From AI to Audiences: Key Takeaways from Global Marketer Week 2024

“As marketers, we are speaking to our audiences. Local campaign marketing is a great example of resonating with audiences, speaking to their individual values and keeping a finger on the pulse of culture to ensure relevancy."

WFA jetted off to Toronto for Global Marketer Week 2024, our biggest annual event. GMW proved once again to be jam packed with incredible speakers and insightful presentations as well as valuable networking and connections with fellow client-side marketers from all over the world.

Having everyone together to discuss innovation, technology, sustainability and creativity brings forth the message that we as marketers truly have a shared global agenda that puts us together and motivates us to build better brands. Here are just a few takeaways from the week:

 “AI is as good as the people using it”

It should come as no surprise that Generative AI was a hot topic. This technological development is seemingly unavoidable for all businesses and the advertising space is no exception. 

There’s a lot of excitement about the benefits from swifter processes, increased cost efficiency, creative innovation to content creation.

However, the reality as Jonathan Adashek, SVP of Marketing and Communications from IBM, told us is that nearly half of companies have not yet deployed AI. Clearly, all the excitement comes some reservations. How do we safely use AI in our day-to-day jobs? How do we avoid cultural bias in technology? And will future conference stages consist solely of AI-generated Ritbot-style presenters, eventually replacing the marketer audience and panels totally?!

It’s a buzzing, ongoing conversation that can be daunting to navigate but after countless conversations and presentations in Toronto, there is clear best practice on how to manage the AI opportunity:

1. Bring legal and IT into the conversation early on. Setting appropriate guidelines and teaching your AI your brand, values, and what to look out for can help combat potential bias and set the groundwork for safe usage.
2. Identify how you can leverage AI. Perhaps instead of asking the question of what current tasks can AI do for you, ask what it can do to get you where you couldn’t get to before.
3. Educate your teams. Creating a centre of excellence and providing your teams with the proper education and tools can set your marketers up for success that aligns with implemented guidelines. And don’t stop learning!
4. Experiment and test. Ask AI the ‘how’ and ‘what if’ through a trial process to familiarise yourself with the tool.
5. Don’t let or assume AI can replace your people. Marketing in its essence is about human connection, communication and changing behaviour. Even the smartest of AI can’t replace this.

“We move because we’re inspired to”

Another overarching theme was, oddly enough, the counterpart of Artificial Intelligence: people. Marketing is a human-to-human interaction. As marketers, we are speaking to our audiences. Local campaign marketing is a great example of resonating with audiences, speaking to their individual values and keeping a finger on the pulse of culture to ensure relevancy.

Regional concepts are tailored to accurately reflect that area’s values and what’s important to them, be it varying beauty standards, the way we socialise, or the public figures that speak to us the most. This kind of advertising allows for marketers to have more creative freedom to drive home their message.

Pathos marketing takes a step even further towards resonating and connecting with consumers. The use of humanity and emotion can enhance brand awareness and drive forth a change in behaviour. Whether it’s grabbing a beer as Marcel Marcondes from AB InBev would like us to do or speaking to living a more sustainable lifestyle as highlighted by Solitaire Townsend from Futerra, consumers are associating your brand with their day-to-day lives.

The cultural impact of advertising is undeniable. We create our sense of selves through the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the products we buy, even the food we eat, which all adds up to culture. Consumption is a cultural act, as marketing professor Marcus Collins explained.

Consumers’ social needs are satisfied by the products we advertise. Although brands are the ones providing the fodder, it’s the consumers and their interaction with our brands that drive change and impact.

Whether you couldn’t join us this year for Global Marketer Week or you’re looking to revisit the presentations you saw on stage, please check out the recap video of the conference.

We’ll look forward to seeing you in Mumbai in March 2025!