Decoding AI for Marketing

Steve Erbentraut, Managing Director at Marketbridge, works with clients every day in highly regulated industries who are caught in a tug of war: innovate with AI enough to beat out the competition, but minimize risks so as not to break down the trust of customers. It’s a delicate dance, and Erbentraut spells out what it means for implementing AI solutions in the marketing arms of organizations in the financial services, healthcare, and other regulated sectors. 

For Further Reading:

Marketing AI Implementation Checklist

More from Steve

The AI Conundrum

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Vikrant Batra, cofounder of Maximon.ai and former CMO at HP, says that if you aren’t already well on your way in your AI journey, your marketing organization is in serious trouble. He details why he left his former corporate employer to strike out in an AI business, how fast change is coming, and why the financial side of companies will be coming for the marketing department - if they haven’t already. And he shares why traditional marketing organizations and artificial intelligence are on a collision course. 

For Further Reading:

Learn more about Vikrant Batra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikrant-batra/

Maximon:  https://www.maximon.ai/

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Mark Polyak, Chief Product and Technology Officer at MINT.ai, says that embedding agents is transforming every step of the advertising resource management process. He explains how his background in counterterrorism helps shape his approach to AI and data integration today. Plus, he shares how MINT.ai is using multi-agent systems, synthetic data, and emerging protocols like MCP to help marketers do their jobs better. 

For Further Reading:

Learn more about MINT.ai: https://www.mint.ai/

Building Effective Agents (Anthropic): 

https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents

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Doug McColgin, Director of Marketing Strategy at UScellular, says that AI tools aren't enough to build an effective marketing strategy. As more and more companies adopt AI, the playing field will be leveled when it comes to productivity gains. But McColgin thinks AI can be used in more creative ways to differentiate from your competitors. He explains the tests his organization has done, and how two foundational frameworks—Clay Christensen’s Jobs-to-be-Done and Eliyahu Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints—can shape smarter, more strategic AI adoption - focusing on problems, not products. 

For Further Reading:

Jobs to Be Done Theory: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done/

Theory of Constraints: 

https://www.tocinstitute.org/theory-of-constraints.html#:~:text=Eliyahu%20Goldratt,with%20infinite%20sales%20or%20profit

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Jen Kattula, CMO at Microsoft Advertising, has been testing out ways to improve the jobs of marketers through AI - while at the same time trying to improve organizational effectiveness. She shares use cases from Microsoft, how she thinks about agents and human intervention, and the hurdles around getting people trained up and in the habit of using AI. 

For Further Reading:

More about the AI Agents Hackathon from Microsoft: https://microsoft.github.io/AI_Agents_Hackathon/

Navigating AI and Marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKvEZCW_V0

3 Ways Marketers Can Accelerate Their Creativity with AI: 

https://www.adweek.com/sponsored/3-ways-marketers-can-accelerate-their-creativity-with-generative-ai/

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Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and Smarter X, left his agency world behind and now spends his days training marketers on how to better use AI to move their organization forward. When it comes to AI adoption at marketing organizations, there’s still a wide range of adoption - and Roetzer shares what he’s seen in terms of what trips people up, and where they should be putting their resources. Plus, how the agency model is changing, and some of his favorite tools and tricks. 

For Further Reading:

Check out Paul’s podcast: 

https://youtu.be/qu74v4zBDjQ?si=69DTuXfVUapXHnsI

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Sadie Thoma, director of US B2B marketing at Google, and Derek Rodenhausen, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, say that artificial intelligence is having a major impact on marketing - especially when it comes to the consumer journey. They partnered on new research that shows that the four main consumer behaviors today are streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping - and that they are often done in tandem. Thoma and Rodenhausen share more insights from their research that can influence marketers across industries as they reshape their organizations in a world of AI. 

For Further Reading:

The Blueprint for AI-Powered Marketing

It’s Time for Marketers to Move Beyond the Linear Funnel

How Tombras used Google’s Gemini to create over 6,000 hyperlocal ads for PODS

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Michael Lacorazza, CMO of US Bank, and Mike Barrett, Founder and CSO at Supernatural AI, set out to break the mold: to partner together on an advertising campaign for the large financial institution using innovative AI methods and achieving fast results. If you’re interested in how to partner with AI agencies to take your work to the next level, listen to this case study about “The Power of Us” campaign, and walk away with lessons for your own organization. 

For Further Reading:

U.S. Bank CMO: Relationships Fuel Marketing Transformation

Inside the Campaign: How US Bank Used Artificial Intelligence to Fast-Track Its Latest Ads

Nate B Jones Substack

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Shiv Singh, co-founder of AI Trailblazers and the author of Marketing with AI For Dummies, knows that there’s still a huge range of adoption in the marketing space when it comes to artificial intelligence. He shares tips for those still early in their journey, and predictions for 2025 when it comes to how the marketing industry will be further upended by the technology. 

For Further Reading:

Check out Shiv’s substack

2025 AI Predictions You Can’t Afford to Miss

Marketing With AI for Dummies

Consortium for AI Personalization

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Abhay Parasnis, founder of Typeface, is making a big bet on where artificial intelligence will truly reshape the marketing industry. After experience at Adobe and other large organizations, Parasnis ventured out on his own in 2022 to work on a tool to solve the fundamental problem in marketing today, the “content paradox.” He explains why there’s a gap between data and cloud technologies, and the ability to use those to effectively make and distribute content. He walks Greg and Rex through some of the cutting-edge functionality that Typeface offers its partners. 

For Further Reading:

Abhay Parasnis showcases Typeface on CNN “De-coded” w/Host Anna Stewart

Adobe Alum takes AI-enables marketing beyond the prompt

Transition from solo acts to a complete symphony with AI

Abhay Parasnis Keynote at VivaTech 2024

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