AI in Marketing: The Hype Cycle

 As artificial intelligence continues to grab headspace in our marketing industry, some commentators have begun to suggest that its potential is being 'overhyped'.

I’ve seen commentary in the main broadsheets like The Telegraph and The Times. This perspective is IMHO shortsighted, failing to account for the long-term transformative power of AI in reshaping marketing both at the strategic and operational level.

The Gartner Hype Cycle provides a useful framework for understanding the trajectory of emerging technologies like AI in marketing. This model suggests that new technologies often experience a period of inflated expectations, followed by disillusionment, before eventually reaching a plateau of productivity. 

My personal experience last week trying to recreate a simple diagram (the product diffusion process) in Push colours left me exasperated as I worked with 3 well known image generators. While AI in marketing may currently be approaching or sitting atop the "Peak of Inflated Expectations," it's crucial to remember that this is a natural part of the technology adoption process.

If you are old enough, you might remember the Dotcom bubble. When it burst (after 2000) I remember some of my old pals in FMCG land looking rather smug. Less than five years later the likes of Google, Meta (then just Facebook) reshaped the landscape. 

Critics pointing to the current hype surrounding AI in marketing would do well to recall a famous observation often attributed to Roy Amara, the late futurist and president of the Institute for the Future.

Amara stated, "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."

This principle, known as Amara's Law, perfectly encapsulates the situation with AI in marketing.

So, if after the noise around AI in the last 18 months you are starting to think it has been over-hyped, maybe think again. If I had a pound for every marketeer who thought that Google was over hyped in 2005 (when I first started working with Ricky Solanki and playing with Google Adwords) I would have enough to buy a few Nvidia shares!

In the short term, it's true that some of the promises made about AI's capabilities in marketing may be overstated. We're not yet at a point where AI can fully replace human creativity, intuition, and strategic thinking in marketing campaigns. However, focusing solely on these current limitations misses the bigger picture.

Looking at a five-year horizon, the potential impact of AI on marketing is profound and far-reaching. As machine learning algorithms become more sophisticated, data processing capabilities improve, and integration with other marketing technologies deepens, we're likely to see AI revolutionise areas such as:

1. Predictive Analytics - AI will enable marketers to forecast trends, customer behaviours, and campaign outcomes with unprecedented accuracy. Our own internal tech at Push goes some way to achieving this. 

2. Hyper-Personalisation - AI-driven systems will create truly individualised experiences for consumers across all touchpoints. 

3. Content Creation and Optimisation - AI will not only assist in generating content but also in optimising it for maximum engagement and conversion.

4. Customer Service - AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants will provide 24/7, personalised customer support at scale.

5. Marketing Attribution - AI will help solve the complex puzzle of multi-touch attribution, providing clearer insights into the customer journey.

It's important to note that the hype cycle doesn't negate the real progress being made in AI for marketing. Even as some applications may be overhyped, others are already delivering tangible benefits to early adopters.

If you are unconvinced DM me or take a look at some of the case studies appearing on the Push website and in our social coverage. 

I would love to know what you think.