ExchangeWire have invited hundreds of thought leaders to share their thoughts on what next year will hold, across a range of topics. Artificial intelligence has been ridiculed for the past few years as 'just another buzzword'. However, are we now starting to see some practical applications of AI, and the potential value it could bring to digital? Industry experts share their views.
The human element of AI will be realised
"But an often overlooked aspect of AI is the human intelligence it is fused with. As people, we possess ingenuity, creativity, and innovative problem-solving abilities; and this will likely remain irreplaceable by machines for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the real value of AI is realised when highly skilled individuals are directing and applying the technology to achieve solid business outcomes for brands. And, in 2019, advertisers will place a premium on having strong teams who can extract the maximum value from AI."
Harry Harcus, UK & Pan-regional Managing Director, Xaxis
Reduce wastage via people-based marketing
"This enables brands to make activation-related changes at a rate not possible with human management, powered by insights that continue to evolve as more data becomes available. Such systems not only learn but, importantly, adapt in response to changing demand and market conditions. Advancements in AI will assist brands in realising the potential offered by people-based marketing, to reduce wastage and, ultimately, drive return on investment for digital spend. Future advances in technology will continue to transform marketing effectiveness. Companies that invest in the technology, and also the culture to embrace this opportunity, will benefit financially through more effective marketing."
Katherine Munford, MD, Data2Decisions
Digital transformation acceleration
Orchid Richardson, Vice President & Managing Director, IAB Data Center of Excellence
Driving metrics that matter
"In 2019, AI will begin to truly show its mettle in driving metrics that matter, from business outcomes to measurable progress down a marketing funnel towards brand love, purchase, and advocacy. Marketing has already proven to be one of the most fertile areas of AI experimentation. In 2019, AI will be about improving our delivery of measurable business outcomes."
Tod Loofbourrow, Chairman & CEO, ViralGains
More accuracy & agility
"I think this is the area we will see AI make the greatest growth in importance in 2019 – in the media planning and programmatic execution of digital advertising. Sophisticated AI systems allow marketers to budget their digital spend with more accuracy and agility, whilst being increasingly capable of assessing the overall effectiveness of the ad."
Carl Erik Kjaesrgaard, CEO & Co-founder, Blackwood Seven
AI will fuel growth of intent targeting
"Along with improved targeting across digital, AI advances will play a significant role in improving transparency and tackling brand safety in 2019, in turn making it easier and safer for advertisers to spend programmatically. The other area that will see significant advances is in creative messaging and optimisation. Subtle creative options will be able to be tested at scale. Overall then, we will see improvements in relevancy, targeting, creative optimisation, and brand safety. These trends, combined with an increase towards real-time signalling, will undoubtedly result in further gains in share of spend for digital versus other media."
Carl White, Co-Founder & Global CEO, Nano Interactive
Voice & image AI search solutions
"Next year, we can expect to see more platforms investing in both voice and image-based AI search solutions as they try to keep up with changing consumer habits where both speed and personalisation are key to digital experiences. Similarly, computer vision will become increasingly important to marketing strategies. This tech will enable marketers to understand a web that’s producing more images than ever before and will present advertisers with the opportunity to investigate more creative formats, as well as more accurate targeting techniques."
Ed Preedy, MD Europe, GumGum
Strategic consumer engagement
"Similarly, content creators will be able to strategically engage with consumers in new real-time environments; underlying all of this is are data-driven insights that show a refreshed understanding of audiences’ expectations, tastes and preferences."
Leo Pimentel, CEO and CTO, VuMe
Combining automation with talent
"Yet AI still exacts a sense of uncertainty across the industry. Three-fifths (61%) of marketers believe AI will result in job losses, and there are doubts over its accuracy, plus fears an over-reliance on automation could spell the end of creativity. Marketers need not be worried though; while AI and automation can analyse numbers, human creativity is still required to conceptualise and design appealing creatives. As we move into 2019, the industry must look to combine automation with talent to maximise the potential of creative – but, most importantly, secure its long-term future."
Peter Falcone, Director of Analytics EMEA, Flashtalking
Providing value to the consumer journey
Matthew Fanelli, Senior Vice President, MNI Targeted Media Inc.