‘With emerging tech like AI, blockchain to be the future of digital marketing’

A distinguished panel of industry leaders explored the transformative power of emerging technologies in the realm of digital marketing at the e4m TechManch’24. The discussion delved into the latest advancements in AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality), blockchain, and IoT (Internet of Things), examining how these innovations are reshaping strategies and driving new opportunities in the digital marketing landscape.

The e4mTechManch panel featured insights from Anushree Ghosh, General Manager & Head of Digital and D2C at ITC Limited; Vrijesh Nagathan, CIDTO at Marico; Harshit Shah, Head of Digital, Media & D2C at Piramal Pharma Limited; Anand Thakur, Head of Analytics, Data and Tech at GroupM Nexus; and Sanket Save, AVP Sales for India’s West Region at Route Mobile. The session was chaired by Nikhil Kumar, Chief Growth Officer at mediasmart.

Kumar started the session by discussing the adoption of AI in India and the world. “In India, AI adoption in advertising and media planning has surged significantly with 37% of digital marketers fully leveraging AI-driven tools to enhance targeting and optimised media campaign performance. Globally, the adoption rate is even more pronounced, with studies showing that AI powered advertising solutions are expected to grow by 65% annually over the next five years. These technologies are not just shaping how brands connect with consumers, but are also redefining metrics of success in digital marketing.”

Sharing his opinions on how AI and ML are making marketeers unlearn, and then relearn new information and techniques, Thakur said: “We are making sure our models are getting equipped with the information which is fed by the technologies. Our models are making sure that whatever we have learned up till now, how we are optimally utilising those models and the machines are making sure that whatever we have learned, how we can optimally use that knowledge.”

AI is still a playground for most people, opined Ghosh. She highlighted how most brands can still not fathom the possibilities that it can drive in terms of larger marketing thinking or business thinking.

“We are probably at a very, very crucial juncture, which would create multiple unlocks in the space of media, data, content and even business at large. And, of course, who will take away the possibilities that it unlocks when it comes to data and analytics as
well, especially more so predictive, that's a large conversation to be had and I don't think we are even scratching the surface.”

At the heart of data science lies how deep you can go in terms of statistics, how you are able to take that data and extract insights. Nagathan discussed that data science, machine learning etc have been around for quite some time. The new capability that has gotten unleashed is around large language models.

Nagathan highlighted, “You are not just able to analyse data, but you are also able to create something out of it. It can be text. It can be an image. To some extent it can be even animation-based videos. Some of it is also in a grey space in terms of how copyrights look.”

The discussion then moved forward to how AI was not going to replace humans but humans using AI for specific tasks will replace their counterparts. Shah shared, “Unlocks are just starting to come in and we're seeing that unlock happening across all pillars of digital, be it seo or campaign optimizations or content creation. A lot of that is still at a superficial level because you can clearly make out, say, if an image is generated by AI vs a creative person, but those lines are going to get blurry as we progress.”

Save added to the discussion by sharing how the next five years of digital marketing will not just be about one particular technology but an amalgamation of multiple ones. He said, “Let's say big data has been in for a while today. Now you combine that with AI,/ML kind of technology that gives you a very killer proposition to the market. Now when you're starting to engage with your clients and you know there is always a risk of fraud coming in so then you also try and integrate a technology like a blockchain. You combine all three pieces together so now you have a faster, secured and much more authentic way of communication. It would be a combination of all these technologies you're already working in those kinds of fields right away. That is the way to go for us.”

Kumar took the session forward by asking the panellists how they have used these technologies and how they have been experimenting with them.

“To what extent can you allow a LL-based chatbot to actually interact and where exactly do you need human intervention or guidance is something which we are trying out. Hopefully we get it right, then that will unlock a large bit of engagement possibilities going forward,” Nagathan commented. “In terms of creating that unique experience for each of the consumers, how exactly can that get enabled? These are the spaces where we've covered some ground.”

Ghosh, on the other hand, talked about how consumer behaviour has transformed in terms of how they interact with brands with them trying to control what they consume.

“This entire story of driving a value exchange with consumers in terms of how do you really add some value to your consumer's life, whether it's providing information, content, entertaining them, or even plainly moving them forward in terms of if they're looking for a purchase after they have seen a piece of communication that interested them in a very personalised fashion has become table stakes.”

Data has been termed as the ‘new oil’ but how marketers use it is essential because most of the data is unstructured. In this aspect, Thakur reasoned, “Our first job is to make sure that the data which we are getting from different platforms, how we are structuring that data because it is coming from different umbrellas, it is coming from different sources. If you make sure that you have your fundamentals very clear, you have your nomenclatures in place, then only you will be able to put that data from unstructured to structured format. When you have structured data, you are making sure that the life of my team members, my company's life in terms of accessing that data, making a prediction on that data, taking a call on that data is immensely pleasurable.”

From the d2c perspective acquisitions are always going to be expensive. So, how you are going to drive the retention funnel using a lot of tech layers and from the acquisition perspective, how you can improvise your cost becomes essential.

Shah shared his experience with the same, “From a larger perspective and from the acquisition perspective, whatever we can test and learn, we're doing that. For example, using genAI in creatives, in copies, using, say, multiple platforms with regards to creative development, using AI to actually scout audiences as against my in-house team working on the audiences.” He also mentioned how once the consumer is on the funnel, they drive retention through layering GenAI on top of company data.

Save ended the session by sharing Route Mobile’s recent experiments with emerging technologies to drive digital marketing. “We're doing multiple things at multiple levels. Right from earlier when we used to communicate to a customer via a simple text message to moving the same customer to WhatsApp and having more of an interactive kind of conversation with him, to getting into NLP-based bots.”

“We partner with a lot of CDP players, and we communicate the way a customer prefers to be communicated. And on top of it, we are also working on something called an OTP-less kind of authentication.”