Digital Lifescapes

In an era where AI is considered an asset for superior leadership, why are over a quarter of marketing organizations still hesitant to use Generative AI ( GenAI ) in their workflows? Recent findings from a Gartner survey reveal a nuanced picture of GenAI adoption in marketing. They highlight its potential and the challenges organizations encounter. The Current State of GenAI Adoption The Gartner survey provides a snapshot of GenAI's integration into marketing strategies. Surprisingly, 27 percent of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) report limited or no adoption of GenAI in their marketing campaigns. This statistic is particularly striking given the interest surrounding AI in the typical C-suite, suggesting a significant gap between executive desire and marketing implementation. Despite this, the survey also reveals encouraging signs of GenAI's impact: 47 percent of forward-thinking organizations report substantial benefits from adopting GenAI for evaluation and reporting in their...

Legacy search engine marketing best practices are vulnerable. Why now? Generative AI (GenAI) capabilities are being rapidly adopted for technology sector marketing efficiency gains. To prepare for more shifts beyond their direct control, tech product marketers must address disruptions in key marketing channels, engagement approaches, and required investments. The savvy business-to-business (B2B) CMOs are already piloting and deploying GenAI tools. GenAI Tools B2B Market Development By 2026, traditional search engine volume will drop by 25 percent, with search marketing losing market share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents, according to the latest market study by Gartner.  "Organic and Paid Search are vital channels for tech marketers seeking to reach awareness and demand generation goals," said Alan Antin, vice president at Gartner . Now GenAI solutions are becoming substitute answer engines, replacing user queries that previously may have been executed in traditional ...

The landscape of Marketing and IT is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by the relentless evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI). New AI apps are rapidly seeping into every facet of business, reshaping customer experiences, streamlining operations, and enabling workflow automation. This presents a vast opportunity for CMOs and CIOs, yet also a disruptive force demanding rapid adaptation. To stay ahead of the AI trend, these key decision-makers must become active participants. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that by 2027, Generative AI (GenAI) will assume 30 percent of traditional marketing mundane tasks -- such as website optimization, data analysis, customer segmentation, and hyper-personalization. GenAI Applications Market Development According to the IDC survey results, 37.8 percent of CMOs indicated they have already begun implementing GenAI technologies. Also, 51 percent of CMOs say their top business objective in the next 12 months is to improve lead generation ...

The cost of legacy Marketing Technology (Martech) automation is rising. The number of isolated systems is growing, and the benefits are questionable. Marketers are now struggling to justify the expense, when they cannot demonstrate a compelling ROI. Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are under pressure from their C-suite to reassess their investment in legacy automation and consider alternative solutions that will deliver net-new digital growth results. Marketing Automation Market Development Sixty-three percent of marketing leaders are already planning to invest in Generative AI solutions in the next 24 months, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Slightly more than half of Gartner survey respondents (56 percent) see greater reward than risk in the adoption of modern Generative AI systems. The Gartner survey of 405 marketing leaders revealed the user utilization of their organization's overall current Martech stack’s capability has dropped to just 33 percent on ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool to drive digital business growth, make better decisions, and personalize offerings to customers. As a result, forward-thinking CEOs are now actively pursuing AI investments to gain a competitive advantage. Generative AI apps originated with tools such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, Generative AI is forecast to add more than $450 billion to the enterprise market across twelve different vertical industries over the next seven years. Gen AI already has hundreds of compelling use cases across these enterprise verticals. But accuracy, performance, and enterprise readiness will mean that use cases will come in three distinct waves. Generative Artificial Intelligence Market Development "Content-heavy verticals like marketing and education are already seeing disruption across a range of job roles in the first wave of adoption," said Reece Hayden, senior analyst at ABI Res...

Why are more organizations creating Chief Digital Officer (CDO) roles? Why are CMOs and CIOs more likely to collaborate on new digital transformation projects? Digital business growth is driven by the development and deployment of superior online experiences. Three-quarters of the organizations surveyed by Gartner increased customer experience (CX) technology investments in 2018. Customer analytics continues to be one of the biggest investments, with 52 percent intending to increase funding in 2019, focusing on customer journey analysis, customer needs analysis, voice of the customer (VoC) and digital marketing. Customer Experience Market Development Gartner's 2019 survey gathered data from respondents in seven countries within North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, across a wide range of industries. The objective of the study was to understand the priorities, technology investments and high-stakes situations faced by organizations in the planning of their CX...

Why are today’s savvy CEOs more deeply involved in marketing strategy? We know from prior market research that digital marketing adoption is often the precursor to the creation and execution of a broad corporate-wide digital transformation agenda. That’s why. Moreover, the latest global market assessment by IDC concluded that all CEOs now need to better understand what the corporate marketing role can do to further their business technology adoption. Therefore, they also believe that the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) working relationship is now the key to strategic goal attainment. Besides, CMOs that lead a traditional marketing organization have a mandate to move beyond merely achieving digital marketing ‘competency parity’ with their more progressive competitors. Optimal Environment for Marketing Exploration While it’s still a requirement that digital marketing skills training and mentoring of legacy staff continues into 2016, senior ma...

Your brand's message is most effective when it conveys real meaning and substance. That's what people value the most, and it's been a disruptive trend. Between 1999 and 2014, 47 percent of prior known brands fell off the top '100 Leader Brands' list, according to the latest worldwide market study by PwC. While the list used to be led by Media companies, today, the most progressive Technology companies are setting the pace of change. Besides, the millennial generation are also drivers of this shift, elevating these enlightened companies to the top of the list. In today's highly social, interconnected and transparent world, people look at everything from the company's stated mission to what the company actually does -- it's well beyond a quality product or service, a striking logo and obligatory advertising campaign. The world of branding has changed; so has effective marketing communications . Meaning and Substance Drive Profit The PwC study shows...

The role of a typical Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a technology, media or telecommunications company is very challenging -- especially if they're skilled in the practices from the bygone era of legacy mass-media marketing. Many struggle to adapt to the needs of today's forward-thinking interactive online marketing environment. According to the latest global CMO survey by Heidrick & Struggles and Forrester Research , CMOs need to contribute to substantive business strategy, but many need to raise their marketing technology IQ first -- so that they can become more credible as leaders in their organization, and clearly demonstrate that they're not obsolete. Based on a survey of nearly 200 global marketing leaders, the market study attempted to measure CMOs' influence within their organization, their business objectives, and their skills and competencies necessary to survive in a rapidly changing realm of digital marketing. Unskilled in Meaningful Business Str...