Featuring:
Jay Pattisall, VP and Principal Analyst
Show Notes:
Move over, metaverse. This year, the buzz on the Croisette was about generative AI and the possibilities it’s opening up for marketers and advertisers. This week on What It Means, VP and Principal Analyst Jay Pattisall discusses generative AI and the other big themes he saw and heard at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
First, Pattisall highlights the vibrance of the creator economy, “creators” meaning freelance content creators with sizable social media followings and influence. At this year’s festival, creators and the platforms that host them were out in full force, underscoring the creative economy’s growing prominence. For marketers, says Pattisall, tapping into the creative economy offers opportunities to use digital and social media in new, more authentic ways, but it comes with the risks of hitching one’s brand to a person and “taking on their fallibility.”
Though it was a minor focus in the festival’s official programming, generative AI was far and away the biggest topic of conversation, according to Pattisall. “Everyone is either fearful or fascinated about it and the implications for what AI can do for marketing and the creative process.”
While AI technologies such as machine learning and basic robotic process automation have long been used in marketing, generative AI and its simple, user-friendly interfaces “have really democratized the ability to understand how to apply AI to marketing and to the work,” he adds. While questions and concerns around the evolution of generative AI remain, agencies and marketers see benefits in terms of cost savings, increased efficiency, and enhanced creativity.
Later in the episode, Pattisall discusses Forrester’s recent survey findings on CMO adoption of generative AI and some of the companies that stood out at Cannes Lions this year. And stay tuned until the end to hear Pattisall’s take on the future of generative AI in creativity.
