Good morning, Marketer, let’s taco-bout martech.
As marketing continues to get more integrated with digital technology (see Merkle’s tech team expansion below), there are many questions about how humans fit into the equation. My ready response is that when it comes to technology, people direct it and keep it focused on company goals. Artificial intelligence doesn’t care about company success until it’s tailored by marketers to recognize demands for individual companies and customers.
Every brand is different in a competitive industry like fast food. They each have their own history and presence in the minds of consumers, but a self-evolving AI can make connections we don’t have time to. For those marketers who work with AI solutions on campaigns — and I’ve spoken to many of them — the biggest value seems to be how the AI optimizes marketing campaigns and performance with their specific company in mind. The progress the AI makes in the performance for one company won’t yield the same messaging or channels at another company. The AI becomes the brand’s secret sauce, so to speak.
Perhaps this theme will help us to focus on the big brands that are transforming digitally at an appropriate scale for their size. A local pizza shop might up its “near me” presence through search. On the other hand, a global network of food chains, like Yum Brands below, can throw their weight around and simply buy up an AI company. But with each of these actions, marketers at both orgs have taken another step on their digital journeys.
Chris Wood,
Editor
