GenAI in marketing: Fear or FOMO?

A new report from Kantar, GenAI for marketing: Fear or FOMO, reveals that the majority of marketers feel unprepared for GenAI implementation and integration, leaving significant untapped opportunity on the table. A lack of role-specific training and high costs are among the hurdles standing in the way of wider GenAI adoption in the industry.

The findings are a result of an in-depth qualitative study based on interviews with more than 50 marketing and capability leaders around the world (CMOs, marketing directors, capability leads). The research identifies the key challenges and best practices for unleashing the potential of GenAI in marketing teams and sets out a roadmap to guide marketing leaders through the process.

The study highlights the gap between the potential of GenAI to revolutionise the industry and current adoption among marketers. Looking ahead to the next three to five years, the consensus among senior marketers and capability builders is that GenAI is going to be a game-changer, with interviewees rating its impact at 9.0 out of 10 on average. But organisational readiness is lagging, with most respondents admitting they’re not quite AI-ready (4.9 out of 10), though external partners like agencies and data providers are seen to be slightly ahead of the curve at 5.3/10. This lack of readiness is holding back marketing’s GenAI revolution, with respondents believing that the industry is still in the early stages, rating the current impact of the technology on the industry at 5.3 out of 10.

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GenAI equals effectiveness, not obsoletion

While some of the reluctance about AI stems from fears around the preservation of traditional marketing skills, Kantar found that marketing leaders understand that expert oversight will be essential, and that it will continue to be necessary for a human to be in the loop. Additionally, without foundational marketing skills, marketers risk becoming overly reliant on GenAI, cutting corners and losing the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated content.

Speaking to Kantar, Stephan Gans, chief consumer insights and analytics officer, Pepsico, said: “People also feared that the accounting business would soon become obsolete when Microsoft launched Excel. Instead, we have more accounting firms than ever.”

The four roles for GenAI in marketing

The study outlines four ways that GenAI is set to transform marketing:

• Strategic advancement: Building long-term brand strategies and challenging, validating and fine-tuning marketing outputs. For example, Group Bel developed its own internal GenAI tool, BelGPT. Amongst other functionalities, it connects market share, channel-based sales, and competitive data to see where the biggest growth opportunities for the portfolio sit, using AI as decision aid.

• Operational efficiency: Using GenAI for day-to-day execution, streamlining tasks and automating processes like data management, tracking and workflow automation. When Reckitt analysed how its marketers were spending their time, it revealed where GenAI could be most impactful. They helped marketers automate some of their most time-consuming tasks and focus on what really mattered.

• Brand elevation: Empowering long-term brand planning and innovation, using GenAI to help align marketing with overarching business goals, guide teams and influence trend forecasting. For example, Coca-Cola asked fans around the world what the year 3000 would taste like and combined this with insights from GenAI to co-develop a new limited-edition flavour, Y-3000.

• Automated marketing: Engaging consumers in real time with tailored content. GenAI can help marketers with tasks including automating media buying or personalising messaging for different channels, devices and languages. For example, AIA, one of Asia’s leading insurance companies, created AI Sonny, an AI version of footballer and brand ambassador Son Heung-min who appears in videos to welcome and onboard new customers in a more personal way.

Schwabe Group, a health and pharmaceutical company, is an example of how end-to-end integration of GenAI enables businesses to capitalise on these opportunities: "GenAI helps us to solve complex challenges and work more efficiently across our business. By implementing AI initiatives in departments like R&D, we are able to accelerate processes while ensuring we meet high scientific standards. Nevertheless, it's important to say that humans remain at the centre of what we do. AI supports us in focusing on what truly matters – developing innovative solutions to improve health," said Alexander Reisenauer, director global digital marketing, global brand and health interest strategy, Schwabe Group.

Conquering AI fear and FOMO

The benefits of successfully adopting GenAI tools include reducing the product development cycle to as little as six weeks and creating world-class creative concepts in 60% less time – underscoring the need for marketing leaders to act fast. Kantar’s study sets out how leaders can take their teams on the journey from fear to enthusiasm, with a roadmap setting out an approach for strategy, ways of working, training and leadership in the short, medium and long term.

Thomas von der Fuhr, consulting senior director, Kantar, said: “The overwhelming consensus among senior marketers is that GenAI is going to revolutionise the industry. But reality today is that many companies don't feel ready yet. We see that leading organisations are making the shift from using GenAI predominantly for efficiency reasons to now also drive effectiveness. Implementation isn’t straightforward: ethical use, training and data quality all need to be addressed. Those that get it right will succeed by building excitement and understanding around GenAI among everyone in their business: explaining what the tools can and cannot do, and how they can help them achieve more with greater efficiency, speed, and effectiveness.”

Click here to download the full report which covers key roles GenAI can play in marketing, steps to build robust GenAI capabilities, and a roadmap to integrate GenAI into end-to-end processes: GenAI for marketing: Fear or FOMO.

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