AI is Advertisers' Tool of Choice for the Paris Olympics
As the world gears up for the Paris Olympics, the games are being flooded with all sorts of precedents, although one that is more positive is how AI is set to revolutionise its advertising.
The results came from a study by digital experience company Optimizely show marketers are increasingly turning to AI to gain a competitive edge in the crowded advertising landscape.
Surveying 100 marketers and 1,000 consumers in the UK, the study highlights a broader trend of AI adoption in seasonal marketing.
AI’s impact in advertising
A majority, 51%, of UK marketers are leveraging AI to plan and develop their Olympic marketing strategies, with more than half now using AI to plan and test strategies for major events, including the 'Summer of Sport,' Black Friday, and Christmas.
This use in seasonal marketing suggests teams, who need to up output and workflows to meet demand for peak times, are using it as an augmenter of work rather than as another staff member.
Indeed, Optimizely’s study shows the adoption of AI in marketing is largely driven by its optimisation capabilities.
However, Paris Olympics may only be the start: nearly two-thirds (62%) of UK marketers now consider AI 'essential' for continuously improving their experimentation approaches.
59% of marketers believe AI will reduce experimentation costs, 70% believe it increases speed and 62% say it yields more accurate results.
"AI is supercharging the process by making it possible for marketers to quickly test dozens — or even hundreds — of different approaches at any one time," says Shafqat Islam, CMO at Optimizely.
AI’s ability to evaluate numerous permutations of marketing elements, such as ad copy, images, layouts, and targeting parameters, can out compete traditional A/B testing, which typically compares two variants’ performance against each other.
Augmenting adverts
This shift towards AI-driven marketing aligns with recent innovations in the advertising industry.
For instance, Yahoo Advertising has introduced Yahoo Creative, an AI-powered advertising solution designed to use AI to create dynamic, tailored ads in real-time, adapting elements tailored to an individual user.
However, as AI implementation rises, so do consumer concerns about data privacy and regulation.
While 35% of consumers are comfortable with marketers using their data to power AI, 33% lack understanding of how AI is being used in advertising. Notably, 70% of consumers call for stricter AI regulation.
This belief however, is juxtaposed by consumers show a preference for the personalised experiences AI can offer. 54% of consumers reported they were open to AI-driven marketing if it makes content more relevant to them.
As the Paris Olympics approach, it is clear marketers are full steam ahead on AI for it. Yet if they are to keep potential customers happy, they will need to strike the right balance between privacy and personalisation.
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