adaptation period

    • Tomorrow’s Marketing Leaders Are Working With AI Today

Lesson #2: Understand AI’s Impact on Consumer Behavior

• Case Study #1: Blockbuster Video

  • Takeaway: Intimately understand the role their Brand plays in their Customers’ lives and utilize Emerging Technologies to keep step with their behavior.

  • Missed Outcome:  “Blockbuster & Chill.”
    

• Case Study #2: Encyclopedia Britannica

  • Takeaway:  EMTech is Disruptive but also creates opportunities for those in tune with changing Behavior. Be willing to adapt quickly to seize greater opportunities.

  • Missed Outcome: “EB It!”

Lesson #3: Keep an eye on the AI horizon

• Determine where the NextGen opportunities will be.

  • The beauty of AI is in its versatility and its rapid evolution. Marketing executives now have access to a suite of tools that cater to various needs—whether it's data analytics for understanding customer behavior, chatbots for enhancing customer service, or machine learning algorithms that can predict future trends.

  • Importantly, as Marketers better understand how to apply the new AI tools and technologies, it will give rise to innovating new ways to market products and services, forge deeper connections and relationships between Brands and Customers, and make the quantum leap to Iterative NextGen Marketing.

January 15, 2025
When it comes to starting with AI in marketing, we’re often asked, “Where do we begin?” Here are six foundational steps to set your team up for success and ensure your AI efforts deliver meaningful results:

• People: Analyze the necessary education, upskilling, training, and technological resources needed to level set your team's deployment in AI tools and technologies.

• Policies: Develop clear guidelines and protocols for the ethical use of AI in marketing, ensuring compliance with legal standards and industry best practices.

• Use Cases: Identify specific scenarios where AI can be applied to enhance marketing efforts.

• Tech Stack & Data: Assess and enhance the marketing tech stack with AI. Start with easy-to-implement, high-impact tools.

• ROI: Look for ‘Wins’ via pilot programs that demonstrate the tangible benefits of AI adoption.

• Roadmap: Combine the outputs of the above to lay the groundwork for a long-term strategic roadmap.

January 14, 2025
The coming AI Marketing Landscape will be a story of
Automation + Augmentation

• Breathtaking Speed will create Leaders and Laggards: In 2 years, GenAI has enhanced innovation, efficiency, creativity, and data-driven decision-making.

• Changing Customer Requires New Approaches: AI integrates into almost every aspect of daily life, reshaping how we interact, work, play, and consume information.

• Increased Automation Mean More Possibilities: Achieve higher efficiency, scale operations faster, and focus on innovation and strategic growth, allowing for more impactful marketing initiatives.
  
  AI possesses the potential to allow us as Marketers to unleash our most Human of traits: 

Creativity, Intuition, 

Strategy, and Innovation.

As we look into 2025, it's clear that AI will continue to be a significant player in the marketing sphere. The challenge for marketers is to marry their deep experience in marketing with a strong understanding—or even an obsession—with the disruptive capabilities of AI. In this rapidly evolving landscape, agility, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt are not just advantageous—they're essential. Most of all, though - do not delay. The AI future started yesterday.

January 13, 2025
The Path To AI Marketing Leadership

• Step 1: UPSKILL & Master The Fundamentals

  • Strategy: Learn the mechanics and basic techniques of ‘building block’ AI technologies: LLMs, AI Search Agents, Co-Pilots

• Step 2: AUGMENT: Apply Fundamentals To Your Current Role

  • Strategy: Experiment, test, play, learn, make mistakes, collaborate, and apply what you learn to your current role to augment your productivity.

• Step 3: EVOLVE to NextGen Marketing Leadership

  • Strategy: In Emerging Tech such as AI, tomorrow’s leadership comes from those who learn the fundamentals and augment their roles in order to help write the rules for the NextGen Marketing Leadership.

7 AI Tips To Enhance Your Workflow Today
Everyday, try to incorporate AI into your daily workflow. Ask yourself, “Can AI do this better, faster, cheaper?

1. Summarize a research report (Automate)

2. Convert text into a slide presentation (Automate)

3. Create an image (Automate or Augment? / Sample prompt below)

4. Write a Linkedin Post (Augment)

5. Analyze and respond to an email (Augment)

6. Build a proposal (Augment)

7. Analyze a competitors’ target audience based on these images from their website (Augment)
   
   NOTE: Depending on the LLM model and the version of the model (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Other AI vendors, etc) data you upload may be used to train their model or in ways you do not want, so analyze their Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and know your Organization’s Policy before uploading any data or information.

Create an image Sample Prompt: I need an image for a customer email. The topic of the email is AI upskilling. Please create an image that will catch our readers attention, do not use any words or letters, is in landscape format and do your best to only use my company's brand identity colors: Blue (Hex #073c6b) Purple (Hex #5A3D76) Beige (Hex #F8EfE3) Light Purple (Hex #333082) Dark Purple (Hex #120059)