Majority using GenAI for marketing despite concerns about technology

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 17/09/2024

63% of brands are already using generative AI in their marketing strategies, but many have serious concerns about the technology. 80% of multinational brands are concerned about how creative and media agency partners are using GenAI on their behalf. Legal (66%), ethical (51%) and reputation (49%) risks were also cited as major roadblocks, according to new research from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) 

“Despite these concerns, however, the use of gen AI is rising, with usage well ahead of the 45% recorded by WFA research last year. In 2024 only 9% of brands say they have no current plans to use gen AI for their marketing.”

Key findings:

• Generative AI is most commonly being used in the areas of content creation (79%), content ideation (67%) and task automation (54%).
• 70% are prioritising the use of GenAI for efficiencies (time and cost savings) over marketing effectiveness (increase revenue and returns on investments). While a few claim that GenAI use is driving ‘better media ROI’, ’50-80% increased efficiency’ and ’40-50% time saving for low-added value tasks’, many claim that it’s still too early to measure the true impact.
• Brand owners remain cautious about using AI-generated content in marketing assets (e.g. for text, image or music generation). Only 40% of respondents are currently doing so, although 37% plan on doing so soon. Of the 40%, a majority are using generative AI to alter or enhance real places, images or products (68%), to generate product descriptions or marketing copy (68%) or to generate places, images and products (59%). Just over one in three are using GenAI to copy the image/likeness of existing places or products (32%).
• Brands remain cautious, however, and less than one in three of the 40% who are using GenAI in marketing assets are doing so for chatbot purposes or customer support (27%), to alter or enhance the appearance of talent (23%), or to create synthetic sounds (18%), humans (14%) or voices (9%). And only 5% are using GenAI to copy the image, voice or likeness of real talent. And only eight percent are partnering with AI-generated influencers.

To govern the use of generative AI, 63% of brands have adopted responsible AI principles, while 21% are still in the process of developing them. The most adopted principles are privacy (78%), transparency (76%), responsibility (70%) and respect for intellectual property rights (65%).

35% have taken efforts to translate principles into market practice, with 40% saying they plan to in the near future. And less than half (44%) have policies or guidelines on the use of generative AI for marketing.

“For those who have developed guidelines and policies, these are focused on limiting the use of generative AI for certain purposes and use cases, providing do’s and don’ts to teams on how they should or should not use generative AI, outline approved internal use cases for gen AI and limiting the use of certain tool providers”, WFA reports.

54% also have an AI governance board in place, and 68% of those who have one say it addresses specifically the use of gen AI in marketing.

WFA has launched a voluntary guidance, developed with marketing consultancy R3, on the steps brands could consider taking to mitigate the legal risks of gen AI in agency contracts. WFA reports that 55% of companies plan to review their media and creative agency contracts to cover the specific risks associated with AI usage as well as its potential benefits.

“To harness the undisputed potential of gen AI, brands must first up get a grip on the legal and compliance implications. WFA’s AI Community and the guidance it’s producing will supercharge companies’ abilities to navigate the challenges so that they can prioritise the opportunities.” says Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO.